For the past couple of years, critics and audiences have been in agreement that the commercials during the Super Bowl and other large televised events have not been as engagement or humorous as years prior, and they are right.
The best way to describe a lot of the recent commercials like the Super Bowl is a lot of build up with very little pay off and over complicating the process.
According to Sports Illustrated, more than 100 million people tune in to watch the Super Bowl with a thirty second commercial costing about $5 million each.
It is clear that companies must make an impression on viewers even when while they grabbing more food and/or debating with their friends and family.
While some commercials were decent like Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” and Bud Light “Bud Knight,” were entertaining there were several others that fell flat.
One example is the Mountain Dew and Doritos commercial which featured Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage. Before their finale during the Super Bowl, a series of ads were featured on television that had them practicing saying talking fast.
Fans were hoping the two would actually rap lyrics from their trainers Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot, but they simply lip synced.
That commercial would have so much more effective if they had these two big time actors actually rapping these famous songs.
Another commercial that suffered from little payoff was Sprint’s Evelyn commercial with a promising concept but the punchline just came off as bland.
In a time of increasingly divided opinions on politics and directions that America should sway, companies have decided to use these concepts as an idea to make people sell their product.
While not as divisive as socially charged commercials in the past, automobile giant Ram quoted a speech from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and it was entirely misplaced. Using such an important figure to sell a product (without even asking the family’s permission first) is all in bad taste.
Also, Budweiser tried to make themselves seem like superheroes in their water ad despite their brand and beer being a poison to the body for so many people over the decades.
There is a push for a commercial to be more than just selling a product and it should not be like this way. Commercials like the Bud Knight ad should be engaging and fun.
Ahmed Bilal of Adsavy put it best.
“Mind you, keeping it simple does not mean dumbing it down and underestimating the intelligence of the audience – it simply means that you make your message / sales pitch crystal clear and poignant so that the viewers remember THAT and not a catchy punchline that does little to get them to buy the product (popularity of a commercial doesn’t not automatically translate into more sales),” Bilal said.
While there are no figures or numbers that show if Super Bowl commercials have been performing poorly at a sales or financial level, but it is clear that at an entertainment level that is has been sub-par.
There is a audience of people that watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials and companies, along with the NFL have to do make the ads as entertaining as this year’s Eagles’ victory.
By DREW LACOUTURE
Editorial editor