Three Up and Three Down: Superbowl Ads 2009 – Second Half February 1, 2009
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: Amy Yen, StrawGrasping, Superbowl Bridgestrone, Superbowl Cash4Gold, Superbowl Dennys, Superbowl GoDaddy, Superbowl Usama Young, Superbowl Vizio
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Several quality spots early in the third pick up the pace. And what a game, right?
THREE UP
- NFL SuperAd – Usama Young/Dream Big
Like last year’s wonderful Chester Pitts ad (“Hi! I’m Chester! [CRUNCH]“), this little character piece is terrific. I really wish the NHL would do something like this. Think about it with Alexander the Great. - Bridgestone – Astronauts/House of Pain
Astronauts! On the moon! Jamming to House of Pain! Discovering that aliens stole their tires! I mean, come on! Just hilarious all the way through. - Dennys – Thugs/Serious Breakfast
So awesome, I can even describe it. I just love that she kept spraying the whipped cream everytime the mob boss started talking again. Also, doesn’t that crime family seem like they need to work on their descretion?
THREE DOWN
- Cash4Gold – Heeeere’s Money
Look, I don’t care if you did have MC Hammer & Ed McMahon & you were actually kind of funny, you don’t belong on the Superbowl. If you just use that commercial during cable programming, I wouldn’t be so annoyed that you exist. I’m just saying. - Vizio – Take a Look
Why didn’t you just flush your money down the toilet? Cause you sure didn’t make an impact during your $2 million dollar ad placement ON THE SUPERBOWL. Seriously, remember when this used to be a showcase for the best creative? Why did they even bother? - GoDaddy – Enhanced
Are they going to just keep going lower & lower until they reach the level of those Girls Gone Wild commercials that come on late at night? You’re allowed to reinvent your ad campaign, GoDaddy. I’ve used GoDaddy for web stuff & this is a horrible representation of a good product. Stop sinking your brand & go get yourself a new agency.
If you missed any ads, watch them here: http://www.hulu.com/superbowl
Three Up and Three Down: Superbowl Ads – First Half February 1, 2009
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: Amy Yen, StrawGrasping, SuperBowl, Superbowl 2009 ads, SuperBowl ads, Superbowl Bridgestone, Superbowl Bud Light, Superbowl Danica Patrick Superbowl Doritos, Superbowl GoDaddy, Superbowl Sobe, Superbowl Teleflora
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Not as bad as two years ago, but not as good as last year’s ads. Overall, very disappointing, I think. There hasn’t been one ad yet where I was like, that was great, that was a deserving Superbowl ad. But anyway, here’s Three Up & Three Down from the first half:
THREE UP
- Bud Light – Conan’s Swedish Ad
Look, when even Bud’s ads aren’t really living up to standards, you know you got a dud group of ads. But Bud’s are still better than just about anyone else’s. Just the visual of Conan in bunny ears & a red jumpsuit was good enough for me. The Budget Meeting spot was also pretty funny, even if it was completely predictable. - Bridgestone – Potatoheads
Very cute & clever, they had me at the part where Mrs. Potatohead’s lips went flying down the mountain. - Teleflora – Talking Flowers
It works because it’s actually kind of mean & that’s surprising. “Nobody wants to see you naked.” Heh.
THREE DOWN
- Go Daddy – Danica Patrick in the Shower
Okay, are there two things more irrelevant in popular culture right now than Danica Patrick & Go Daddy Superbowl commercials? Let it go, Go Daddy. - Doritos – Power of the Crunch & Crystal Ball
Doritos fell flat so far, a shame because I liked what they do with UCC. - Sobe – Dancing
A potentially good concept—how do you go wrong with dancing professional athletes?—gone horribly, incomprehensively wrong.
If you missed any ads, watch them here: http://www.hulu.com/superbowl
Ad Post: T-Mobile – Flashmob Dancing in Liverpool Street Station January 18, 2009
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising.Tags: Amy Yen, flashmob, Improv Everywhere, StrawGrasping, strawgrasping advertising, T-Mobile, T-Mobile ad, T-Mobile flashmob ad, T-Mobile Liverpool dancing ad, T-Mobile Liverpool flashmob, T-Mobile Liverpool Station, T-Mobile Liverpool Station ad, T-Mobile Liverpool Station commercial
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T-Mobile 2:50 spot
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
I know the flashmob thing isn’t exactly a new thing, but everytime I see it, I get a kick out of it. T-Mobile & Saatchi does a nice job of organizing a sizable stunt at the Liverpool Street Station in London just this past Thursday. Not really a completely seemless tie-in to their “life is for sharing” theme, but memorable nonetheless. I think it’s excellent.
PS: If you haven’t yet, check out Improv Everywhere‘s completely awesome Food Court Musical, Frozen Grand Central Station & their famous No Pants Day flashmob greatness.
Ad Post: Nike Football – Fate October 14, 2008
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: Amy Yen, David Fincher, LaDainian Tomlinson, LT, NFL, Nike, Nike ads, Nike Ladainian Tomlinson Troy Polamalu ad, Nike Leave Nothing, StrawGrasping, Troy Polamalu, Wieden+Kennedy
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Nike 1:00 spot
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy
Yet another brilliant spot from Nike, this one for Nike Football, “documenting” the paths LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu take from the moment they are born to the moment they meet, in violent and poetic fashion, on the field. It ends with the tag “Leave Nothing,” and like the previous spot, it’s the music, epic, that truly makes the ad.
You can almost always tell when you’re watching David Fincher‘s work. I wasn’t surprised to find this spot was one of his, with it’s distinctive cinematography & storytelling direction. I especially like how the ad itself is shot in a way that mimics Tomlinson & Polamalu’s collision coarse, with the subject in one scene going one way and the one in the next scene going the other. Closer & closer & then you see that they’ve always been headed this way. And then, suddenly, the crash is over & they’re up, patting each other’s back for a good hit.
“Leave Nothing” is such a perfect tag for so many reason, especially perfect for football, where every player is expected to give everything of himself for the game & sportsmanship is honored above all else.
Ad Post: Oreos – Mannings vs. Williams August 28, 2008
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: advertisng, Amy Yen, DSRL, Eli Manning, Manning brothers, Oreos, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, StrawGrasping, Venus Williams, Williams sisters
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Oreos :30 spot
Agency: Draftfcb New York
The latest in a new “Double Stuf Racing League” series of ads that also launched with Peyton & Eli features the Williams’ sisters, who are quickly overshadowed by the Mannings, who are proven promotion geniuses. Seriously, are their ads never not completely awesome? Remember the SportsCenter spot? Or NFL Shop? (“Switching to pancakes! Pancakes!”) Even the best of Peyton’s Mastercard series was the one with the Eli inside joke. (“Can you sign the bread for my little brother? He loves you.”)
So yeah, the Williams’ didn’t really stand a chance, especially since the writers gave the Mannings all the best lines (“My brother & I would like to announce that, ooooh, we’re scared!”). Regardless, very funny spot.
Ad Post: NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs – Raise June 3, 2008
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: ads, advertising, Amy Yen, hockey, NHL, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals, StrawGrasping
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NHL :30 spot
Agency: Young & Rubicam
The Stanley Cup so kicks all other sports trophies’ butts, doesn’t it? First of all, it’s huge. And if you win it, you get your name on it…forever. (Or at least until they run out of room, but then your name goes in the hockey Hall of Fame, which is also pretty cool.) You name gets etched into a living history of the game.
And also if you win it, you get to spend a day with it & take it anywhere you want, which is awesome because it leads to stories like Guy Carbonneau throwing the Cup off Vinnie Paul of Pantera’s balcony into a swimming pool & denting it, which is something Coach Carbonneau denies to this day, but everyone knows it happened.
The Cup, unlike the Larry O’Brien trophy or the Vince Lombardi trophy or that thing with the flags that you win in baseball, is paraded around the country during the season. You can actually go touch it, unless of course you’re aspiring hockey player with dreams of one day winning it for yourself. When you see it, it looks so magnificent, so larger-than-life. When the players who have won it lift it, it seems weightless.
Congrats to the Pens for staying alive. Good luck on Wednesday. I hope you make history.
Ad Post: NBA Playoffs Kobe/Shaq – Fear April 6, 2008
Posted by Amy Yen in advertising, sports.Tags: advertising, Amy Yen, fear, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Kobe Bryant, NBA, playoffs, Shaquille O'Neal, StrawGrasping
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NBA :30 Spot
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
A great spot in so many ways. The choice to use the famous adversaries Kobe & Shaq, the strings-backed soundtrack, even the subject. Fear. A bad word amongst athletes. Admitting fear is a sign of weakness, a death wish in the playoffs. So talking about fear in a spot like this, I think, is brave.
Besides the content, I thought the theme of this campaign was wonderful. The split screen, the perfectly simultaneous monotones & the tagline, “there can only be one.” It is an excellent capture of the calm before the storm.
As AdWeek reports, the spot is part of a series, also including ads featuring Steve Nash & Jason Kidd and KG & Lebron. Looking forward to seeing the whole series.
Ad Post: GE Love Story March 16, 2008
Posted by Amy in advertising.Tags: ads, advertising, Amy Yen, GE, General Electric, Imagination at WOrk, StrawGrasping
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General Electric: 1:00 spot
Agency: BBDO New York
A cute, amusing little spot for GE’s “Imagination at Work” campaign. Sure, it’s a little bit of a stretch to healthcare in rural China, & it’s a little Chinese music video-y, but it’s sweet & it tells a story, & it’s hard to go wrong with that. I thought it was lovely.
Ad Post: The NHL on Versus February 24, 2008
Posted by Amy in advertising, sports.Tags: ads, advertising, Alexander Ovechkin, Amy Yen, Daniel Briere, ESPN, hockey, Mark Recchi, My NHL, NHL, Outdoor Life Network, StrawGrasping, Versus, Young & Rubicam
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Okay, so I spend tremendous amounts of time complaining about the NHL being on the former Outdoor Life Network, what kind of coverage they receive, their continued stubbornness in not groveling at the feet of the ESPN sports gods & begging to be given that coveted 4-7 am timeslot on ESPNews. But I do like their commercials this year. Here’s the latest:
The NHL on Versus :30 spot
Agency: Unsure — Young & Rubicam is the AOR for the NHL, but I believe they were responsible for the “Is this the year?” spots, which I didn’t like as much. May just be Versus’s in-house, or they may have their own agency. Any info would be appreciated, I’d be curious who did this series.
Some of the spots in this campaign were beautifully shot. The Danny Briere one from very early in the season (before he took that shiny new $52 million contract & promptly went out & dropped on a -22 rating) was especially exquisite. That grainy, raw black & white photography seems to help tell the story. I also really loved the Mark Recchi one from before he was placed on waivers. “They’ll have to pry the stick from my cold, dead hands.” How very appropriate, since he’s managed to make his 500-goal-scoring self useful in Atlanta since his dismissal from Pittsburgh.
You know, I would love to link to all of these very cool ads, but they are somehow NOT ONLINE ANYWHERE OMG HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE, NHL??? Do you not WANT to be relevent?
…Sorry. I didn’t mean to blog in capital letters. Anyway, I like the new spot for Alex Ovechkin’s quest for 60. I even like the little subconscious dig at the “No Goal,” as Brett Hull’s name appears inside the crease. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
It’s interesting that Versus took this approach, which is artistic & interesting to watch, but probably not as effective as the humorous campaign the league did last year. It is, however, still miles better than the ridiculous post-lockout warrior campaign, which was a series of NHL commercials that failed to feature any NHL players. Seriously, sometimes I wonder why they’ve managed to keep me as a fan.
Three Up & Three Down – Super Bowl Second Half Ads February 3, 2008
Posted by Amy in advertising, sports.Tags: ads, advertising, Amy Yen, Bud Light, CareerBuilder, Carmen Electra, Chester Pitts, Coke, football, IceBreakers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFL, Semi-Pro, Shaquille O'Neal, StrawGrasping, SuperBowl, SuperBowl ads, Vitamin Water, Will Ferrell
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First of all, what an unbelievable game. I’m so happy I didn’t care about the outcome. That makes the entire game so much more enjoyable. Anyway, here are my second half ad picks:
THREE UP
- NFL – Chester Pitts
“Hi. I’m Chester.” Give them credit, the NFL always makes great spots. And unlike the NHL, they always do a good job of marketing their players. “I play the oboe.” Aw. I almost played the oboe, but I switched to flute at the last minute.
- Coke – Floats
Aw. Such a Coke ad, if you know what I mean. Whimsical, witty, likable.
- Semi-Pro/Bud Light
I would watch Will Ferrell read a phone book.
THREE DOWN
- IceBreakers Ice Cubes – Carmen Electra
I’m having trouble properly expressing the stupidity of this spot. House (next on FOX!! if you didn’t know) showed that you can use Carmen Electra in a clever way. This was not it.
- Vitamin Water – Shaq Jockey
You know, considering how clever the copy on their packaging is, it’s surprising how bad the rest of Vitamin Water’s marketing is.
- CareerBuilder – Spider
I liked this one even less than the heart. Disappointing showing from CareerBuilder this year. I think they panicked putting their account up after last year. There wasn’t anything wrong with the jungle campaign.
Again, if you missed any of the ads, catch them HERE.
Congrats to the Giants. It was definitely a great show.
