Brand: Burger King
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View
Target: Burger Guys
Reviewer: David
Rating: **

Description:
A musical number featuring the ‘Whopperettes’ this fifties style reenactment constructs a burger with women flopping down one after another dressed as bun, lettuce, burger patties, etc. They sing a modernized version of the ‘have it your way’ song. The end number where the burger king number is done to a burlesque theme.

What Works:
We like two things about this ad - it continues the ‘Have it Your Way’ theme that was the heart of the last successful Burger King campaign two decades ago. And it has good branding which is certainly Burger King and will not be confused with competitors -or anything else on this earth.

What Doesn’t:
The past year of pointless Burger King advertising continues with a twist. This advertising has been very critical of the “King” ads which attempt to turn the Burger King into your best pal (or a stalker depending on who’s watching). These ads are intended to stimulate ‘buzz’ -which they do - but do not link to any value proposition for Burger King. This ad is more ambitious because it attempts to tie the strings together (and if the viral BK campaign featuring Brook Burke is to be believed, marry the King off in the process). Here we see the classic BK theme song, a production number meant to bring us back to the golden age of burgers along with the King. The problem is that it is just too much. The whole production falls down under its own weight, spinning out-of-control into confused irrelevance. All the while trying to promote the dying icon of past glory - the Whopper - when the market is heading another direction and Wendy’s is already doing a good job capturing the diehard burger guys.

Branding Bottom Line:
Just get us out of the way when that Whopper comes crashing down.

Brand: Ford Escape Hybrid (Ford Motor Company)
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View (Go to “Second Quarter”)
Target: Environmentalists with Families
Reviewer: David
Rating: ****

Description:
Kermit the Frog (from Jim Henson’s Muppets) is mountain biking through a beautiful landscape, singing ‘It’s not easy being green.’ Then we see him kayaking and finally rock-climbing while the song continues. At the top of the mountain, he parts evergreen tree branches to revail a Ford Escape SUV. He looks inside it and walks around until he comes to the back where he sees the badge prominently saying “Hybrid” and then says, “Hmmm. I guess it is easy being green.” The mileage for the Escape Hybrid is shown in small type at the bottom of the screen. Then the voiceover says “The thirty-six mile per gallon Ford Escape Hybrid,” as the Ford logo and ‘Escape Hybrid’ shows.

What Works:
Ford was the second spot on the Super Bowl to feature a hybrid car (Toyota was first with a ground-breaking spot featuring Hispanic actors and some Spanish language). Ford uses Kermit, the very recognizable, very green frog as a metaphor for environmental awareness. It is a very, very simple metaphor and it works. Why?

1. Good Match to the Target Consumer - Ford understands that the reason to buy a Hybrid is emotional, not rational (for the consumer, the Hybrid is still more expense that the gas it saves). The consumer who is interested in the Hybrid is a consumer who wants to feel better about the environment. The consumer who is interested in an SUV likely has a family and needs the space. The play for Ford here is simple - the end benefit of the Escape is alleviating guilt.
2. Simple Execution - A song and a nice, long product shot is all it takes to make the point here.
3. Strong Affiliation - Kermit stands for green as do hybrids. It is an easy match. Showing Kermit doing green activities also helps.
4. Strong Branding - Ford does not make the mistake of forgetting to show the product.

What Doesn’t:
Putting a muppet in a commercial has to be at least as risky as using animals, possibly more. The potential for distraction is enormous. We would instantly be worried about brand recall. But it seems to work for Ford. Still, this is something to monitor closely.

Branding Bottom Line:
Ford pushes the cute button and scores.

Brand: Emerald Nuts
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View (Go to ‘TV Ads’ section)
Target: The Terminally Confused
Reviewer: David
Rating: *

Description:
Several men wield machetes in a living room, pretending to use them. On notices a druid under the stairs, speaking on the phone. The spot cuts to him as he negotiates on the phone. The voiceover takes over, saying “Eagle-eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under The Stairs.” Which spells EMERALD NUTS, as the visual shows. Finally, we see the Druid and two Machete Enthusiasts sitting on a couch eating Emeral Nuts as the voiceover says, “Even druids love Emerald Nuts.”

What Works:
Nothing, really.

What Doesn’t:
This spot is a disaster from start to finish. The idea was to create a quirky, iconic spot that would match the success of last year’s Super Bowl Ad for Emerald, which was an instant hit and dramatically lifted brand sales. That spot (click here to view) had a father telling lies to his daughter about unicorns to avoid sharing his nuts. The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus made an appearance as well.

Emerald learned the wrong lesson from that spot. It was offbeat, that is certain, but it underscored a real brand proposition (they are so good that you’ll lie to keep them to yourself.) The 2006 Super Bowl spot dissolves into complete nonsense. There is neither a brand proposition nor a reason to believe in this spot. Instead we are left with a sort of puzzle that is supposed to be charming because of its unexpectedness. It only succeeds in annoying us.

This advertising blog supports creativity, but creativity must build a value proposition for the brand. We see nothing of the sort in this confused, difficult ad which does not even show us the brand or brand name until the second half of the spot.

Branding Bottom Line:
Emerald needs to stop adding peyote to those nuts.

Brand: FedEx
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View
Target: Small Business Owners
Reviewer: David
Rating: ****

Description:
A bone-carrying Caveman walks through a prehistoric landscape with craggy mountains in the background. We see a pterodactyl flying in the air and then landed in close-up. The Caveman attaches a bone to the pterodactyl’s leg. The pterodactyl takes off and the Caveman screams as a T-Rex suddenly clamps down on the pterodactyl, sending the bone flying back to the Caveman. We next see the Caveman back in a cave, grunting to another caveman. “Package didn’t make it,” the subtitles say. The Boss caveman grunts back, “Did you use FedEx?” “No,” replies the Caveman. “Then you’re fired,” grunts the Boss. “But FedEx doesn’t exist yet,” protests the Caveman. “Not my problem,” says the boss. Then the Caveman leaves the cave in disgust. As he is walking outside, he kicks a small dinosaur in disgust and he is instantly crushed by the foot of a Brontosaurus. “Next time, use FedEx,” says the voiceover. The spot closes with a shot of the FedEx logo.

What Works:
This was one of the breakout hits of Super Bowl XL, scoring high in both likeability and brand memorability (#2 and #8, respectively) in the IAG Consumer Survey. This Advertising Blog concurs because it reinforces the core brand attribute of FedEx - reliability - and uses a time-honored device to do it.

FedEx originally positioned itself as the reliable alternative to the uncertain delivery times of the U.S. Postal Service. “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight,” helped FedEx own ‘reliability’ as a brand attribute (even though the slogan at the time seemed to be a paranoid statement of non-competition with the U.S.P.S. which has a legal monopoly on normal-delivery mail.)

‘Next Time Use FedEx’ as a campaign reinforces the same attribute and we like it both for the positioning and continuity. The persuasiveness in this ad comes from a technique pioneered in advertising by an older American company - I.B.M. ‘Nobody ever got fired for buying I.B.M.’ was the slogan of a generation of information managers in the sixties and seventies in the U.S. FedEx is reminding us that using FedEx is the prudent thing to do. By creating a prehistoric spot with an actual firing, FedEx does a nice job in creating a ‘back story’ for the FedEx rationale.

In fact, this line of argument is even older. French philosopher Blaise Pascal made much the same argument for religion in Pensees, suggesting the prudent course was to observe religion because if God doesn’t exist it will not matter, but if he does it will matter a great deal. Just as with Pascal’s argument, FedEx accomplishes a neat slight of hand. Pascal assumes Christianity is the only reliable religious alternative just as FedEx proposes itself as the only safe shipping alternative. In evaluating the importance of prudence, we assign it to FedEx, forgetting that there are alternatives.

This spot is a good Super Bowl execution as well. It uses both big production values (with very good animation and visual effects) and humor to good effect. As this Advertising Blog has often noted, humor is a very tricky tool for the advertiser and most often derails spots. To FedEx’s credity, it does not happen here. FedEx also bumps up the branding in this spot with the mention of the FedEx name just after the halfway mark. The positioning also makes this spot hard to imagine as a UPS or DHL execution.

What Doesn’t:
Reliability is an important category benefit but FedEx may not be doing enough to own it. In UPS, Fedex faces a fierce competitor which is also one of the best logistics companies in the world. It is not enough to own reliability in the advertising battle. To maintain this positioning over the long term, FedEx needs to own it in performance as well. This spot is conspicuously lacking in a ‘reason why’ to believe that FedEx is the most reliable. Because this is the general belief of consumers the spot works, but UPS can erode this equity unless FedEx can show superiority in this area.

Branding Bottom Line:
Great spot. Now if FedEx would only stop linking its name to those 18-year-old slackers at FedEx Kinko’s.

Brand: Ameriquest Mortgage
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View
Target: Stretched Home-Buyers
Reviewer: David
Rating: **

Description:
Two different spots (both aired during the Super Bowl XL) showing funny circumstances leading to misunderstandings. In the first, a doctor standing over a patient kills a fly with a resuscitation paddle. As the doctor peers down at the dead fly on the sleeping patient’s chest and says ‘That Killed Him’ to a second doctor, the patient’s wife and daughter walk in. They clearly believe that the patient is dead. The tagline “Don’t Judge Too Quickly. We won’t.” shows in text without a voiceover and then the Ameriquest logo.

The second spot has a woman trying to escape her window seat on an airplane by climbing over two mail passengers. Her blouse snags on a tray table just as the plane hits turbulence and the overhead lights come on as she is thrown onto the lap of one of the male passengers who wakes up suddenly. In view of the entire flight it looks as if she was having sex. The same tagline “Don’t Judge Too Quickly. We Won’t,” flashes by and then the Ameriquest logo.

What Works:
These were possibly the funniest two spots on the Super Bowl, rivalled only by the Bud Light spot with a disappearing refrigerator and a Sprint spot. They were also highly memorable, placing near the top of most of the ranking poles for SuperBowl ads. They may be the closest to achieving the breakout that Emerald Nuts enjoyed last year (and squandered this year).

What Doesn’t:
This Advertising Blog asks just two questions in rating an ad: Did it sell the product and Did it build the brand. We do not generally have access to sales data when we review ads, so we have to make our best judgement of whether the ad will be memorable and link strongly to the brand in a way that sells the product.

Your reviewer had the opportunity to discuss this spot in a seminar with over 200 attendees yesterday. (Normally we don’t like to use AdAge-style ‘Jane, a dentist in Seattle loved this spot’ anecdotes, but this group almost approached statistical projectability) Over half remembered seeing the spot. Only two remembered the name of the brand connected with it - and one of those people thought it was AmeriTrade, not Ameriquest.

These results are largely confirmed by the IAG National Consumer Survey which showed both spots on the top 10 list for ‘Most Liked’ but neither on the Top 10 list for ‘Most-Recalled,’ for which the measure is recall of the brand name.

This reaffirms our belief that humor is almost as dangerous as small animals in distracting consumers from the real brand message. The point here - that a good mortgage company will take a long close look at you before turning you down - is incredibly obscure and easy to miss here. It is still possible that Ameriquest could build a cult following around these spots, but short of that it is hard to see this building the brand beyond a short-term sales bump that will not justify the $5 million in media dollars.

Branding Bottom Line:
Emily’s Reason’s Why Not could have used this copywriter. Not so good for Ameriquest, though.

Brand: Toyota Camry Hybrid
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here To View
Target: Eco-consumers
Reviewer: David
Rating: *****

Description:
“Papa, why do we have a hybrid?” a child asks as the camera pans around a Toyota Camry, highlighting the word ‘hybrid’. “For your future,” the Dad answers. “Why?” the boy probes. “It’s better for the air,” the father says as we see them on the inside of the car. “And we spend less because it runs on gas and electrical power,” he continues as we get shots of trees and an eagle cut in with the car. “Mira. Mira qui,” he says, pointing to the color information screen. “It uses both.” “Like you with English and Spanish,” the boy says. “Si,” the father says. “Why did you learn English?” the boy asks. “For your future,” the father replies. More shots of the car as we hear a voiceover saying “Coming Soon - the all-new 2007 Camry. Also available with Hybrid Synergy Drive,” we see a hybrid synergy drive logo, “Toyota - the power to move forward.”

What Works:
We are covering this spot because it broke new ground in the Super Bowl, speaking directly to the Hispanic experience in America. And also because Bob Garfield roundly panned it - deriding it as simplistic and ‘patronizing.’ We are not Hispanic (your reviewer is half-Asian, for the record) but we disagree on Garfield’s overall comments and will wait to hear from the Hispanic community for their own reaction.

Marketing on the Super Bowl is about doing the branding basics well while at the same time delivering something new or entertaining enough to break through the clutter. While this spot was not in the least entertaining, it was new. Ironically, the focused attention of the Super Bowl (where people actually stop to watch the ads) gave this spot a better showing than it might get during normal network TV - where the new ground it broke went unnoticed.

Some of what was missing in many of the spots on the Super Bowl was very evident here - namely the brand, the product and a lot of focus on a unique selling proposition.

The pitch for the Hybrid Camry was straightforward and accomplished with a metaphor. Just as English and Spanish can complement each other and an investment in English is an investment in the future for a non-native speaker, gasoline and electric power complement each other in the hybrid Camry and an investment in a hybrid is an investment in the future.

This is the right selling proposition for a hybrid as gas prices alone still don’t justify them on an economic basis (although economists have neglected to mention that it is easier for consumers to finance a more expensive vehicle over 5 years and then pay less at the pump for gas in cashflow terms).

But what about the Hispanic metaphor here? We would argue that while it is an important acknowledgement of the growing role of this community in American life, the commercial is not focused on selling Hispanic consumers hybrid cars.

Who does buy hybrid cars? Higher income and environmentally aware people (although the demographic is widening as gas prices rise). And these people are more likely to be liberal.

So yes, we are suggesting that Toyota produced - in the most innocent, inoffensive way possible - a spot targeted at liberals who will share the belief in the positive side of immigration. If you believe that immigration from the Puritans to the Irish and Italians to the present has been a source of competitive strength for the country and that the process of assimilation is good for the individual and the society, you are likely to respond to the message in this ad.

We believe this spot works because Toyota has used the newness of a commercial with some Spanish in it (although less than many Americans hear in their daily life) to communicate to the core audience for hybrid vehicles.

And let’s not forget - it is big news. A hybrid Camry brings the hybrid drive to one of the world’s best selling cars. When the sales figures are noted, it might be hard for anyone to argue that this spot was less than a success.

What Doesn’t:
This spot is super-earnest, and it is possible that it might come off as condescending to the Hispanic community, although we don’t think so. We also wouldn’t run it much outside of the Superbowl, because it looks like such an ordinary car commercial with the volume turned off that it requires focused attention to see what is new.

Toyota shared the new-hybrid spotlight with Kermit and the Ford Escape, who took a very different route to reach the same audience with the same message. This does point out that ‘Hybrid’ in itself will not remain a unique selling proposition for long.

Branding Bottom Line:
Mira - it’s a Toyota Camry Hybrid. Can you say ’sold out’?

Here is our first take on the hits and misses of the game, by category:

CELEBRITY

Hit - Desperate Housewives (ABC) - Shaquille O’Neal, Hugh Hefner etc.
Instant Analysis - A nice job of using celebrity to show that absolutely everyone is watching Desperate Housewives. Turns celebrity on its head. ABC does a nice job of using its own time to build one of its own brands.

Hit - Debit MasterCard - MacGyver
Instant Analysis - We reviewed this spot before the game (click here to read review and watch video). It does a great job of bringing the God of Small Things - MacGyver - to the card for small things - Debit Mastercard. A good balance of big-game production value and solid marketing.

Miss - Pizza Hut Cheesy Bites - Jessica Simpson
Replace Carls and Paris Hilton with Pizza Hut and Jessica Simpson and you have this equally irrelevant spot which uses sex in a puzzling way. It not only fails to support the brand - it does not even make sense in context. Click Here to view.

HUMOR

Hit - Sprint Phones - Two spots do a nice job of showing the benefits of high speed phones with TV and downloads for Sprint. The first has the phone with the extra benefit of “Crime Deterrent.” The second is about the music and ends up with a Benny Hill romp around the room. What makes these work is that the humor connects to the product and the brand and the phone is very visible in both. Click Here to view.

Miss - AmeriQuest Mortgage - The ‘Don’t be too quick to judge’ spots are both very funny, but even professionals will have a hard time remembering the brand - which shows up only at the end of each spot. Click Here to view.

CAUSE MARKETING

Hit - Campaign for Real Beauty (Dove) - We have been critical of Dove using the Campaign to sell Dove Moisturizing lotion (click here) but for the Super Bowl Dove used its marketing dollars to promote the campaign instead. In the end, this will do more for Dove than the earlier spots. (Click Here to view)

Miss - The Beer Institute - The Beer Institute? Beer needs an industry group? It was nice to learn all of those foreign words for ‘cheers’ but with Budweiser spending nearly $20 million on the Super Bowl, nobody was going to forget Beer. (Click Here to view anyway.)

NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

Hit - Hummer H3 (General Motors) - This is an older spot we have previously reviewed (click here) but one that worked well for the big game. Even though we would like more face time for the Hummer, this spot reinforces the ruggedness of the brand very well. (Click Here and turn of your pop-up blocker to view the spot).

Miss - Full Throttle (Coca-Cola) - This pre-game epic spot pulls out all the stops to convince you that you’ll be meaner and badder with Full Throttle Energy drink - including running a Red Bull car off the road. At the end we’re confused and Coke is a bit poorer.

Miss - Gillette Fusion (Procter & Gamble) - Not as bad as we had expected from the preview spot, but a flop nonetheless. Gillette does try to give us a plausible reason for adding two blades and draining our wallet further (more contact points equals less pressure equals less skin irritation) but it seems weak and irrelevant. We’re still more interested in real fusion - or maybe cold fusion. (Click Here to view - 2nd Quarter spot.)

OTHER NOTABLES

Hit - Budweiser Clydsdales (Anheuser-Busch) - Anheuser-Busch wasted a lot of money during the big game with spots that were all over, many of which were just forgettable beer commercials. This one, however, connected at an emotional level. Fortunately, the Clydsdales are so closely tied to Budweiser that there is no question which beer the spot is pushing. And the value of authenticity seems like it is Bud’s best brand proposition. (Click Here to view - 3rd Quarter)

Miss - Emerald Nuts - In the early 1990’s in Los Angeles, we learned that random success (like buying some beach property in L.A. in the 1970’s) makes people think they are geniuses. But sooner or later this random-ness fails. After spectacular luck last year with a quirky little spot, these random geniuses failed spectacularly. But perhaps the real nut fans will love it. (Click Here to view)

Adland has created a great list of the known advertisers for the Super Bowl which you can view here. Check the ThirdWay Advertising Blog Sunday night after the game for our list of Hits and Misses and next week for continuing reviews of the advertising.

By the way we have a scoop with our upcoming review of the MASTERCARD AD which is not detailed on the list. Although we have the ad in our possession we won’t be able to stream it until tomorrow (Saturday) but check back this afternoon for the review and a detailed synopsis.

For the biggest week of the year in advertising, the ThirdWay Advertising Blog will offer special coverage. Starting today we will review the Super Bowl ads, continuing until we’re done or you are bored. On Sunday night check in after the big game for our Brand Manager Picks for Hits and Misses - our best call on how well each brand did with the $2.5mm they spent for the 30 seconds of fame. Stay tuned!