Super Bowl Commercials: More Interesting than the Game?

Last night, the 49th Super Bowl was played by the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, with the Patriots winning 28-24. Many will attribute this win to an interception on the one-yard line by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler. But something I realized during the game, and confirmed with many of the people watching with me, was that they cared more about the commercials than the actual game.

I was sitting next to one of my roommates, watching the game, when I happened to glance over at him, and noticed he looked a bit strained. Asking him if he was okay, he replied, "I need to use the bathroom, but I am waiting for the game to come back on so I don't miss any of the ads!" As he said this, a few other people around us nodded their heads, some saying they didn't know or didn't care who was playing, but only cared about the quality of the commercials. I realized in myself that unless my home team (the Eagles!) were playing, I cared more about the ads than the game. Especially in the last four or five years, the Super Bowl is known as the place for big companies to release their best ads. Many companies will save an ad, keeping it secret, just for this night. As far as public relations goes, the Super Bowl is one of the most watched events, if not the most watched events in the United States. Even though it costs upwards of $1 million to air something, on a cost per thousand viewers basis, it is more than worth it. Especially now, when so many people just watch to see and talk about the ads.

One of my personal favorites was the ad for Clash of Clans, a mobile app game, featuring Liam Neeson, a actor known for many movies, but most recently the Taken movies. Clash of Clans has had a lot of very clever advertising in the last few months, the TV commercials are always really funny, and I see their ads on the subway, on buses, and on taxis. You can watch the commercial below. The Budweiser commercial, featuring the puppy and Clydesdale horses from previous years was another favorite, along with the 'Like a Girl' ad by Always.

This post was authored by Faiz Mandviwalla, the Director of Finance for PRowl Public Relations. Follow him on Twitter here. 

The PR of Commercials and Football

Today, the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will take the field and play in the NFL's 49th annual Super Bowl. The Super Bowl takes on the traits of a holiday for football lovers across the country. We throw parties for friends and family, stocked with wings. fries, and brews. Not to mention, the stigma surrounding Super Bowl commercials and who can create the best one.

Public Relations happens all around the Super Bowl. There are five obvious outlets:

• NFL
• New England Patriots
• Seattle Seahawks
• all brands with placed commericals

Though the commercials of the Super Bowl are the works of advertising, the discussion each individual commercial creates is a PR situation. For instance, GoDaddy intended on releasing a commercial during the Super Bowl, but found that the public opinion was not on their side, and decided to remove the commercial. The ad seemed to be mocking Bud Light for their use of an adorable blonde Labrador in their Super Bowl commercials every year. The ad shows a puppy getting lost after falling off of its owners' truck and finding his way back home, just to have the owners proclaim that they can't wait to sell the pup online thanks to GoDaddy.

Many found the advertisement insensitive, while GoDaddy thought its audience would laugh. The PR decision was to make a statement revoking the commercial and announcing that the public will still see GoDaddy on screen during the big event. GoDaddy left their audience with a little mystery.

Check out the Super Bowl tonight, and expect to see a lot of PR talk about the Half Time Show and advertisments come tomorrow morning!