Cadillac (D)
An ad has to stand out to be successful. This is always the case, but particularly so on the Super Bowl.
Cadillac ran a spot that featured a car driving around a track. This just isn’t enough for the Super Bowl.
GE (D)
Here is a simple question: Why is GE running ads on the Super Bowl?
There are a lot of smart people at GE, and they understand the value of a dollar. So why did they invest upwards of $10 million in the Super Bowl?
GE ran one spot that told us the company made turbines that generate electricity, and we need electricity to have cold beer. And what is the point of this message for the hundred million people who watched it, 99.9 million of whom will never interact with a turbine in their life? Is this an employee morale booster? Are we supposed to have fond feelings for GE?
GE ran another spot saying they are hiring workers at their appliance factory. Is this an attempt to build affinity for the brand when other companies have been laying people off?
There must be a reason why GE ran these ads, but we have to struggle to put the pieces together. Can anyone help us on this?
Lexus and Toyota (D)
This was a tough Super Bowl for the Toyota Corporation, owner of the Lexus and Toyota brands. Both brands received a D from the Kellogg panel, though for different reasons.
The Lexus spot just wasn’t distinctive. The ad featured a sleek new car breaking out of a box. This isn’t enough to stand out on the Super Bowl or to meet “Super Bowl worthy” expectations.
Toyota’s spot was about reinvention. It was a cute spot but didn’t say enough about the car: What is new about the car, anyway? It was pretty good to start with, so what is now improved?
Go Daddy (D)
The Kellogg panel put Go Daddy at the bottom of the list. There were two key problems. First, Go Daddy’s spots are highly polarizing, offending a portion of the panel. Second, the message really didn’t come across: What is the product, again? What is the benefit?
Still, Go Daddy has effectively used polarizing Super Bowl ads to build its brand. CEO Bob Parsons freely admits the ads offend many but put the brand on the map. Although the Super Bowl spots do not optimize their branding like other brands, it is the larger part of the media campaign they run that compensates for these faults, not justifies them.
