Nissan
Whilst I normally don't care much for the “Prank” ads that have become more popular since the rise of the YouTube star, I couldn't help but fall for this remarkable clip from TBWA\Chiat\Day LA. One of a number of videos for a unique marketing campaign featuring popular YouTubers such as the Epic Meal Time crew and Jabbawockeez, sees professional prankster Roman Atwood turning his entire house into a gigantic ball pit. Other videos in the campaign, meanwhile, feature Epic Meal Time cooking with their fathers, and Dude Perfect challenging their progenitors to various sports games in a video called “Dad Edition.”
The idea behind the integrated campaign was for each of the YouTubers to create a short film based around the hashtag #withdad
The idea behind the integrated campaign was for each of the YouTubers to create a short film based around the hashtag #withdad. Atwood decided to create a house-sized playground for his kids, and to a lesser extent, his wife (spoiler alert, she was actually quite impressed, but then who wouldn't be). One would assume that the spot shown during the Super Bowl (which marks the first time Nissan will have advertised during the big game in almost two decades) will include clips from all of the films, but having seen them all, it's Atwood's that (for me at least) summed up the idea of creating a “Great family adventure,” which was the mandate TBWA was given.
Roman Atwood – Crazy Plastic Ball Prank for Nissan
Fred Diaz, senior vice president of Nissan Sales & Marketing Operations for Nissan North America, said that “After nearly a two-decade absence from the Super Bowl as an advertiser,” they wanted to “Maintain the excitement and anticipation of game day” with their latest big game campaign. He said that the idea to not show the main event before the game was a calculated decision because he believes that to do so, would “Take away much of the magic of showing the commercial on the biggest stage of the year.” He added that the idea behind the #withdad was to “Build suspense (around the campaign), while provoking a social conversation around the overarching theme.” I personally agree with Diaz on this note.
Coca-Cola
Wieden + Kennedy make it into this year's Super Bowl honours list for the second time with this darkly intriguing campaign built around four vignettes and three teaser trailers building up anticipation for the 60-second, which will premiere during the first quarter of the game. The #MakeItHappy campaign aims to inject a little Coca-Cola branded positivity into how we view the internet, which has been painted as a darkly worrying place by the media lately. W+K achieve this through the teaser ads, which poke fun at the way we all appear to view the internet in 2015, and the vignettes, which show personal stories from Danica Patrick, Michael Sam and Kid President, personalities who share their experiences of online negativity.
Coca-Cola Big Game 2015 Teaser 1
According to Coca-Cola North America Group Director, integrated marketing content, Jennifer Healan, the final ad is “Bold and brave, and intended to disrupt the complacency that’s set in around online negativity.” She adds that, whilst “The broadcast is first and foremost the next chapter of Coca-Cola storytelling,” these ‘second-screen’ engagements are “What inspires people to participate and will keep the movement going well beyond the Big Game.” Andy McMillin, VP and GM, Coca-Cola Trademark Brands, Coca-Cola North America, adds that “Coca-Cola has always stood for optimism, uplift and inclusion,” and feels “The brand is at its best when it expresses a point of view that reinforces its values.” He hopes that “This campaign inspires people across the country and around the world to show more positivity in their online actions, and to stop and think before posting a negative comment.”
The campaign is built around four vignettes and three teaser trailers building up anticipation for the 60-second, which will premiere during the first quarter of the game
It's worth noting that both campaigns featured here have yet to unveil the final ad they will be using on the night of the big game, and maybe that's what has endeared them to me. There is something to be said of the shared experience. Of millions of people experiencing the same thing for the first time. And the internet has in some way diluted that “Magic.” By using the internet instead to drum up hype around the campaign, TBWA and Wieden + Kennedy have (in my view at least) done something quite extraordinary.
Coca-Cola and Danica Patrick #MakeItHappy for the Big Game
Honourable Mention
Of course, with the vast amount of elaborate Super Bowl commercials and campaigns being unveiled over the past week, many ads which would have heralded hundreds of column inches any other week have been unfortunately overlooked. I'll do my best, however, to make sure some of the better ones at least get a mention, and will (of course) include all of them for your viewing pleasure.
Budweiser – Bud Light, which markets itself as the “Perfect beer for whatever happens,” has hired Energy BBDO to create a game of real life PacMan in this incredible new 90 second ad. Budweiser are a brand that always manage to pull the stops out for their Super Bowl spots, and this one is perhaps one of its most unique yet. It only misses out on the top 4 because of its frankly unnecessary length, and the fact that it really doesn't feel like a beer commercial at all. This is one idea that probably should have been saved for the launch of a new games console.
Snickers – I've already talked about the Snickers spot by BBDO New York featuring Mexican action star Danny Trejo, but whilst the concept of the muscle-bound grump channeling Marcia Brady in a vintage 60's spoof is hilarious, the actual pay-off didn't quite hit the heights I was expecting. The one area of the ad that did literally make me laugh out loud, however, was a surprise guest appearance by Steve Buscemi as Jan Brady. Inspired stuff.
Nationwide – Comedian Mindy Kaling stars in this spot by McKinney, which will air during the second quarter of the game. It marks the actress’s first-ever Super Bowl ad and Nationwide’s first Super Bowl commercial since 2007 Kaling stars as an “Invisible” woman in an ad that utilises the Mindy Project star's diminutive charms in a delightful manner. It's not big, or clever, but it is entertaining and is directed ably by Bourne Series and Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman.
