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The Best and the Worst of the Super Bowl LIII Commercials

The Media Guy — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 12:49:00 +0000

Okay, so where am I?

Let’s just say that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick chased down their record-breaking sixth Super Bowl crown. That should narrow it all down.

On Sunday, huge brands like Budweiser and Pepsi once again spent millions of dollars from their advertising budgets in the hopes of catching your attention during what should be the year’s most-watched television event. While the ratings were the lowest since 2009, the numbers still boggle imagination:

Last five super Bowl overnight ratings:

2019: 44.9 (Pats-Rams, CBS)
2018: 47.4 (Eagles-Pats, NBC)
2017: 48.8 (Pats-Falcons, Fox)
2016: 49.0 (Broncos-Panthers, CBS)
2015: 49.7 (Pats-Seahawks, 49.7) https://t.co/ZCRN73DSpm

— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) February 4, 2019

If you’re a big budget advertiser, those numbers will cost you. How much? CBS charged another boggling number: a record $5.25 million for thirty seconds of airtime. The cost is slightly up from last year’s $5.2 million, and $1 million more than the cost to air a commercial during the 2014 Super Bowl. In just over a decade, the price of the average Super Bowl ad has nearly doubled from a price point of $2.69 million in 2008. If you go all the way back to the first-ever Super Bowl, in 1967, ads cost anywhere from $37,500 to $42,500, while 1995 marked the first year that the average cost crept into the millions, when 30-second ads sold for $1.15 million.

So who scored and who fumbled this year?

WINNERS

Olay
In the company’s first Super Bowl ad—a horror-movie spoof featuring scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar—the product is so good that the slasher wants to discuss her fantastic skin. Some panned it, but it was better than almost anything you’d see on Saturday Night Live.

Amazon
The “Not Everything Makes The Cut” spot is incredible in its comic timing and celebrity cameos. You had me at Harrison’s Ford’s dog ordering gravy.

The Washington Post
Because knowing empowers us.
Knowing helps us decide.
Knowing keeps us free.

Simply, this spot gave me chills. Simply. Awesome.

Captain Marvel
The Captain Marvel spot was the perfect thing to get the women in the house excited for a super hero movie.

Higher. Further. Faster. See #CaptainMarvel in theaters March 8. Get tickets now: https://t.co/BNTBGOLFnk pic.twitter.com/qD8Mz5o0sP

— Disney (@Disney) February 3, 2019

Hyundai
“The Elevator” spot with Jason Bateman (yeah, go binge watch Ozark, like now) showcased everything that is worse than buying a car. Apparently, buying a Hyundai is much better for the soul.

LOSERS

KIA
“Telluride”
Their Super Bowl ad included only people from the town of West Point (who weren’t aware this would be used in the big game). I’m sorry, I know I’m supposed to be nicer but I spent the first 15 seconds trying to understand what the VO person was saying.

Devour
“Food Porn”

We all know what Devour was trying to do with the cheekiness of their spot. In the original spot the concerned girlfriend says, “My boyfriend is addicted to frozen food porn.” Since you can’t say “porn” at the Super Bowl, it was edited to say, “My boyfriend has an addiction.” Katy Marshall, one of the marketing people behind the ad, told Yahoo Finance: “Some may say our new commercial is too hot for TV. We’ll let the audience decide.” Katy, let’s just say that no one will be addicted to this ad…and…you should have called the Media Guy before spending $5.25 mill plus production costs.

Turbotax
“RoboChild”
A creepy robot child. Taxes. What could go wrong? Just this:

Burger King
“Andy Warhol”
Who pours ketchup from a bottle onto the crackling paper next to the burger? Who wants to #EatLikeAndy? Who wants to change the channel?

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The Power of Christmas

The Media Guy — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 11:13:00 +0000

Okay, so where am I?

I’m up late, late late, So many pressing projects…

A college magazine to put to bed…
My Los Angeles Kings Jewels From The Crown columns...
Research on the next big idea for the next Clio Award…
Planning the former Communist bloc holiday trip in two weeks…
Christmas gift wrapping…

But then, I came across this from 2017:

All this fuss over the @Poundland @TwiningsTeaUK photo. clearly the elf is lifting up a heavy teabag that has fallen off a shelf trapping Barbie beneath. He should be praised for his actions. pic.twitter.com/Qk7fgVqpQf

— Mr. Moustache (@MartinJSnelling) December 21, 2017

Yes, this was a actual advertising campaign posted on Poundland’s social media accounts last year. Besides this photo featuring the famous Elf on the Shelf with a teabag dangling from his nether regions, there were supporting images of the elf in a hot tub with nude Barbies, an elf thrusting with a toothbrush, and the elf drawing a phallic-shaped cacti on an Etch-A-Sketch. For the innocents among us, you’;; have to Google teabagging to see what it is. (SPOILER ALERT: NSFW.)

Yeah, I’m still speechless too.

Speaking of the Elf on the Shelf, are you tired of him? Jimmy Kimmel has the recipe to make Christmas great again.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. Why, you ask? Because Christmas is advertising and advertising is Christmas. I am far from a cynic, but those white, glimmering lights, the scent of newly cut conifers, those stop motion animated CBS television specials, remembering your friends and family with gifts, and even Santa Claus are pure capitalism. And, advertising is here to shine a light on it all.

Inspiring behavior change is at the core of advertising. Creating campaigns that make people feel is the pipe dream that all of in the ad game aspire to. We devote late nights, weekends, and 60 hour work weeks laboring on the big idea to make it even bigger. More emotion. Extra heartfelt. Collective, Christmas is our case study. It’s a success that makes all other successes envious.

Besides great advertising, it also produces incredible comedy. Like this one from Saturday Night Live. In a parody of Glengarry Glen Ross, Winter’s Breath (Alec Baldwin) is an elf sent by Santa to motivate elves (Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers) building toys for Christmas, reminding them to Always Be Cobbling.

In 2013, the Pew Research Center reported that four out of five non-Christians celebrate Christmas. That means someone, some now convinced a whole lot of people worldwide that Christmas was a lot more than the North Star, an immaculate birth, and three pour maidens without a proper dowry. Here’s where I pop in and take credit for the success of Christmas on behalf of the advertising industry Kanye West-style. The ad industry has made Christmas into destination for togetherness, love and support. The pagan winter celebration has morphed into the shining example of the influence of marketing to spur affirmative moods and unite the world around us.

Of course, great advertising also comes out around the holidays. Each year, the flood of Christmas-themed commercials is the earliest indicator that the holiday season is upon us. I’ve got my favorites. I’ve also worked on some great campaigns. Here are some of the best holiday commercials of all time.

Coca-Cola
“Catch”

Coca-Cola cornered the Christmas market decades ago with their holiday ads featuring Santa Claus. Shoot, Santa started shilling Coke even before he took up smoking. Now the holidays and that hourglass-shaped bottle go hand-in-hand.

AT&T
“Reach Out and Touch Someone”

Back before FaceTime and when long distance was $2.49 a minute, grandpa could read bedtime stories.

Hershey’s Kisses
“Holiday Bells”

Imagine if a tree shaped outline of chocolate could play “Jingle Bells”…

Folgers Coffee
“Peter Comes Home”

Peter plays Santa and brews coffee. Simple and heartwarming.

John Lewis
“Man on the Moon”

We don’t get to see these here in the Stats, but across the pond, the ad folks over at John Lewis know how to make a Christmas commercial.

Campbell’s Soup
“Snowman”

Before Olaf we had the Campbell’s Soup snowman…”M’m! M’m! Good!”

The post The Power of Christmas appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Oscar Week 2017: It’s On!

The Media Guy — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 12:30:00 +0000

Okay, so where am I?

It’s Oscar® Week and that means I’m the Media Guy by day and the Oscars Guy by night. Before I let you know about the happenings this week in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, I want to say that I’m pretty moved that Saturday Night Live picked up on my outrage over the pandering of the Super Bowl LI sponsors and parodied it:

So what does Oscar Week mean? It means a lot of nights in Beverly Hills at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater leading up to the red carpet madness on Sunday. The rare chance to dive into the minds of filmmakers and producers is at the forefront with the excellent symposiums that the Academy of Arts and Sciences allows access to folks like me on the five days leading up to the telecast.

The lineup is beyond hyperbole, but rest assured, it is amazing:

Last night – SHORTS: ANIMATED AND LIVE ACTION, hosted by Dead Pool director Tim Miller. More on this one on other media outlets (yes, I’ll post links), but Miller was the best symposium host in the six years I have been going to Oscar Week events. He was honest, funny, intelligent and obviously channeling his inner Dead Pool. All I can say is I want more of Tim Miller movies. Like now.

Tonight – DOCUMENTARIES, hosted by Documentary Branch Governors Kate Amend and Rory Kennedy

Thursday – ANIMATED FEATURES, hosted by Pete Docter (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Up, writer) and Jonas Rivera (Inside Out and Up Producer)

Saturday – FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS

Also Saturday – MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING SYMPOSIUM

For those of you that care about such things, I will do my darnedest to get my Annual Backstage at the Oscars column up fast on Sunday night. That’s always a tricky proposition to transcribe the winners’ speeches and fact check it all. Traditionally, these are among the most read columns of the year and this year was no different with the 2016 column still in the top three as I write this. In case you missed any, here are the previous five Backstage columns:

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

Usually I wait for the Sidebars about the Oscars, but I thought you should be prepared earlier, rather than later. Without further ado…

Uncle Oscar always looks so good!

With 14 nominations, La La Land ties the record held by All about Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997).
With their Best Picture nominations for Moonlight, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner become the first individual producers to have nominations in the Best Picture category in four consecutive years.
La La Land is the first musical with original music and story to receive a Best Picture nomination since All That Jazz (1979) and the second since Anchors Aweigh (1945).
With his Best Picture nomination for Manchester by the Sea, Matt Damon becomes only the third individual to be nominated in the Acting, Writing and Best Picture categories. The others are Warren Beatty and George Clooney.
Denzel Washington is the seventh individual to receive Acting and Best Picture nominations for the same film, joining Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper.
In the acting categories, seven individuals are first-time nominees (Andrew Garfield, Mahershala Ali, Lucas Hedges, Dev Patel,
Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga and Naomie Harris). Six of the nominees are previous acting winners (Denzel Washington, Jeff Bridges, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Octavia Spencer).
Meryl Streep extends her lead as the most nominated performer with her 20th nomination.
Kubo and the Two Strings is the second fully animated film to be nominated in the Visual Effects category. The first was The Nightmare before Christmas (1993).
With a running time of 7 hours 47 minutes, Documentary Feature nominee O.J.: Made in America is the longest film ever nominated for an Academy Award.
Mica Levi, nominated for Original Score for Jackie, is the eighth woman to be nominated in the music scoring categories.
Thomas Newman’s nomination for Original Score for Passengers is his 14th and brings the total for members of the Newman family (Alfred, Lionel, Emil, Thomas, David and Randy) to 90, more than any other family.
Stuart Craig has the most nominations for Production Design of any living person with 11. The all-time record in the category belongs to Cedric Gibbons with 38 nominations.
Kevin O’Connell and Andy Nelson, each with 21 nominations for Sound Mixing, are tied for the most nominations in the category since nominations began going to individuals in 1961.
With their nomination for Sound Editing for La La Land, Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan become the first female team to be nominated in the category. Six other women have a combined total of 10 nominations and five wins for Sound Editing.
Kim Magnusson, with his sixth nomination for Live Action Short Film, has produced the most films nominated in the short film categories of any living person.
“The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story is the seventh song from a documentary feature to be nominated and the fifth in the past five years.

AD OF THE WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER

Jimmy Kimmel Oscars Commercial: Jimmy’s Pep Talk

Voiceover hall of famer gives host Jimmy Kimmel the full Morgan Freeman treatment…genius:

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