I like to think that the Superbowl is when the best minds in the advertising business put their ideas to the test. Advertising doesn't have to detract from the television experience, and I think we should relish the opportunity to see those minds at work.
In that regard, this has been a bad year. From Clint Eastwood riding on Eminem's already ragged Detroit coattails to every Doritos commercial ever, the 2012 batch showed a complete lack of inspiration.
The joke about Hollywood that has been floating around is that there are so few good ideas there, that the film industry doesn't do anything but churn out second-rate sequels. It was––and, in my opinion, remains––the same problem Detroit had. American car design over the last 20 years has been abominable.
Clint Eastwood, a Hollywood staple and spokesperson for Detroit, seems to be suffering from those cities' common flaws: heads full of bad ideas and a soft spot for sequels.
Deja-vu
When I saw this, I knew I'd seen something like it before.
Eminem's inspiring original
I can see Clint and some of his buds sitting down, brainstorming this ad. They were probably thinking, "How can we be inspiring, too? And how can we distinguish ourselves from Eminem's ad?" But if your subject is American recovery through the lens of America's hardest-hit city, distinguishing yourself might just be impossible.
Speaking of Detroit, it has always amazed me that so many downright ugly American cars have made it into production. Take the Ford Taurus: How many gatekeepers––designers, engineers, executives––did that sorry soapbox on wheels make it through before going into production? The Taurus designs must have passed through a hundred people, and not one of them spoke up and said, "This car is awful. Don't make it."
A friend with whom I was watching the game had a similar experience with this gem:
Cars.com has gatekeeping problems
With the cost of a 30-second slot during the big game going for millions of dollars, my friend postulated that someone would have identified this ad as a dud. And maybe someone did: He's probably sharing a cell in smart person's prison with the one guy who tried to nix the Ford Taurus and the other guy who said that the V-22 Osprey was stupid and that we should just abandon it.
I hate Doritos ads. You should, too.
Doritos are the game chip of choice. It could be their simultaneously greasy and powdery texture that makes them so appealing. Maybe it's the fact that they go on sale during the Superbowl, or that they even taste good. It's not because of good marketing.
Being held hostage by your dog is a cute conceit for a television ad, but somehow this one fell flat. Maybe it's because people are tired of seeing fat, unkempt-at-best-looking men on TV––all too often, they're paired with attractive +1s––or maybe it's because there's something patently ridiculous about ignoring your cat's untimely demise for the sake of a small bag of chips. Whatever the cause, this ad went down in my book as the biggest swing, and biggest miss, of the night.
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