The Cost of Scoring A Super Bowl Ad

It seems that everyone loves the Super Bowl. Come February 5, 2012 people will crowd around their televisions to witness the most important spectacle in US sports. The Super Bowl is a religion to some folks and tradition for others. The event is as close to a national holiday as anything else that isn’t actually a national holiday.

There are three categories of people who watch the Super Bowl: 1. The fans of the two teams playing. 2. Those who love football no matter who’s playing. 3. The folks who love to watch the lucrative ads.

Yes, some people are fine with admitting that they sit around the TV just for the ads. For them, the actual game is the long, annoying part. But it’s fun to see which companies shell out so much money just to grab 30 seconds to 1 minute of your attention. They literally spend hundreds of millions of dollars to sell you their product. The insanity of the commercials is just as much of an American tradition as the game itself.

At Morvil, we have our football lovers, but it’s hard to deny the fact that we will be watching the ads a little more intensely than the game. The ads are our Super Bowl. I’ve scoured the office and found some of our staff’s favorite ads from the Super Bowls of the past. Personally, I’ve always loved the various movie trailers that debut–usually the popcorn sellers you see during the summer.

Amy Miller, Graphic Designer and Social Media Developer, loves this fan-made Doritos ad. That kid has a strong hand.

Both Odette Arnold and Jenna Ricketts love the Volkswagen ad from last year. Das auto company is trying to trump last year’s winner with this canine commercial from a similar universe. I admit that both of these ads are great, but what is it with Volkswagen’s obsession with the evil empire from Star Wars?

David Southerland loves this cat herding one. Here’s a challenge, try to connect what they’re actually selling to the theme of the commercial. Alas, some companies must have a hilarious idea for a commercial and don’t know how to connect it to what they are selling. That’s what I think happened here.

Creative Director Maria Hamilton loves this classic beer ad and this goofy Embassy Suite commercial. Brief, funny and to the point: what an ad should be. Mrs. Hamilton is our Creative Director for a reason!

I’m kind of a mixed bag when it comes to the Super Bowl as I am a combination of category 2 and 3. I will be watching the game, yet I don’t really care who wins. I feel as though the Patriots have won enough and the Giants are one of the biggest football franchises in the history of the sport. It’s hard to find the real underdog since both teams have such outstanding histories.

So that leads me to you, the audience. What are some of your favorite Super Bowl ads? Which of the undesirable teams (sorry fans) can you stomach to win? Leave your comments below!