Monday, February 3, 2014

On this year's Super Bowl commercials


A couple Super Bowl commercials were particularly meaningful to me, so wanted to mention them here.  

1) Honda - Bruce Willis/Hugfest

You have to understand first, that for me, combining Bruce Willis and Honda into one concept, would be like Neil Peart doing an ad for loose-fitting, long-sleeved, light colored t-shirts.  (I avoid the sun at all costs, if you didn't know.)  Or Christopher Nolan directing a movie about the history of the Giants.  This film would also be narrated by WWE's Damien Sandow, if I'm not asking too much.  Anyway, I love Bruce Willis, I love Honda, and the message to hug people you love, was delivered with the perfect amount of humor balanced with sincerity.  

2) Budweiser - Puppy Love

A puppy and a horse are buddies - what else do I need?  Good for Budweiser, and this is coming from a guy who doesn't drink.  

I actually had a friend say something like, "What's with all these heartfelt commercials?  I just want silly stuff."  I think the right response to that comment is...Would you rather go back to the hack tropes we usually see?  Head and groin trauma? Talking babies and animals, and other ridiculous premises?  Not to mention the regular amount vulgarity you get these days.

I'd say this year, in general, was a step in a most welcome direction.  Drew and I plan on doing a Sports Limelight episode on advertising sometime in the near future, but for now I'll just add that one of the main things I'm looking for in a commercial, is to be moved or inspired in some way.  Funny is good, of course, but it isn't easy to pull off and so often misses the mark.  (Credit where it's due, I think Geico has by far the highest "humor percentage" of any company I've seen.)   I think the lack of creative, surprising humor in most commercials might be due to the inevitable urge to appeal to the lowest common denominator of viewer, but that's just speculation.