Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Furia Rubel's Top Ads of the Super Bowl

By Maggie Quinn

For the advertising and public relations industry, the Super Bowl is the ultimate showcase of marketing mastery. Days before the game airs, consumers grasp at commercial teasers and sneak peaks and stock their refrigerators with a plethora of game day munchies.

The 2014 Super Bowl lacked excitement as the Seattle Seahawks easily trampled the Denver Broncos to win their first Vince Lombardi Trophy. With my Eagles and 49ers out of the picture, disinterest in the game allowed me to focus on the commercials, the halftime show and of course, chow down on some buffalo chicken dip.

In the spirit of the Super Bowl and with a little inspiration from ESPN’s “Top Plays of the Day” segment, I give you Furia Rubel's Top Ads of the Super Bowl Recap:

JCPenney fumbled its words when the company attempted some marketing humor by tweeting while wearing Team USA mittens. What was supposed to be a tactic to promote the upcoming Winter Olympics, ended up looking like someone at JCPenney enjoyed one too many cocktails. Coors Light gained some points with the best Twitter comeback since last year when Oreo responded to the blackout.

Any time you can get Alf, Chucky and Mary Lou Retton together in an ad, you're going to come up big. So it was with RadioShack's self-deprecating ad, “The ’80s Called: They Want Their Store Back."

I was especially happy to see that Cheerios did not sub out the beautiful family used in last year’s Super Bowl ad and kept the narrative going this year.

Coca-Cola tried to be a team player and highlight diversity by including seven languages in its “America the Beautiful” commercial. Unfortunately, the multilingual feature caused the company to receive some unsportsmanlike conduct from Internet trolls.

John Stamos, who’s no rookie to television, appeared in a Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt commercial with former Full House stars Bob Saget and Dave Coulier. The only thing that could have made the reunion better is if we got a “have mercy” from Stamos. I’m throwing a flag on that missed opportunity.

The player of the game award definitely went to Budweiser. A fan favorite, the brand’s iconic Clydesdales joined forces with a puppy to create a minute-long heartwarming story. You can’t lose when you have an adorable puppy on your team. You just can’t.

Like Christmas, your birthday and most other fun things, the Super Bowl - and its commercials - come only once a year. If you were disappointed by some of your favorite brands, you’ll have to wait until they try again next year.

As an Eagles fan, I’m used to waiting.

1 comment:

the pr lawyer said...

I didn't get to chime in on this particular blog so I'm sharing my two cents here. My favorite commercial was the Chevrolet Silverado Strong bovine commercial. This was witty and original and made me laugh out loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOMrA-BGuLY