2012 Super Bowl Commercials Raise Eyebrows

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Racy advertisements on Game Day have been raising eyebrows long before GoDaddy Girl Candice Michelle (wife of a chiropractor) was featured in a 2005 wardrobe malfunction Super Bowl Ad, but thanks to the Internet, people can (and do) tweet real-time, their distaste for brands and advertisements using such tactics in marketing. The GoDaddy commercials today tend to attract a lot of negativity, and also a lot of buzz, but what about the others?

I’m a sucker for dogs in commercials (my yellow Labrador was a Purina Dog Chow TV star), so this year most of my favorite Super Bowl commercial picks would go to the dogs, likely the Mr. Quiggly Sketchers running shoes ad. But Mr. Quiggly wasn’t the only one wearing black and red (and let’s face it, few people are searching for Mr. Quiggly).

Model Catrinel Menghia in Fiat 2012 Super Bowl AdModel Catrinel Menghia (she’s Romanian, not Italian) was featured in the Fiat 500 Abarth Commercial (the same brand of car we’ve seen Jennifer Lopez featured in for months now). Personally I’m unsure whether the target market for the Red Fiat 500 Abarth is male or female, the JLo ads had me thinking it was more a car marketed towards women. The Super Bowl spot certainly appeared to have men as the target.

FIAT 500 Abarth – 2012 Super Bowl Commercial – SeductionI’m not in the market to buy a car, but I thought the ad was clever, and not too over the top. It got my attention, it was funny, and I remembered it enough to research it further. There was a KIA Super Bowl Ad featuring Motley Crue (Kickstart My Heart Song), model Adriana Lima, an MMA fighter, and others, but I couldn’t pick the car out if you showed it to me now. I remember it was white, or silver, or something. Was the ad over the top? Overall, I thought it was a great ad, something you could expect to see during the Super Bowl.

Supermodel Adriana Lima may have scored the biggest win, since she was also the model featured in the Teleflora Valentine’s Day flowers advertisement. When that ad ran, the room of 20+ people I was in went quiet, as everyone watched.

Adriana Lima for Teleflora Super Bowl AdAt least from a chiropractors perspective she was sitting on the bed. It can be terribly difficult to get your nylons on while standing and leaning forward, especially when your backs not feeling so hot (I call that the sock test). Kids in the room seemed unfazed by the ad but online I noticed several not so happy tweets immediately after the spot ran. Here’s the ad.

Adriana Lima tells us Valentine’s Day is not that complicated, “Give and you shall receive.” Maybe this commercial is a good reminder for those unaware that Valentine’s Day is only a week away. Unhappy tweets aside, the goal is to get people to order flowers online and I think that message was made clear.

Would I play any of these ads in the office? No, but I think a football game is a different situation from a chiropractors reception area. I’m quite particular as to what gets shown on our office TV screens, too many drug ads already. While I’m on the topic, go see your local chiropractor, they’ll be happy to see you.

But the dogs, I think it’s safe to say I’d show any of those, and I found them all funny (even the cat buried in the yard Doritos ad). You’ve probably seen all the ads already, but if you want to watch your favorites again, you can view the entire 2012 Ad Blitz on YouTube. Cheers and congratulations to the New York Giants on their Super Bowl 46 victory!

Now get back to work.

planetc1.com-news @ 2:21 am | Article ID: 1328512870