Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Through the first quarter of yesterdays' game, which I viewed at my friends' house, I was feeling a bit underwhelmed. The spot for Callaway was a clever use of imagery (numbers, flight, power) which all resonate for golfers. But it wasn't a powerhouse commercial. Sorry, but the LeBron James/Dwight Howard basketball bit for McDonalds was flat, even with Larry Bird.

After I mentioned this disappointment to my friend Steve, he brought up a good point: viewers have come to expect truly memorable Super Bowl commercials. Companies such as Apple and Coca-Cola have set the bar pretty high.

Leave it to 88 year-old Betty White to get this party started. The Snickers ad where both she and Abe Vigoda - Abe Vigoda! - each get pancaked was hysterical. And the momentum picked up after that, though the broadcast certainly had its share of hits and misses.

Among the spots that seemed to work well:

-The Careerbuilder.com ad plugging Casual Fridays with underwear models whom no one will mistake for Victoria's Secret models.

-Oprah, sandwiched by Letterman and Leno.

-The 'Lost' takeoff by Bud Lite.

-I have to admit to liking the NFL's spot, paying tribute to 'the best fans on the planet', beginning with Reggie Bush's slow-motion end zone dive where he seemingly hung in mid-air for an eternity, followed by fan shots from around the league. It was a nice touch. It might even cause some fans to forget about the league's heavy-handedness last week in claiming the exclusive rights to the 'Who Dat' slogan, denying Mom & Pop apparel makers a chance to cash in on the New Orleans Saints first Super Bowl appearance in its 43-year history. Well, maybe not this fan.

-Perhaps the spot that will generate the most water cooler buzz was the ETrade babies commercial with Lindsay the 'milkaholic'. It helps that ETrade has already done a terrific job of branding with these spots. But it was nonethless very clever.

Among the misses:

-I found the Denny's screaming chickens extremely annoying but my 12 year-old son Brian thought they were funny. I'm sure it must've struck a chord with some folks. I don't see us going to Denny's for breakfast anytime soon.

-The U.S. Census commercial was pretty lame. $2.5 million in taxpayer money to encourage citizens to be counted. A sad state of affairs.

-The Homeaway.com ad with Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo missed a great opportunity to have some fun with The Griswolds.

-Same for the Coca-Cola ad with Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. Rather un-Simpson like in its humor, or lack thereof. D'oh!

-The bachelor party/Shamu commercial for Bridgestone tires. Huh?

The Worst

As tasteless as the Doritos/coffin ad was, the worst spot must go to the 1985 Chicago Bears who were brought back to perform a horrendous version of the 'Super Bowl Shuffle'. I bet most people didn't even know who these guys were, let alone anyone under 30. Sorry, Boost Mobile, unless you were hoping to draw this distinction and additional attention to your offer of $50 unlimited talk/text/Web.

As Peppers & Rogers Group Founding Partner Don Peppers has pointed out, it's a flawed assumption that companies can simply acquire more customers through additional marketing. There's a shortage of customers in the market. And the types of profitable and repeat customers that companies are looking to acquire almost certainly won't come as a result of tasteless or tacky advertising campaigns that rub people the wrong way.