Super Bowl XLIX. What I saw & what I didn’t see.

By Gonzalo López Martí / LMMIAMI.COM

Disclaimer: I have NOT seen USA Today’s or AdAge’s ad trackers. I didn’t want my opinions to be biased.
Disclaimer 2: you’ll notice I’m not including all the commercials in the list below. As I said, I wrote this piece under the premise of totally unaided recall.
Disclaimer 3: the names I’m giving to each spot are made up by yours truly for reference only.

Halftime show with Katy Perry & friends: who knows how much cash, legwork, muscle & brainpower a brand like Pepsi has to sink into an extravaganza of this caliber. The ROI is impossible to measure. It is unquestionable though that the ratings are there and the social media resonance too. Big time. I still remember when, a few years back, Pepsi believed its own hype and skipped the Super Bowl altogether, haughtily dismissing it as just an inert vestige of stale traditional marketing. Talk about an about-face. The extinction of the NFL dinosaurs has been greatly exaggerated. They might be a tin-eared, scandal-ridden, lawsuit-swamped throwback but, maybe for these very reasons, they certainly know how to stay relevant & profitable.

T-Mobile “Sarah & Chelsea”: the service it is pitching sounds innovative & intriguing yet I don’t think they took full advantage of the stars. The concept &/or writing could’ve been superior. Still, it is a solid spot with lots of social media potential. Very good job overall.

TMobile “Kim Kardashian”: my profound hatred of all things Kardashian clouds my judgement here. However the “data rollover” premise kinda comes across clearly. It certainly is a strong value proposition for wireless customers & I’m sure it will have strong resonance on social media. Mission accomplished. Don’t submit to Cannes. You’ll be booed viciously.

BMW “Katie Couric & Bryant Gumbell”: the proverbial “storytelling” cliché done flawlessly. Good stuff. Very good. Congrats to client & agency. The future of advertising will follow this logic.

Kia “Pierce Brosnan”: beautifully shot, fairly well written, borderline slapstick at some point but nice comedic timing, the celeb and the car have a clear role in the whole thing. It ain’t disruptive thinking, it’s the kind of stuff that used to win Cannes Lions in the late 80s. But I guess all those involved should be satisfied about it: client, account team, creatives, film director, director of photography and exec producer. My bet is it will move inventory at the showroom.

Squarespace “Jeff Bridges”: in this case, my unconditional love for The Dude clouds my judgment. Ditto my personal appreciation for loopy marketing. The marketer behind this campaign, Squarespace, provides a great service of DIY tools for the digital denizen. Sorta like a Tumblr for the slightly more savvy or initiated. I sincerely hope they make a killing. These guys are onto something. And on something too. Log on to dreamingwithjeff dot com. Mesmerizing. Brilliant . If you are a terminal hipster, that is.

Budweiser “Puppy”: oh boy. Selling beer has become tremendously challenging these days. Everything’s been tried, said & done. The entire repertoire of advertising clichés has been used and abused. I’m sure this ad got enormous resonance, particularly in the heartland. In my humble opinion, Budweiser is preaching to the choir here. They won’t steal market share from anyone with these approach.

Always “Run like a girl”: Clever “cultural guerrilla” strategic bet with feel-good faux feminist social commentary. For instance: Hillary’s soon-to-be-announced presidential campaign team jumped all over it and used the hashtag “#runlikeagirl” on its social feeds to great success. A marketing home run (wink wink nudge nudge).

Fiat “Viagra”: I get it. The old Euros-trying-to-shake-America-out-of-its-prudishness trick. If they wanted to get people to talk, they probably nailed it. I don’t like the spot. I find it sophomoric. But my bet is Fiat will move inventory in the blue states.

Microsoft “Kid with prosthetic legs” & “Bus driver”: Microsoft is waking up from its stodgy, nerdy hibernation. Finally. Good stuff. But you gotta keep it coming, folks. You guys need to do half a dozen spots like this per year for at least five years to recoup you social currency as a powerhouse of American cutting-edge ingenuity.

Doritos “MILF on plane”: another possible name for this spot would be “Inbred in aisle seat”. The figment of the imagination of a lame teenager with unfulfilled and probably unfulfillable mile-high-club fantasies. I know, I know: judging advertising by its plausibility is a waste of time. The product  is front & center at all times but it has no role whatsoever in the whole thing, not even from a lifestyle POV. Everything about it is embarrassing.

Dodge “Senior citizens”: I like the simplicity and the courageous thinking behind it. Not sure it makes me want to buy a Dodge.

Toyota “Deployed daughter”: I like the emotionality and social commentary. Not sure it makes me want to buy a Toyota.

Coca-Cola “Spilled Coke in server farm”: the spot is a bit far-fetched and hokey but it must be regarded as a part of a huge multiplatform push with a massive social media component. Congrats to the Atlanta juggernaut for attempting to think big. Methinks the  ‘Coke = happiness’ logic has somewhat run its course, though.

Nissan “Racecar driver dad”: I liked it a lot. Very cinematic. It looked like a movie trailer, sort of. Not sure it is the right format for the Super Bowl. It is a story that begs for more narrative space to unfold. Not sure it makes me want to buy a Nissan but the brand comes across as strong and confident.

McDonalds “Pay with demonstrations of love & affection”: if the golden arches folks are willing to roll out some sort of national retail activation along these lines, it could be a massive hit. Go for it. folks. It will be huge. Now, if it is just a staged, one-off advertising stunt with no plans of spilling into real life, well, Ronald will end up with some egg McMuffin on its face.

Doritos “Pigs fly”: WTF?

Snickers “Danny Trejo in Brady Bunch”: I have a sweet tooth for camp & bizarre so I really liked this spot. The campaign it belongs to is solid, the message is clear. Hey, Doritos: this is how you sell junk snacks to teenagers. Watch & learn.

Dove “Daddy”: pulling heart strings always works in our racket (exhibit A: puppies, exhibit B: babies, exhibit C: bridesmaids). Will this spot make me want to buy Dove products? Not sure. Is it Cannes material? Pro’bly not. But it looks like a nice little workhorse of a campaign.

Bud light “Pac Man”: looks like something Red Bull would do. Or Gatorade. As I said, selling beer is increasingly hard. At least these guys are trying to come up with something different in a tough category.

“Liam Neeson”: I kinda liked the spot, it makes you look. But I don’t remember the product. Some downloadable mobile game (I’m no gamer myself so I can’t opine). In any case, unaided brand recall is not really a serious problem in the age of Google, particularly for a purely digital product.

Mercedes Benz “Tortoise & hare”: unbelievably moronic. Cringe-inducing. Depressing. A total disservice to the product & the brand. What the f***k were they thinking?

Nationwide “Mindy Kaling & Matt Damon”: clever, different, quirky, funny and, in more than one way, courageous. A bit misleading though. Looks like to me that they had to add the VO at the last minute to explain the whole ‘invisibility’ concept and how it ties to insurance. All things considered, kudos to Nationwide for trying a different strategic & creative path. Hope it pays off.

Toyota “Woman with prosthetic legs”: big and inspiring. Mesmerizing Muhammad Ali VO. The product always feels a bit forced in these cases. I would’ve tried a different creative approach instead of the kinetic collage.

“Mexican avocados”: there’s a big idea buried under the Monty Pythonesque zaniness in there. As I said, I dig camp. However, as much as the hipster in me likes loopy campaigns, I’m tot sure the message fully comes across here. Something’s not right with the spot. Happens all the time. This is a campaign better suited for YouTube & social media.

“Pharmacist Walter White”: I recall Walter White at the counter of some drugstore but I have no clue what the commercial is about. I hope they have strong digital & social leg to complement the TV push.

“Apocalypse”: God’s cell phone is running outta juice so the world comes to an end. Tongue-in-cheek dystopian catastrophic events unfurl. The almighty happens to be a cool black dude. You got my attention. I kinda know the spot is for some sort of tech gadget but that’s all I remember.

“Goat”: can’t remember the product or service it’s pitching. It looks like a commercial for some sort of Match dot come service for single gay men, created and shot by the same team that does the Doritos stuff.