Super Sellers
Viewers drawn in by anticipation of new commercials rather than the game

By Julie Ann Matonis
Staff Reporter

The Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens is over, but few people who watched the game are talking about the score.

Instead water-cooler discussions are focused on exactly what advertisers hoped they would: the commercials. With an average of $2.3 million spent on each 30-second commercial, viewers and advertisers are still asking “was it worth it?”

Jack Raskopf, associate professor of journalism, said agencies should adhere to the advertising principle of keeping messages simple. “Sound effects and amusing characters get your attention, but did they reinforce any feelings in us?” Raskopf said.

He said some companies probably got stressed out trying to create the perfect Super Bowl commercial and turned to outlandish ideas.

“Some companies threw millions of dollars away,” Raskopf said. “Now people are saying ‘what was that?’”

Robert Evans, a junior philosophy and psychology major, said that despite the high cost of Super Bowl commercials, they are worth the investment.

“It was worth the money because advertisers have the widest audience compared to any other televised event,” Evans said.
CBS overnight ratings estimate that 130 million people were tuned in for all or part of the game.

Ramy Gorkowski, a sophomore advertising/public relations major, said part of the appeal of Super Bowl commercials is that they are heavily hyped up.

“I had a Super Bowl party but we muted the game and made sure we watched the commercials,” Gorkowski said.

The USA Today Ad Meter ranked the top ten Super Bowl commercials based on responses from a focus group. During the game, 119 adults, chosen by Harris Interactive polling firm, rated each ad, and computers averaged the scores. Anheuser-Busch had the most popular commercial and three others that ranked in the top ten. The most popular ad, according to the Ad Meter, featured Cedric, a man who accidentally sprays Bud Light on his dream date.

Students said the most effective commercials made them laugh. Evans said he liked the humor in an E*Trade commercial.
“My favorite was thecommercial with the chimpanzee and the Pets.com sock puppet,” Evans said. “It poked fun at the failure of the dot-com companies.”

Sam Denton, a sophomore managementmajor, said his favorite was the Pepsi commercial featuring Bob Dole.

“It was unexpected and misleading, and then turned out to be a PepsiCo. Inc. commercial,” Denton said. “Just the fact that it was Bob Dole made it great.”

Raskopf said the commercial worked for Pepsi because of its shock value.

“You’re used to seeing Bob Dole advertising Viagra,” Raskopf said. “Pepsi can get away with just advertising Pepsi Cola as fun.”

Gorkowski said she liked the fact that so many commercials were comedic, but she doubts she’ll remember the company names.

“I won’t remember half of them, and the other half I already knew the brand names for,” Gorkowski said.

Electronic Data Systems ran an ad with squirrels running the streets of Pamplona, Spain. Gorkowski said the commercial was clever but left her wanting more.

“It had a message that even though there are large conglomerates out there, the small and quick ones should sometimes be feared more,” Gorkowski said. “The only problem was I didn’t understand the company name, what they stood for, or what they actually did.”

Raskopf said the goal for some companies was to make their name known.

“The way it works is through repetition,” Raskopf said. “Even if the message is ambiguous, companies get air time.”

Julie Ann Matonis
j.a.matonis@student.tcu.edu