TERRE HAUTE —
Lots of dogs and babies appeared in commercial advertisements for Super Bowl XLVI, but game-day ads also increasingly are pointing to social media handles, such as Twitter and Facebook.
It’s also the first year that many of the anticipated commercials were released early on YouTube.
“I feel like that took some of the ‘special-ness,’ if you will, off of seeing them for the first time. I saw probably six or seven of them before they aired, but at the same time, I think people are still glued to the television to catch the one they don’t want to miss,” said David Cordell, senior art director at Williams Randall Marketing’s Indianapolis office.
And, as Super Bowl advertisements run around $3.5 million for a 30-second spot, getting more exposure is all the better. “It’s a record price and every year it is getting more and more costly,” said James J. Tanoos, assistant professor of marketing at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and marketing instructor at Indiana State University.
Super Bowl advertisers also “lucked out due to the tight game in the fourth quarter and this game has a great chance of breaking a ratings record,” Tanoos said.
Cordell said this year had a new surprise to him — a resurgence of the auto industry and big manufacturing.
“There was Audi, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Honda, [Toyota], Cadillac and Fiat,” Cordell said. “Fiat, I thought, had a fantastic commercial. I honestly didn’t know where they were going with that one,” he said. That commercial shows an Italian woman romancing a guy, then her image fades, leaving a Fiat.
“I think sometimes with the Super Bowl you get spots that are over the top, just to be over the top, but when you can actually tie the emotion that you are trying to get for your brand, into the spot, I think they did a great job,” Cordell said.
The other is Audi, where headlights are more like daylight. The result - a party of vampires is turned into burning dust from the headlights. “I’ve been trying to kill vampires for years,” Cordell chuckled. “My wife was bummed as she loved all the vampires,” he said.
Volkswagen had an overweight dog that couldn’t fit through the door and give chase to its favorite car, the VW bug. So, the dog trained by running on a treadmill and swimming in a pool. The commercial ends with a switch to last year, when VW had a boy dressed as Darth Vader. This time Vader appears in the famous cantina of Star Wars.
“For me, the commercial that stood out by far was for Chrysler,” Cordell said. “I think when you can tie in the Super Bowl, when you can tie in the moment, which was halftime, and when you can tie in the pulse of the economy and what people are feeling. I saw that commercial and felt energized by it. I thought it was an emotional, well-down spot. It was really powerful,” Cordell said.
Bob Rhodes, account executive at MillerWhite’s Terre Haute office, said “lots of dogs and babies this year” along with monkeys, helped push products in the game-day ads. “Babies and animals are two of the biggest things that people can relate to in life,” Rhodes said.
Skechers used a French bulldog wearing the brand’s shoes to win at a dog track race.
Still, Super Bowl commercials, which over more than the past decade have become part of the game’s entertainment value, now face a tougher task of getting creative, Rhodes said.
“It has gotten to a point where, as a viewer, your expectations are so high, it is hard to find out which commercials really cut through the clutter and stand out,” Rhodes said.
“I think Hyundai had some really good commercials, as well as the commercials generated by consumers, such as for Doritos,” Rhodes said.
The Doritos spot, a consumer ad made on a $20 budget by Kevin T. Wilson, a graphic artist and musician, featured a large Great Dane that casually buries the family cat, then bribes the owner to keep mum by supplying him with Doritos.
Rhodes said many commercials were clearly targeted at certain age groups, such as a Samsung commercial, with songs targeted at a younger group, while a Budweiser commercial that showed prohibition was targeted at an other viewing group.
The use of Twitter and Facebook is also a growing trend in advertising, Rhodes said, such as Bud Light using Facebook site for helping dogs, Rhodes said. The site was shown on the side of a cooler being pushed by a dog at the end of Bud Light’s rescue dog commercial.
“There were more tweets, according to Ad Age [which supplies advertising agency and marketing industry news], concerning the Super Bowl commercials than there were the past Oscars. Commercials have become a show in their own right,” Tanoos said.
Tanoos added that Super Bowl commercials are continuing a trend of mixing personalities, such as Jay Leno with Madonna in an elevator or a Pepsi commercial featuring X Factor winner Melanie Amaro dropping King Elton John into a dungeon.
“One interesting aspect, one of the most famous pitchman of the past 10 years, [Indianapolis Colts quarterback] Peyton Manning was conspicuous by his absence in both the game as well as [game-day] commercials,” Tanoos said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Madonna performs with the members of LMFAO during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLVI Sunday in Indianapolis.
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Fans seated in Lucas Oil Stadium use flashlights to set the atmosphere for Madonna's halftime performance during Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Discussion
Among Super Bowl ads, the stars were the cars
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Rockville correctional facility program teaches life skills
It’s hard to know who benefits the most: the inmates or the dogs.
-
AAA mag recognizes city for arts works
The nonprofit organization that uses outdoor sculpture to draw attention to Terre Haute is getting some notice of its own.
-
State pushing for convenience stores to make safety a higher priority
In 2002, after New Mexico forced convenience store owners to put sweeping security measures into place for clerks working late-night hours, the number of robberies dropped by 92 percent. Assaults, murders and other crimes at convenience stores also dropped dramatically.
Now Indiana officials are hoping voluntary compliance with similar safety standards will bring about similar results.
-
Patriotism & Honor
From his vantage point, Sonner Faught could see almost every volunteer in the cemetery.
-
Graduation turns to mourning in Clinton
Jeana Lunsford’s graduation from South Vermillion High School Saturday should have been a time of celebration.
-
School choice proponents foresee growth of vouchers
Twenty-seven Vigo County students benefited from tax-supported vouchers during the first year of the Choice Scholarship Program, and that number is expected to grow for 2012-13, say Indiana school choice leaders who visited Terre Haute Thursday.
-
Tales of obstruction meet first takeover attempts
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism and questions about its costs.
-
THE OFF SEASON: Raising a flag for my father, veteran or not
My daughter, Ellen, and I stood at my parents’ graves on Mother’s Day a few weeks back and talked about how it couldn’t possibly have been so long since we lost them. My dad, for instance, has been gone for 16 years, and that is nearly unimaginable
-
3 rescued from burning residence
Quick action on the part of some first-responders is credited with saving the lives of three people in a Vermillion County fire early Saturday morning, according to the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department.
-
He never forgot a name: Friends remember victim of fire at Garfield Towers
When Freddie Poore met you, he never forgot you.
-
Hometown boy embraces ‘Promise I Made’: Clinton native Ken Kercheval takes role in Dreams Come True production
Thanks to some help from a hometown boy in Hollywood, “This Promise I Made” is still on track to be kept in Clinton.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Many say they don’t vote in primary because of tag that comes with it
A couple of columns ago, I posed a question about why most Indiana polling places on primary election day had so few customers.
-
Police looking for convenience store robber
Police are seeking a robbery suspect following a Saturday morning armed robbery at the Jiffy MiniMart at 25th Street and Eighth Avenue.
-
Graduation ‘responsibility’: Rose-Hulman stages 134th commencement exercises
Inventor Dean Kamen gave a first-hand demonstration Saturday of how to be an innovator.
-
THE OFF SEASON: To the seniors, one last lecture before you go …
It dawned on me one day last week, as I sat at my desk in my teacher clothes and shoes, a stack of ungraded essays calling to me from a rather tall and depressing pile, that I hadn’t missed a high school graduation in 33 years.
-
Water rescuers
Emergency personnel wheel a man who was removed from a vehicle that had been driven into the water at Crystal Lake on Boston Avenue near 14th Street at about 9 p.m. Friday.
-
For many, camping outdoors is the way to beat the heat, enjoy nature
Stringing up fishing poles in the shade of American flags, households full of Hoosiers are packing into parks across the state this weekend.
-
Towns along National Road readying for next week’s miles-long yard sale
Stretching 824 miles from Baltimore to St. Louis, the National Road — known as U.S. 40 through Indiana — will soon be the host site for perhaps the longest bargain market in the country.
-
Rose grads honoring late president Branam at commencement today
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Class of 2012 will honor the memory of Matt Branam during today’s commencement ceremony by wearing special pins with the phrase “Make It Happen; Make It Fun,” a favorite saying of the former Rose-Hulman president, who died unexpectedly on April 20.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 26, 2012
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday and Friday, based on jail records. Charges are recommended by arresting officers but are not final until the Vigo County prosecutor reviews the case and files official charges.
-
A fallen soldier returns home
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Arronn D. Fields early Thursday morning at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
-
Official touts trade with northern neighbor
A top Canadian diplomat told a Terre Haute audience Thursday his country was “disappointed” when President Obama at least temporarily rejected a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
-
Caution urged for summer’s kickoff
Lane restrictions in construction zones on Interstate 70 and other highways around the state will be lifted to accommodate holiday travel for the Memorial Day Weekend.
-
Letters delivered
Several positions will be eliminated this summer at the Terre Haute mail processing facility as the U.S. Postal Service begins moving the operation to Indianapolis, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman has confirmed.
-
Companies seek Vigo tax abatements
Two Vigo County companies are seeking tax abatements for expansion projects, one of which is included as part of a county incentive package.
-
High-speed chase suspect caught in West Virginia
The suspect in a cross-country, high-speed chase originating in Terre Haute last week was reportedly in federal custody Thursday evening.
-
Second victim of deadly I-70 semi-trailer crash identified
The Vigo County Coroner’s Office has identified the passenger of a semi-tractor crash on May 16 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 near the 12-mile marker.
- VIGO COUNTY JAIL LOG: May 22-24, 2012
-
Burn ban in effect for Vigo County through holiday weekend
Vigo County officials have issued a burn ban effective Thursday and remains in effect until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
-
Brazil remembers a Fallen Son
A small town seemed sadly quiet Wednesday, waiting to honor a local fallen warrior.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Obama Honors Fallen Troops at Arlington Cemetery
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Raw Video: Deadly Explosion at Minn. Paper Mill
Man in Crane at Texas College Says He's Armed
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Romney Promises World's Strongest Military
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Beryl Knocks Out Power in Florida
Obama Pays Tribute to Vietnam Veterans
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Memorial Day Aboard Intrepid
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Raw Video: Obama Lays Wreath on Memorial Day
Raw Video: National Mall Concert Shut Down
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
J.Lo and Marc's Friendly Reunion
Justin Bieber Accused of Assaulting Photographer - Glen Walker reports
Cynthia Nixon Ties the Knot
Woman, 80, Falls Out of Skydive Harness Mid-Jump
Keira Reveals Engagement Ring
Dog runs alonside cyclists for 1,100 miles
Lady Gaga Cancels Indonesian Show After Threats
Long Story Short: Beyonce back on stage
Raw Video: Man Rescued From River in China
Celtics crush Sixers in Game 7
Alleged Lego Thief Faces Felony Charges
Has Snooki Named Her Baby?
Heat Wave Warms Holiday Weekend
Beyonce Entertains the First Family
Inspiration for the class of 2012
