Media Meditation #1 - Superbowl Commercials; Are They Really Effective?

$2.8 million. A huge amount of money at any time, let alone during a time when the economy is at a major low. This is the average cost for one 30 second slot during the 2010 Superbowl.

So it leaves one wondering; Is it worth it?

I believe for some companies it was. There are 3 commercials that I believe were a success in the 2010 Superbowl, not only because they were memorable, but because they also created an effect of word-of-mouth advertising because they were popular.

These 3 commercials are:
- Doritos Kid Slaps Man
- Bud Light Auto Tune (With T-Pain)
- Snickers Betty White Commercial

All three of these commercials really hit the main target market of the Superbowl, which is men, and they displayed mass appeal using the different tool sets we have used in class. Below, I will describe why each of these commercials were, indeed, worth the money.

Doritos Kid Slaps Man

Doritos, being the sponsor of the Superbowl halftime, placed multiple advertisements throughout the game. The most effective, however, was this commercial, where the young boy slaps the man that is dating his mother.
Beginning with the 7 principles of media education, this commercial really uses many different production techniques. The camera angles are constantly changing, keeping the viewer on edge, and the editing is unique to the other commercials during the Superbowl because there are many different scenes within the one commercial. Additionally, Doritos makes sure that viewers can relate the brand to the commercial. Not only do they show the product, but they have the actors interact with the product. Additionally, they include their logo at the end of the commercial so that there is an image in the viewers mind.
A lot of this applies also to the commercial's interaction with the triune brain. Because the commercial is humorous, it stimulates the Limbic brain, making the viewer feel different emotions while watching. Later, when the logo and writing appear, the Neocortex is being stimulated. All of which, encourages the viewer to remember the product because it is relating in their brain.
This commercial also uses one main persuasive technique to get the viewers to become customers. Humor is the biggest persuasive technique, being repeated all throughout the commercial. This is what the viewers remember from the commercial and talk about with their friends. But what is important, however, is that the customer can also relate it with Doritos because the product name is in the "punch line" of the commercial.
Overall, the thought process that went into making this commercial really hit the mark, making this commercial worth the expense. This was my personal favorite commercial during the Superbowl, and I have heard many different people talking about the infamous Doritos Superbowl slap.

Bud Light Auto Tune (With T-Pain)

The commercial that I believed to be second best was Bud Light's Auto Tune commercial featuring T-Pain. Lately, a lot of hip-hop music has been featuring synthesized voice overs. Taking advantage of this new trend, Bud Light really connected with the main audience watching the Superbowl.
Like the Doritos commercial, Bud Light relied mostly on humor to sell their product. However, they did something that Doritos did not do; They included a popular celebrity to endorse their product. T-Pain is a celebrity that many people in the target audience know of and appreciate. Therefore, Bud Light did well in incorporating T-Pain into their advertisement.
Additionally, Bud Light used the plain folks persuasive technique in including normal people in the advertisement going throughout their day with the same style as T-Pain. This is the exaggeration that made the advertisement humorous and enjoyable.
Like the Doritos ad, the Bud Light ad also stimulated the Limbic and Neocortex parts of the brain. Because Bud Light had multiple ads, many of which were humorous and ones that the audience could relate with, the brand will be remembered for a while after the Superbowl. Therefore, Bud Light's commercials were also worth the investment.

Snickers Betty White Commercial

The last commercial that I believe was worth the money was the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White. As locals played football, Snickers compared an unenergized man who had not yet had Snickers to playing football like he was Betty White. After he eats a Snickers, however, he is back to playing like normal, making the throws he is supposed to.
This ad is mostly effective because of its humor, but it is also something that the viewers can relate with. Because the viewer most likely likes football, there are a lot that they can relate with watching some neighborhood football in the commercial. Some of the persuasive techniques that Snickers used were big lie, hyperbole, simple solution, humor, testimonial, plain folks, nostalgia, and warm fuzzies. Being packed with persuasive techniques, Snickers really encourages viewers to buy their product. This is the main reason that I believe that this one commercial is worth the huge cost. I think that enough people can relate with the product from this commercial, and that it is memorable enough for people to actually go out and buy the product.


So there you have it. These are the only 3 commercials that I believed to be worth the huge cost. Making the right decision is crucial for companies during this time, and I truly do believe that some companies made the wrong decision in putting out less than perfect commercials during the Superbowl. If a commercial is not up to par, not only can it be detrimental to a company to waste money on it, but it might even put a negative label on it in the viewers mind for wasting a spot in the Superbowl.

People expect perfection from commercials placed during the Superbowl, and at $2.8 million, perfection doesn't seem like too much to ask for.