Cash4Gold: The Most Shocking Ad of the Super Bowl
Brand: CASH4Gold.com
Execution: TV (Super Bowl)
Target: Those Awaiting Foreclosure
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
Two celebrities from the 1980′s – Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon and rapper M.C. Hammer expound on the joy of selling all of one’s gold possessions for cash with numerous ironic references to their own troubles.
What Works:
This ad is brilliant not because of the execution – which looks similar to dozens of late-night cable ads – but because of the media placement on the Super Bowl. Trained as we are to spot irony and wait for the punchline, this ad delivers exactly because the punchline never comes. We expect an Energizer bunny to interrupt the ad, but it doesn’t happen. It really is a spot featuring Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer mocking their own bankruptcies and faded celebrity for the online equivalent of a pawn shop. As such, this ad was one of the 10-most remembered ads of the Super Bowl even though it came from a brand with no brand recognition and cost a fraction of many of the other spots on the show. Probably the most brilliant media placement decision of the decade.
What Doesn’t:
Even if the service is necessary, seeing the ad connected to the Super Bowl reminded us just how far our nation has fallen.  It’s never a good sign when the bottom-feeders look like the most savvy marketers.
Branding Bottom Line:
A brilliant media coup that still makes us feel violated.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I’ll agree it was a good call to put this spot on the Superbowl. I even agree it’s pretty funny in that self-deprecating tone that’s gained popularity through William Shatner, and more recently Alec Baldwin. I don’t think advertising is a problem for this company. What will kill them (thought not likely completely) is their bad service and shady business practices.
The issue began to get some press before the Superbowl, but with the Superbowl spot’s popularity, all those disgruntled customers’ blog posts went to the top of the Google search results, meaning that a good chunk of that $3M spent went to driving people to information that’s damaging to the company and that will probably discourage a lot of potential leads.
Anyone who knows the story of the Ford Edsel knows that the quickest way to bury an inferior product is with good advertising. But, as I said, that’s really not an advertising problem. That’s a product/service problem.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Airing this ad during the Superbowl was spot on for placement. Doesn't really surprise me that it was in the top 10 most memorable.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I guess when you can afford to place your advertising in the most prominent spots, like during the super bowl, then profits are already great as they no doubt are when offering up quick cash. The fact that the people were driven to bad comments about the company is however a bit of a downfall. Are there any statistics available on how the ad played out for them?