I really enjoyed reading about the Super Bowl and its importance in the construction of (national and gender) American identity this past week. I have thought about doing my dissertation on the construction of American identity (gender, national, racial, and/or sexual identity) in and through the different aspects of the Super Bowl before, and reading these articles has definitely helped me to conceptualize this future project even further.
I really appreciated that Martin and Reeve (2001) point out that “the authority, permanence, and centrality of the Super Bowl’s championship spectacle has been undermined by an eclectic, ephemeral, and decentralized Super Bowl circus with multiple side shows” (p. 218). For many viewers today, the commercials or the half-time show (as such “side shows”) are much more important than the actual game itself. I particularly liked that Martin and Reeve elaborated on the importance as well as the cultural significance of commercials in the Super Bowl setting. I, too, think that these commercials are charged with significant cultural meaning, as they are viewed by more people than any other commercials in the United States (and beyond).
A brand that took advantage of the general enthusiasm about commercials (in a culture that normally deems commercials as “propaganda” or “mass deception”) in the context of the Super Bowl is the brand Old Spice. Old Spice launched their Smell like a Man, Man campaign two weeks before the broadcast of the Super Bowl in 2010 with this commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
This commercial titled “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” of the Smell like a Man, Man campaign (which was one of the campaigns I analyzed in my master’s thesis) quickly became the most frequently viewed commercial in the spring of 2010, and many fans of the Old Spice campaign thought that it aired during the Super Bowl broadcast due to its immense popularity. As such, the brand successfully took advantage of the Super Bowl hype without actually spending millions of dollars for showing the commercial during the event. This shows how important these “side shows” have become in what Martin and Reeve (2001) describe as the modern “Super Bowl circus” (p. 218).
The Super Bowl commercials are getting better each year. Apple’s 1984 tv ad truly transformed Super Bowl commercials. Martin and Reeve are correct when they compare the Super Bowl to a circus. Each year, the Super Bowl committee is trying to figure out ways to make the game bigger, better, and more entertaining. The advertisers are thinking the same way. How can they make their “side show” part of the main attraction? A ad campaign that stuck out to me was last years campaign by Esurance. Esurance bought the first TV ad after last years Super Bowl. This strategic buying saved the company 30%. The savings totaled 1.5 million dollars, and they decided to give the money away in a sweepstakes. For a chance to win the money, all participants had to do was long on to twitter and tweet using hast tag#Esurancesave30. “As of late morning on Monday, 2.39 million people had entered the contest, including 200,000 entries that streamed in within one minute of the spot airing, according to the company.” (Schultz, 2014) The goal of this commercial was to raise brand recognition. This goes to prove that the buyers of these 4 million dollar Super Bowl TV ads are working just as hard to make their product bigger and better.
ReplyDeleteI have attached the Esurance ad and an article that talks about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ6brprBSGk
http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/esurance-s-1-5-million-twitter-giveaway/291472/
At first I was not a big fan of the commercials. I was always all about the game when I was younger. But over the last couple of years I have really watched the commercials and get a kick out of them. Some of them do a good job of grabbing the audience's attention and deliver its message. But there are also some who overdue it and try to hard. Like David was talking about the Esurance commercial, I thought that was a great way to raise recognition. I even tweeted "#Esurancesave30".
ReplyDeleteYannick,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you discussed the Old Spice commercial toward the end of your post, and how the company received the major benefits in regards to positively increasing their brand recognition without paying the money to have it aired during the Super Bowl.
Martin and Reeve (2001) stated that “…the shift in the culture of the U.S. television is apparent in the segmentation of mass audiences via cult television and the Internet…” (p. 218). The Internet is not only limited to the “Internet” in today’s society, but basically all forms of social media. Once something that is posted of potential popular on the Internet/social media, it can spread like wildfire, which is what had happened with the commercial.
Also, the closer it gets to the Super Bowl, the more excited the fans are going to be. When the fans see this commercial or hear via word of mouth, it is likely it will become a topic of discussion when the game is brought up in conversation. The commercial is receiving the hype leading up to the day of the SB, and fans are anxiously awaiting its play on National Television. Because the commercial did not air, the fans of the commercial might complain to others, and show the commercial to those who have not yet seen it. The commercial receives the hyper before, during, and after, but at a much lower cost.
The Internet is much more common than “T-VO,” and is very accessible; therefore, the commercial can be played multiple times, and shared in multiple ways, which cannot occur if it were to play during the Super Bowl until the commercial was posted online.
Yannick,
ReplyDeleteI like how you discussed the Old Spice commercial, partially because that's one of the only Super Bowl commercials I know. I agree that the commercial allowed the company to receive many benefits, and it launched the popularity and over all brand of Old Spice. When I think of Old Spice, that commercial is the first thing I think of. I personally don't watch the Super Bowl or the commercials, but several of my friends solely watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Which, in my mind, is ironic because if it were any other show, people would complain and say there are too many. It's kind of funny how the Super Bowl gets so much publicity for good commercials, and most people don't particularly care about the outcome of the actual game, rather than the quality of the commercials shown.
Yannick,
ReplyDeleteI think you make a great point that "launching" the new Old Spice campaign "Smell Like A Man, Man" during the Super Bowl helped boost the success and popularity of the brand and marketing campaign. Old Spice really has grown significantly in visibility to consumers since that point, and has several other commercials under that campaign. Something related that I find interesting is the tendency of bands/artists to use major live events to promote new songs and albums. Although the Super Bowl isn't a great example of this, another event that I can think of is the Cavaliers home opener this year. Imagine Dragons, a rock band that has gained popularity rapidly over the past two years, performed outside of Quicken Loans Arena on live TV and debuted the lead single for their new album. The song is now one of the most played on the radio, and is featured on many of the popular music charts. I find it interesting that these massive public events have such a capability to boost the popularity of marketing, music, movies, and people. This, to me, helps explain the reason behind companies paying a lot of money to be included in the Super Bowl Ad lineup.
Good post!
Joey Durant