The 90mil+ Superbowl Roundup

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Superbowl has come and gone and as always it’s the ads that are talked about more than the game, in fact I’m not even sure who was playing! The superbowl commands an audience of 90 million in the United States and is the most expensive commercial slot in television.

Below are some of the standout commercials of this year’s Superbowl ad and some commentary if necessary:

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Chrysler

The Chrysler ad was the longest ad during the Superbowl and arguably one of the best. So far it has generated over 8 million views on YouTube alone, not counting the amount of viewers during Superbowl. Starring hip hop rapper Eminem the ad talks about Detroit’s current struggles during the financial crisis.

As soon as the ad was broadcast there were debates about how effective it would be at selling cars, as it seemed to be selling the city of Detroit more than the Chrysler 200, which was barely in the shot. While time will tell whether the ad was actually effective in making sales for the company it is known that Eminem has met top Chrysler executives to discuss future promotions and Canadian dealers have stated that the ad is generating interest for the car.

Volkswagen

Very funny!

Coca Cola

Coca Cola makes happiness happen! Also notice the satellite dish in the background at the beginning. Coca Cola’s standard branding campaign; Coke can cross cultural and national boundaries and unite everyone with its sugary goodness.

Kia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlwM2xlT7Dk

Chevrolet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP9_vKW9Ecw

Sorry about the beginning.

The Failure

One ad that seems to have gotten everyone upset and offside is the Groupon ads. Groupon wanted to go for something edgy and controversial, which is nothing new, however they made the mistake of not being very funny. If you’re going to be controversial, make sure you can pull it off! Check out the Groupon ads below as well as the negative New York times review by clicking this text.

Making fun of Tibet…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFT2yjk0A

And deforestation…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z206ipPhuFQ

And whales…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP_yScodndg

While being controversial can pay off you are taking a risk with your brand and it seems that Groupon had miscalculated. Judging by the YouTube responses people were upset not just at the insensitivity at the ad but also the so-so humor. Groupon is quite a new company, so perhaps they will learn as they grow?

Some other commercials below:

Best Buy (with Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne)

Go Daddy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQnhFxyikXg

Probably not the first person you would think of to represent Go Daddy in that attire. One unique thing about this ad is how it asks you to go to the website to view more.

Let me know your thoughts about the ads in the comments. Did you think Groupon’s ads did more harm then good?

Mercedes Finances Film – Venger

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Mercedes Benz in partnership with the Filmmakers factory has just launched an online web series of videos delivered through YouTube to promote the Mercedes brand. These three videos at 15 minutes each tell the story of a race car driver seeking revenge for the murder of his fiancée.

The first part of the movie is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjdwHKw0Crs&feature=player_embedded

This is not the first time that a car company has been the major sponsor of a film, BMW had “The Hire”, which was a series of short films which in my opinion were done much better then the Mercedes short film. You can check out one of the Hire short films below:

No doubt other companies will realize that they no longer have to go through a middle man to promote their products and a short web series makes perfect sense; a company would spend the large budget they would have normally spent on air time, to create a high quality online film which will generate more traffic on account of the fact that it’s something that people want to watch.

Plus don’t forget these films all go for about 20 minutes each so it’s a lot different from a 15 or 30 second ad. Also check out 5:10 on The Hire film above (the second YouTube video on this post). One of the characters inspects the bullet riddled bonnet of a BMW and opens it to find his bags are still safe and well, I think what they were trying to say there is that the BMW is bullet proof!

Internet TV is inevitable, cable and free to air are scared

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On demand television (internet TV) may be coming to your living room very soon, and will be given a big boost if the NBN (National Broadband Network) is moved ahead by the government. If it does, it’ll be a big win for consumers and content creators.

What is Internet TV? Well you can check out what Google wants it to be here and what Apple want it to be here. Basically the idea is you sit down in your living room, grab your control and decide what you want to watch instead of waiting for it to come on. Online on-demand video is all ready very popular; YouTube is all ready the third most popular website on the internet after only Google and Facebook (source) however with the National Broadband Network being introduced by the Labor Government, in my humble opinion, will completely change the way Australia watches television. In fact, the established players in the industry including cable companies and free-to-air are all ready concerned about the introduction of NBN and what it would mean for their business models. However an on demand television service will be a win for consumers and content creators.

Here is a quick run down of how Google sees online television in the future:

Google TV

  • Have your mobile phone work as your remote control device
  • Create playlists of shows/videos
  • Use your television to surf the web
  • Netflix – $8.99 a month gets you access to 40,000 shows and movies on demand, watch as much as you like!

Google TV embedded in television hardware

Google TV has partnered with a number of television hardware manufacturers such as Sony

While Google TV has all ready partnered with Sony to create a stand alone television with the technology embedded (image), Apple TV has not and at the moment only offers the Apple TV box which you can attach to your television (image).

Apple TV set top box

Apple TV is not integrated with any television devices and works as a ‘set top box’

All criticism and politics aside, there is a chance the NBN network will be implemented. If it does cable television and free to air are going to suffer if they continue with their traditional business models. Consumers are just not going to want to sit down and wait for their show to start, it’s much more convenient to watch what you want when you want. With online TV the middle man is removed and the audience decides what they want to see at 6pm. This is a win for consumers, you can still watch The Simpsons at 6pm however you will now have the choice to watch a video series from a small production company too. In the end it will lead to more choice.


Fred is an online celebrity with no production team or marketing budget. This video has been seen 31 million times.

So to conclude if NBN does go ahead television as we know it will change and become much cooler. It is inevitable, the question is how long will it take?