Best parts of the Super Bowl
Is it the game or is it the advertisements?
The Super Bowl is one of the most watch sporting events every year in the United States.
Every year, millions of people sit down, pig out on all their favorite snacks, and watch the event. People who aren’t even sport fans get excited about the Super Bowl because of the commercials.
So why are commercials so popular during the Super Bowl? Well its simple, storytelling sells and a huge audience to attract to.
One of my favorite advertisements was during the Super Bowl 2013. It was the first of three Budweiser commercials that would appear during the Super Bowl for the following years.
The advertisement was about a Clydesdale relationship with its owner. It starts off with the Clydesdale as a baby and you see it slow to an adult. The story starts to escalate when the Clydesdale is sold to Budweiser and has to leave the man. When the man saw that the Budweiser Clydesdale’s are coming back to town, he goes to see them. When the Clydesdale see’s his old owner, he manages to escape and they are reunited.
Budweiser is a beer company so its targeted audience is for those 21+ but hitting younger audiences gets people talking about it. The advertisement was targeting an emotional tone for all ages.
Penny Hawkey from campaign us said “I think we’re a country of sentimental saps. And I say that proudly. We love a good heart-wrenched. For all the hostilities and violence we see every day we need our sweet fix.”
Hawkey is saying that we love emotion and that is what Budweiser is doing. In the commercial, the company is identified right away but in a subtle way. The name is on the mans hat in second shot of the commercial. It’s not overdone and could almost be missed if you weren’t paying attention.
The ad tells an entire story in just over a minute. The exposition starts with the man looking at the baby Clydesdale and than watching it grow up. The rising action is when the man sells the Clydesdale to Budweiser. The story reaches climax when you see the Clydesdale running down the road after escaping from its leash. Resolution of the story is when the Clydesdale and the man are finally reunited.
Another example of a storytelling ad is the Taco Bell 2013 Super Bowl Commercial. The commercial features a group of senior citizens taking a crazy night out on the town. The night takes them all around the town from a swimming pool, to a club, to a tattoo parlor and ends with them eating taco bell.
The commercial was hitting a humorous tone to hit the target audiences of college students. The commercial hit all the ridiculous things that college students do during a night out. Most of my friends end up at Taco Bell just like in the advertisement.
During the advertisement, the company isn’t clear until 45 seconds of the minute long ad. It is shown when the group goes gets Taco Bell after a long night out.
The advertisement does tell a story but the rising action hits right away. The exposition starts out with a man in bed but when he sneaks out, the enticing incident, the rising action follows. The climax is not as clear but it seems to be when the group of seniors went to Taco Bell. The ending and falling action is when the man gets dropped back off at the retirement home that he snuck out of.
Even though both advertisements had a strong narrative, the Budweiser commercial was stronger. The emotion behind the advertisement holds the attention of viewers for longer because you want to know what happens in the story. The Taco Bell commercial was funny but it just doesn’t beat the Budweiser commercial. People are more likely to share the heart-warming commercial over a humorous one.
