Good morning, Monday. Off to the UK tonight and very excited to visit one of my very favorite cities. And yes I packed. It's two bags. Best I could do. Two weeks in February in a cold city and such. Sue me.
So last night was the Super Bowl and even though I'm not much of a football chick, the last half of the game was exciting. But here's what wasn't exciting- the commercials. As a card carrying member of the advertising community and also as a lifelong fan of great commercials, the big show was a bit of a deflategate when it came to commercials.
It's no secret the country is in a weird spot. That's why Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on SNL was so hilarious. It's hard to ignore what's happening in the world, and although many feel today's brands should not get in bed with politics, many of the spots just felt off and boring and not worthy of the price tag with which they come. I wasn't even going to watch the game, but I ended up finishing all of my packing so plopped down on the sofa like a good American and tuned in.
And although I did not want two hours or so of political nuance or otherwise, I do feel something else became apparent to me as I watched the spots. Brands are now in a position to craft real change, and many consumers expect them to as the whole "brands in service" model is more important than ever. In the few weeks since the Trump presidency began, we've seen brands suffer if they support him and we've seen brands speak out against him- from Howard Schulz of Starbucks to boycotts of Uber to Nordstrom dropping Ivanka Trump's line.
So for me, I would have liked to see brands do more than tell us something. They need to show us something. We need what I'll call "action brands" to connect with consumers. For instance, the Audi spot was good (a bit off brand if you ask me), but what would have been cooler than just saying Audi supports equal pay for equal work would have been Audi donating money to women's causes that help women get back on their feet or putting together programs for young women to succeed. Or show us how Audi as an organization is empowering women.
I did like that lumber spot, but when I tried to go on their site and finish watching the story, the site had crashed. If you are asking me to take action as a consumer and go to a site, it better work. I have no doubt someone's getting fired today. Oh and I can't unsee that Mr. Clean ad. Awful. Nothing sexy about it.
Also, the Bud spot that was period and showed how a young beermaker moved to America and became a success felt a bit like pandering to me. Because there's no action. Could Bud do a little more to help other young immigrants achieve their dreams?
And if brands don't want to show us vs. tell us, the ads better be damn funny a la Melissa McCarthy's performance on SNL. And though her spot was funny, I can't really remember what car it was for. So not terribly memorable for me. Thus, not good enough. It was Kia by the way.
If you missed the spots in real time, you can watch them all here. Everything felt just out of step and not quite worthy. It's because we're in a very peculiar moment and think we are looking for brands to reflect the times in which we live, or otherwise, entertain the crap out of us. The ads last night did neither. And I think brands have a big opportunity to be genuine and authentic and help make a difference. And that's just my two cents. Oh and the halftime show with Lady Gaga? It was fine. She's a great performer. She's not really my thing but at least she tried, and I kept praying they would cut to Mike Pence during "Born this way". That's her suspended above the stadium. Aren't we all just a little bit in limbo? Fitting.
Cause that's what's up this post Bowl morning in the 718. Yours, in not just telling, but showing. Cheerio. XO