febrero 21, 2012, Mielina Digital
One of the greatest dangers of a successful advertising campaign is that is very easy to keep working on the same line until it doesn’t work anymore; the ad viewer will end tired which is not good at all, but, let’s say, there are worse consequences.
Last year, Super Bowl’s most voted ad was the Volkswagen lil’ Darth Vader ad; this year, the agency used another sure bet: a dog, as a result we have a very effective announcement that causes an emotional reaction; the problem is that they used the Star Wars theme for the punchline, which looks a bit out of character.
The Chrysler case
At last year’s Super Bowl they used rap Singer Eminem to deliver the message that, even with the crisis, Chrysler is still in the big leagues; in order to this, they used the famous city of Detroit as a emblem of the fabled American spirit.
By the end of the year, the campaign was reinforced by another ad, a masterpiece of excellent manufacture that uses again Detroit and a 1917 poem of Edgar Albert Guest entitled: “See it through†written to address the World War I hardships.
This year in the Super Bowl Chrysler delivered another masterpiece: “Half Time in America”
From the technical point of view, the ad is perfect: photography, cinematography, scene selection and the voice of popular actor Clint Eastwood provides a great emotional effect to deliver a powerful message: “we have endured hard times, but we are getting through†just at Super bowl’s half time.
Just as the piece is perfect on the technical aspect, the people’s reaction was not so welcoming
1.- The scenes are from Wisconsin, New York, New Orleans and Los Angeles; imported from Detroit? Not this time.
2.- Demonstrations’ scenes avoided anything related to unions; which have great importance in the automotive industry.
3.- For millions of American taxpayers it was a painful reminder that their taxes’ money was used to rescue big corporations.
4.- The ad has caused some political stir, since it looks like Chryslers’ is supporting Obama; the controversy has been so hot that Clint Eastwood has declared that there is no political message on it.
5.- And the worst effect of all: although people liked the ad and was voted 8th (and second in You Tube), they don’t remember too clearly the brand.
This is a proof that one of advertising principles is still very important: don’t create an ad that is so spectacular that attracts all the attention and leaves none to the advertised product.
