2010 Super Bowl Ad Recap - Putting the "Hmm" Back in Ho-Hummm
Posted by Paul Schlueter on Monday, February 08, 2010 at 9:16 AM | More From This Author »
It’s Monday morning after the Big Game and water cooler talk should be buzzing about the Super Bowl ads, but will it? Each year Super Bowl ads are over-scrutinized, over-hyped and, as of late, thoroughly underwhelming. I doubt there will be a lot of buzz around the cooler this year, at least not about the ads anyway. Where were the iconic images? Where were the game-changing ideas? Yawn. (Insert head scratch here.) Oh well, I hope you reached for another handful of Doritos, grabbed a Bud Light and caught up with some old friends during the commercial breaks, because there was nothing new here.
Again in 2010, Flynn Wright partnered with Harvest Research Center to publish response to Super Bowl advertising the evening of the Big Game. Response was similar to our 2009 survey results, and the ads at the top were strikingly similar in style and content. I don’t blame Doritos or Budweiser for sticking to a winning formula. After all, continuity of efforts could in and of itself be a marketing strategy. (My personal belief is that charting a new course each year would be a better way to capitalize on the unique opportunity and expectations of the Super Bowl’s viewership.) However, the field utterly lacked competition. There were some nice ads. Snickers, for one, did a very nice job of leveraging Betty White’s comedic talents with a spot that engaged and reinforced a core brand promise. But there was no shake-up, nothing really new, not even a great new twist on an old idea. This year more than 50 ads vied for the coveted title of Super Bowl champion, but sadly the game itself provided the only true champion. Will the ads of 2010 be remembered? I doubt it. Money well spent? Now that’s a whole other story.
tell us who deserves to be ad champion
Whether or not you participated in last night's Big Game survey, you still can help us determine the best Super Bowl ad. Using our Vibetrak system, re-watch the top commercials and give us your feedback.
Take the Vibetrak survey here »
Download Harvest Research Center’s 2010 results »