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Super Bowl Champions
Budweiser
Another Super Bowl and another blowout by Budweiser. If only Budweiser could just keep this kind of advertising focus the rest of the year. There were minor setbacks however, having Bud Select as a sponsor just reminded me of the confusion this brand causes in the mind. But that said Bud and Bud Light had several outstanding ads which scored big with me and viewers alike. My favorite was the young Clydesdale dreams big ad. Any parent with young children had to be pulled at the heartstrings by this one. My second favorite was the men on rooftops pretending to work but relaxing with a Bud Light instead. What man doesn’t dream of that? Really all the Budweiser ads struck a balance between humor, heritage and brand message. Three cheers for the King.
Gillette
This was not your typical babes, boobs, animals and special effects kind of Super Bowl ad. But I think it was terribly effective. It might not have been discussed at the water cooler. But I do think it made a lasting impression in the minds of male shavers, a majority of the audience. It really showed and explained the new Fusion razor. The audience was right and the message was clear. Men need to shave with a Fusion. Gillette has the money to spend on the Super Bowl to get the message out in a big way. With the product all over the shelves I think many men and women will be pushed into buying the new razor this week.
Dove
The first purely female-targeted ad for Dove skin products had a powerful message promoting the self-esteem of young girls. I think the ad worked for three reasons. It was the opposite of all the other ads, it didn’t belong on the Super Bowl which made you stop, watch and think about it. Second, because it was the first ad of its kind to run on the Super Bowl it got a lot of positive PR on places like the Today Show which was enormously powerful. Three, it is a wonderfully produced ad with an important message. A message all of us need to be reminded of. The fakeness of the Super Bowl ad models and cheerleaders is not the everyday woman. If I were Dove I would not run the ad next year, by then the uniqueness and PR value will have worn off. Dove will be better off spreading the message advertising on more relevant shows like Oprah or the Academy Awards.
Tomorrow I’ll discuss the losers. Chimps, Cavemen, and GoDaddy oh my!