Super Bowl Commercials - WTF??!!

[sablebrush52]

When I began my "illustrious" career I worked on a lot of commercials, literally hundreds of them, mostly high end, including commercials for the Super Bowl and the Oscars. We did a heck of a job of promoting the product in a creative way. But we NEVER lost sight that we were using creativity TO PROMOTE A PRODUCT! It's a commercial, not the Great American Novel.

Yesterday's Super Bowl commercials were clearly super high budget, loaded with big names completely wasted, and a ton of rudderless creativity that had NOTHING to do with the product. In my humble opinion expensive failures and pure crap. And WAY TOO MANY OF THESE HORRIBLY INEPT COMMERCIALS.

Anyone else care to comment?

 

[Bengel]

A travesty, for sure, when the better ones (thinking Kia electric car) we’re still below the bottom of the barrel.

 

[DanWil84]

Isn't that how society is or some people wish it to be anyway?

 

[MRW]

Don't get me started on the Halftime show!

 

[tbradsim1]

Broke my NFL BOYCOTT to see Joe Burrow, after half time show I was so disgusted that I’m sorry JOE but I won’t ever see you in a game, ! Commercials were ?City!

 

[mso489]

Thank you. Good to hear this from a pro. This all started (yes it did) with the poet T.S. Eliot who did quick samplings of images and conversation that jumped around and painted a sort of impressionistic picture of post-WWI England in a fairly brilliant way. At the time he was considered difficult to read and obtuse, but gradually, on the page, his work was appreciated and became part of the college curriculum. So far, so good. But then the artistry was borrowed and spread wildly by people who had never, and will never, hear of T.S. Eliot or read much poetry. Local news shows have gone mad with quick-edit collages of images that completely lose control of the subject and purpose of it all. Rather than T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland," we just get a wasteland. Now whole TV drama series do this most of the time, and trailers for said series even more so. It's become the sleazy easy habit of creative slackers everywhere, in ads, online everything, half-time shows as mentioned in the previous post, and everywhere else it can possibly be simulated. Thomas Sterns Eliot, what have you done? And you were such a pleasant if stuffy English banker from St. Louis Missouri. It stands to show us, just because you invent something doesn't mean you control it. My wife and I did appreciate the one extra-short commercial for Budweiser featuring a Clydesdale colt and a (maybe) Golden Retriever; it lasted about 15 seconds, so thank you, Budweiser.

 

[kcghost]

I thought this year featured just about the worst commercials. As a group they were dog poop.

 

[timelord]

When I was working in Detroit in 2012 I heard all the hype about the Super Bowl so come the day I went to my favourite watering hole to watch the game.

WTF? Bar was full, but as far as I could tell most people were there for the adverts and half-time show! Not being a follower of American Football I was hoping I might get drawn in by the big game hype and see what the fuss was about... nope. Apparently there was a football game being played between adverts and the big half-time show but they might as well have not bothered; the whole TV experience was built around the adverts and rubbish commentary.

To be fair; I'm a life-long fan of Formala 1 and I've never managed to watch a single race on US TV without turning it off in frustration - 3 laps of racing, 2 laps ruined by "what's coming up next"; 2 laps lost by adverts, and usually a commentary team that has even less idea what's going on than the viewers and makes no attempt to explain what happened during the advertising break.

I did watch an All Blacks v Ireland rugby game (played if I recall correctly in Chicago) broadcast by an American network (fortunately where I was watching it broadcast without advertising)... ...the commentary was good purely for humour value - most hadn't got a clue what the rules were. Fortunately they did have a former US International player on the commentary team but it would have been better if he didn't have to provide a training course to the other commentators during the game!

...Just my opinion

 

[homesteader]

I think the worst was that bouncing QR code. I'm supposed to pull out my phone, get close to the TV, and do a search to see what you're advertising? No.

I did like the Soprano's-themed Chevy electric commercial, but only because I was a Sopranos fan and recently re-watched the series. It didn't really inform and only towards the end did you know what they were advertising.

 

[briarbuck]

When I began my "illustrious" career I worked on a lot of commercials, literally hundreds of them, mostly high end, including commercials for the Super Bowl and the Oscars. We did a heck of a job of promoting the product in a creative way. But we NEVER lost sight that we were using creativity TO PROMOTE A PRODUCT! It's a commercial, not the Great American Novel.

Yesterday's Super Bowl commercials were clearly super high budget, loaded with big names completely wasted, and a ton of rudderless creativity that had NOTHING to do with the product. In my humble opinion expensive failures and pure crap. And WAY TOO MANY OF THESE HORRIBLY INEPT COMMERCIALS.

Anyone else care to comment?

I know what you are saying. It's just different. Not necessarily better or worse. American commercials have been so "straight" product sells longer than the EU for example. They have beef off the wall since the 70's with wacky ads.

I liked the crypto floating UPC like it was pong. Simple and very creative. I was in a bar filled with 20 somethings, they went NUTS when that came on. smh

 

[Streeper541]

I agree.

Without getting too political or religious, I noted that most of the commercials either promoted a social or economic agenda. Take for instance the Google Pixel commercial... was Google trying to say that the Pixel is the only camera which can truly capture the beauty of minority skin tones? I miss the days where there was just a really good gag or a sexy woman and the product in an advertisement. I don't need all the social commentary.

What I'm really curious about is who in the world approved that pong QR Code commercial? Seriously, who thought that was a good idea? Did you really think people were going to get up off the couch, stand up and go scan the TV with their phone? Come on.

 

[Pipeoff]

I keep my finger on the mute button to edit the stupid commercials. What I most dislike is the endless chatter by the game commentators before,during and after the game!

 

[sablebrush52]

What I'm really curious about is who in the world approved that pong QR Code commercial? Seriously, who thought that was a good idea? Did you really think people were going to get up off the couch, stand up and go scan the TV with their phone? Come on.

Actually, the 20 spomething at our little Super Bowl party did just that. It's an ad for coinbase, a bit of a cryptic crypto ad and a bit smug with its pong reference. You have to be young, hip, trendy, and techno enslaved to appreciate it.

The Borg have won.

 

[Bengel]

just a really good gag or a sexy woman and the product in an advertisement

A classic ( that got banned by Fox) I think it may have been a Super Bowl ad.

Amazing what twenty plus years will do for a decline in creativity.

 

[sablebrush52]

Take for instance the Google Pixel commercial... was Google trying to say that the Pixel is the only camera which can truly capture the beauty of minority skin tones?

If that hadn't been so pathetic on every level it would have been absurd. First the commercial shows a bunch of deliberately crappy shots and then shows a series of carefully composed and professionally lit shots claiming the camera made the difference.
It shocks me that enough people are gullible enough and dumb enough to buy this crap. Worse, they breed.

 

[Bengel]

the EU for example

Product placement at it’s best

 

[Streeper541]

It shocks me that enough people are gullible enough and dumb enough to buy this crap. Worse, they breed.

I could say so much about that statement... but I digress because I like it here and have respect for the house rules.

 

[daveinlax]

I wasn't impressed with most of them but I did enjoy the Lay's haunted house and Newark commercials.

 

[Strandsbeachlocal]

I can’t help thinking that commercials are increasingly designed to be annoying or overtly stupid because these are strong emotions. Well those are stronger emotions in the eyes of the advertisers, but doesn’t compel me buy a product.

 

[sablebrush52]

I wasn't impressed with most of them but I did enjoy the Lay's haunted house and Newark commercials.

The Lays was good and it didn't bury the product under a bunch of pointless unrelated crrap.