Sex, Dogs and Rock ‘n Roll!

That about sums up the Super Bowl ads for 2012! Although there weren’t any groundbreaking ads such as Apple’s 1984, there are a few that did stand out.  But for the most part, many of them tried too hard and simply fell flat.  For example, remember Cadillac’s “Green Hell?” Exactly. Neither do we.  And although Coke’s polar bears are cute, the ads lacked punch, a sound message and anything memorable.  And Jerry Seinfeld didn’t do much for the Microsoft brand a few years ago and didn’t do too much for Acura brand this year.  In fact, I had to do some homework to determine which product and brand the ad  was for – I’d simply forgotten.  And finally, let’s not forget GoDaddy.com.  Really? It’s so tired.  When they first used shock value and sex appeal to promote the brand it was fresh and fun, but now it lacks any level of true creativity.  Although I do have to hand it to them, when you think ‘domain’, you do think “godaddy.”

So, with companies spending up to $3.5 million dollars per spot, who got it right this year? Here are just a few highlights:

M&M’s: Loved the little guys moves! Simply cute and clever!

Sketchers: This ad was scored big because not only was it funny, it was memorable for the creative AND the brand. They did a great job focusing on the feet!

Doritos: They continue to entertain and while putting the brand front and center.

What makes the Super Bowl so unique for advertisers, is that a huge number of the viewers are actually watching for the commercials alone.  Most of the time advertisers simply hope you don’t fast forward through their spots, but during the Super Bowl, they are thrilled because people will actually hush the crowd to hear them.  Therefore, when you’re spending more than $116,000 per second for a commercial, you want to be sure that it is engaging, creative and memorable – both for the creative itself and the brand it’s promoting.  For a  recap of the ads, check out this video montage from ABC News.  Or go to Creativity-Online for a full video recap.