This Sunday marks a pretty big day around here. Sure, the Super Bowl is easily the biggest sporting event of the year, but R&M is giving you a preview of what REALLY matters. The advertising! That’s right. We’re giving you all you need to know about 2011’s Super Bowl advertisers.
For organizational purposes, we’ve divided the brands into three groups. They are: “The Regulars,” “The Heavyweights” and “The Newcomers.”
The Regulars
You know those brands that are pretty much known for their Super Bowl ads. Most of them use the same theme every year and they give audiences something to look forward to. So what are they going to do THIS year?
Anheuser-Busch – Need we say more? The Budweiser and Bud Light commercials are an absolute staple for Super Bowl advertising. Some of the most legendary television ads ever created are Budweiser and Bud Light ads that premiered during this time slot. From the talking frogs to the “waaasssuuuuup” that was heard around the world, their ads are so recognizable, not to mention genuinely funny. As for 2011, you can be sure that Anheuser-Busch’s creative team has been thinking about this day all year long and they won’t disappoint. And just to prove it, here’s a sneak preview.
GoDaddy.com – Last year we gave Go Daddy’s Super Bowl ad a pretty unfavorable review. Their Super Bowl commercials are unnecessarily racy and their attempts to “push the envelope” fall short of clever. Think that’s going to change this year? Not so much. It’s obvious that, while controversial, this is the direction they’re headed and no one’s going to stop them. In addition to Danica Patrick, they’ve added Jillian Michaels from the hit show “The Biggest Loser” this year.
E-Trade – Who would’ve thought two years ago when the first E-Trade baby commercial premiered that an ad with talking infants would have become such a cultural phenomenon? This is truly a fan favorite every year. If you remember, last year’s ad introduced a girl baby and made a small dig at Lindsay Lohan with the term “milkaholic”. What can we expect this year? Oh it’s good. You can see a sneak peak here.
The Heavyweights
These are the ads that seem to always go for the “wow” factor in their Super Bowl advertising, whether it’s through vivid graphics, special effects, shock humor, celebrity appearances, etc. You can tell they probably spend a lot of money on production and their ads are often unpredictable – which is great for their audiences.
Snickers – The commercial featuring Betty White getting tackled was far and away the best ad of last year’s Super Bowl lineup. Since then, Ms. White has become even more of a household name, appearing on Saturday Night Live and starring in the hit TV show “Hot in Cleveland”. Which makes us wonder – what in the world can we expect this year? Luckily for us, Snickers was kind enough to create a teaser ad, complete with which quarter of the game you can expect to see the real thing.
Doritos – One of the favorites of last year’s line-up, Doritos has found its niche in the humor AND fan interaction departments with the 5th annual installment of the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest that allows consumers to submit their own ads and vote on their favorites. We’re sure you remember one of last year’s winners with the little boy slapping his mother’s unsuspecting date after he tried to steal of few of his Doritos. Expect more of the same this year with winners that will leave you LOLing. After more than 5,000 submissions, the field was narrowed down to five. Voting has closed, but you can see the five finalists here.
Volkswagen – Who can forget last year’s oh-so-clever “Punch Buggy” commercial that featured the likes of Stevie Wonder and Tracy Morgan? Volkswagen consistently does a great job of making their commercials fun and whimsical. How can last year’s ad be topped you ask? We’ll give you a hint: May the force be with you.
This one’s already getting some major buzz. And if you really can’t wait until Sunday, you can watch their latest Super Bowl commercial here.
The Newcomers
Every year there are a few brands that make their “debut” into the advertising world with a Super Bowl ad. For many of them, the ad serves to introduce the company to the general public on the biggest advertising stage there is. With Super Bowl ads running for $3 million a pop for a 30 second spot, this is a pretty huge risk. That’s why it’s critical that their ads are unique and memorable to stand out from all the established brands that are also advertising during this time.
Home Away – This online vacation rentals marketplace premiered its very first Super Bowl ad last year and saw immediate success. Still a young company, they were hesitant to try again as they didn’t have a creative concept and prices had increased considerably. Now back for their second year, they understand that they’re competing with the likes of Budweiser and Coca Cola and have pulled out all the stops to get noticed amid all the advertising clutter. What can you expect? Think babies and glass windows. You don’t want to miss this spot appropriately called “Test Baby.” You can see a teaser here.
Salesforce – This company, which calls itself an “enterprise cloud computing company,” is premiering not only its very first Super Bowl ad, but its very first television ad. Interestingly, Salesforce does not sell its products to consumers, but rather to businesses. Because of this, some have questioned the company’s decision to run two ads during the Super Bowl. These ads will serve to introduce the company’s newest incarnation of its product called Chatter.com. It’s an enterprise social networking application that allows subscribers to privately and securely share information with colleagues within the workplace. So how do you create an ad that describes this AND that appeals to the wide audience you’re trying to reach? Salesforce has hired Black Eyed Peas’ front man will.i.am to produce the ad, of course. Apparently the ad will feature a group of animated characters that will.i.am has created called the “Baby Peas” that represent the Black Eyed Peas. The Black Eyes Peas will headline the game’s halftime show and the ads will run directly before and directly after halftime to meld with their performance.
With teasers, sneak peaks and even full commercials already released, the race for the best Super Bowl commercial is on! Check back next week to hear our review of the year’s biggest advertising stage.