The topic of the week is the 2014 Super Bowl, which aired on Sunday, January 2nd. The Seattle Seahawks went up against the Denver Broncos in a terribly consistent game with an outcome that could have easily been predicted by the end of the first quarter, the Seahawks won 43-8. But everyone knows the Super Bowl isn't solely about football, it's also about companies' risky and expensive attempts to catch the attention of the millions of viewers. In this I will discuss the best, worst, and most humorous advertisements. Then I will go on to discuss the most ethically questionable advertisement.
The best advertisement was Coca-Cola's "It's Beautiful". It featured an all inclusive, multicultural rendition of "America the Beautiful" sung in several different languages including Spanish and Arabic. It showed aspects of typical "American" life including families, pool parties, road trips, etc. with many people of different nationalities, races, genders, and sexual orientations. It caught attention and showed a side of America that is seen way too irregularly. A side of America that fully embraces the concept of the "melting pot" that we have become and recognizes it as a intricately splendid dynamic. This commercial promotes change, acceptance, peace, and unity. Regardless of its criticism, it shows America as it truly is on an ideal day.
The worst advertisement was Chevy's "Romance" for the 2015 Silverado. This commercial depicted a rancher taking his bull out to breed. The rancher took the bull on a road trip by way of a trailer on the back of his pick-up truck. Though this commercial may prove that the Silverado is capable of yielding an average sized bull in a trailer on a road trip, so can most pick up trucks. Why would someone want the 2015 Silverado as opposed to the 2010 Silverado? What new technologies or capabilities, if any, does it offer? And lastly, I realize I clearly was not the target audience, but shouldn't they have at least expanded their audience beyond "ranchers yielding a bull on a road trip"?
The most humorous advertisement was RadioShack's "The Phone Call". A RadioShack employee gets a phone call and claims the "80's want their stuff back". Then a ton of characters and celebrities from the 80's American culture run in the store and tear it apart and steal everything. This was a good way for RadioShack to highlight its recent renovations, it caught attention, and brought about an element of humor that is unique compared to most companies. I do not recall any other commercial during the 2014
Super Bowl making fun of its own company and doing so by using 80's icons.
An ethically questionable commercial was the 2014 Volkswagen commercial "Wings". This advertisement features a father telling his daughter that every time a Volkswagen reaches 100,000 miles, "a German engineer gets his wings". This implies that car engineers, particularly German ones, are ALL males. The only female engineer shown is not actively working on a project like the men, instead she is in the elevator next to a male engineer (with wings) for the purpose of a sexual harassment joke. (Though sexual harassment is no laughing matter.) All in all, this commercial was in poor taste, took us all back at least 20 years, and is in no way propelling us forward as a culture.
Even though some were better than others, in the end, the advertisements (and Bruno Mars' half time show) are what made the Super Bowl 2014 worth the while.
The worst advertisement was Chevy's "Romance" for the 2015 Silverado. This commercial depicted a rancher taking his bull out to breed. The rancher took the bull on a road trip by way of a trailer on the back of his pick-up truck. Though this commercial may prove that the Silverado is capable of yielding an average sized bull in a trailer on a road trip, so can most pick up trucks. Why would someone want the 2015 Silverado as opposed to the 2010 Silverado? What new technologies or capabilities, if any, does it offer? And lastly, I realize I clearly was not the target audience, but shouldn't they have at least expanded their audience beyond "ranchers yielding a bull on a road trip"?
The most humorous advertisement was RadioShack's "The Phone Call". A RadioShack employee gets a phone call and claims the "80's want their stuff back". Then a ton of characters and celebrities from the 80's American culture run in the store and tear it apart and steal everything. This was a good way for RadioShack to highlight its recent renovations, it caught attention, and brought about an element of humor that is unique compared to most companies. I do not recall any other commercial during the 2014
Super Bowl making fun of its own company and doing so by using 80's icons.
An ethically questionable commercial was the 2014 Volkswagen commercial "Wings". This advertisement features a father telling his daughter that every time a Volkswagen reaches 100,000 miles, "a German engineer gets his wings". This implies that car engineers, particularly German ones, are ALL males. The only female engineer shown is not actively working on a project like the men, instead she is in the elevator next to a male engineer (with wings) for the purpose of a sexual harassment joke. (Though sexual harassment is no laughing matter.) All in all, this commercial was in poor taste, took us all back at least 20 years, and is in no way propelling us forward as a culture.
Even though some were better than others, in the end, the advertisements (and Bruno Mars' half time show) are what made the Super Bowl 2014 worth the while.
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