Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 30 January 2018
Super Bowl ads aim for the heart - and sometimes lower

BY MAE ANDERSON of Doritos and Mountain
The Associated Press Dew.
NEW YORK (AP) — After a In a Pringles ad , Bill Hader
year of political and cul- has a snack on set and
tural upheaval, Super Bowl introduces a made-up
advertisers appear to be practice dubbed “flavor
pulling back from themes stacking,” in which the
of unity in favor of in-game actor stacks together dif-
stunts and ads that aim for ferent Pringles varieties.
the heart — and in some M&Ms has released a teas-
cases even lower. er showing Danny DeVito
The stakes are high since a dressed as an M&M being
30-second spot costs more dunked in chocolate.
than $5 million for airtime For a non-snacking celeb-
alone. The goal is to cap- rity appearance, Square-
ture the attention of the space hired a bearded Ke-
more than 110 million view- anu Reeves and sat him by
ers expected to tune in to a campfire to tout its web
the big game on Feb. 4 — This photo provided by Lexus shows an image of the Lexus “Black Panther” Super Bowl spot. For hosting services.
ideally by striking an emo- the 2018 Super Bowl, marketers are paying more than $5 million per 30-second spot to capture AIMING FOR THE HEART
tional chord with the game the attention of more than 110 million viewers. Other advertisers are aim-
audience that will rub off Associated Press ing straight for warm and
on brands. fuzzy, figuring it’s best to
Next best: Simply drawing during the halftime perfor- wealthy man who plots to Groupon’s head of mar- bet on “things that are uni-
attention, even if an ad of- mance. But it also featured crush small businesses, only keting for North America. versally liked,” said Kelly
fends some people. Worst an unusually large number to double over after play- An ad for Febreze air fresh- O’Keefe, managing direc-
of all? Being forgotten im- of tasteless ads, including ers nail him with a kicked ener goes all in for toilet tor of Virginia Common-
mediately. crotch and fart jokes by football. humor. It presents a pseu- wealth University’s Brand-
“More people will see me Sierra Mist, Budweiser and Groupon insists the man do-documentary about a center.
in this than they have in Bud Light and the now-fa- isn’t hit in the groin, al- boy whose “bleep doesn’t NBC created five cinemat-
the last three movies I’ve mous Cialis ad that warned though the ad video is stink,” alluding to a pro- ic 60-second ads show-
made,” actor and co- about erections lasting lon- ambiguous. “The crotch fane phrase that common- casing Olympic athletes
median Bill Hader (“Train- ger than 4 hours. hit is the lowest thing in the ly refers to people who are to drum up excitement for
wreck”) muses in a teaser Advertisers largely dialed book,” Advertising Age full of ... themselves. the Winter Olympics, which
for Pringles’ first Super Bowl it back afterward, except- columnist Barbara Lippert THE RICH AND FAMOUS start airing starting four
spot. ing a 2009 Doritos ad that said in a phone interview. It wouldn’t be a Super Bowl days after the Super Bowl.
MEASURING THE MOOD included a snowglobe-in- “I was hoping it was retired without celebrities chug- The ads showcase Ameri-
Each year Super Bowl ads the-crotch joke. But this forever.” ging sugary drinks and cans athletes such as skier
offer a snapshot of the na- year, Justin Timberlake re- The Groupon ad is also hawking junk food. Cindy Lindsey Vonn and figure
tional psyche. Last year, turns to the Super Bowl ... notable for its distinctly Crawford will reprise an skater Nathan Chen.
just after President Donald and so does sock-it-to-the- anti-1 percenter tone. iconic 1992 Super Bowl An Anheuser-Busch ad
Trump took office, ads of- lower-body humor. “We think the vast major- spot for Pepsi. shows a factory produc-
fered themes of inclusion. Groupon’s ad, for instance, ity of consumers will ap- The beverage maker will ing cans of water instead
Airbnb showed faces of stars Tiffany Haddish asking preciate the over-the-top also feature Peter Dinklage of beer, highlighting the
different ethnicities with people to support local comeuppance our ‘villain’ and Morgan Freeman in brewer’s donation of drink-
the copy “We all belong,” businesses — then cuts to a receives,” said Jon Wild, linked ads for new versions ing water to places in
and Coke re-ran an ad need. Its Stella Artois brand
featuring “America the also teamed with Matt Da-
Beautiful” sung in different mon to sell a limited edition
languages. beer glass, with proceeds
This year, following a year also targeted at providing
of heated debate over access to water.
immigration, NFL players Lexus is promoting its new
taking a knee during the LS 500 luxury sedan, which
national anthem and the it is aiming at a 45-to-55-
#MeToo movement high- year-old demographic,
lighting sexual misconduct, with an action spot starring
many Super Bowl advertis- the Black Panther, a Mar-
ers are playing it safer by vel superhero.
showcasing famous faces, STUNT MARKETING
focusing on inoffensive Recent Super Bowl ad
causes and trying to stand stunts have yielded mixed
out with silly humor and results. Snickers isn’t re-
stunts. Of course, a few are turning to the game this
going straight for whatever year after a live spot last
will grab attention. year fell flat. But marketers
GOING LOW aren’t giving up.
Most people remember Tide, which last year did
the 2004 Super Bowl for a fake-out ad with Terry
the infamous “wardrobe This combination of photos released by Pepsi shows actress-model Cindy Crawford in a scene Bradshaw that appeared
malfunction” when Justin from her 1992 iconic Super Bowl Pepsi commercial, left, and a scene from her 2018 commercial to be commentary during
Timberlake ripped off part which will premiere during Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4. Associated Press the game, will be back
of Janet Jackson’s shirt with Bradshaw this year.q