For those of us that watched the Super Bowl commercials nine days ago, never mind the game, we were treated to yet another kick-line of ambitious and much-anticipated advertisements. Following the trophy hoisting we’ve heard considerable chatter about these spots, certainly within the so-called marketing and branding community. I should say that these days it’s not just the bona fide ad agency and media cognoscenti who are branding experts, it’s everyone and anyone. Thankfully we live in a democratic country, and anyone can (and should) sit on a jury in judgment of price elasticity abuse in anti-trust lawsuits.
So while the Packers were sending the Steelers packing it appears that amongst the Super Bowl TV ad Rockettes a new Internet thing called “Groupon” blew more than a few mil with three commercials and pulled off a spectacular Offense. But following an aggressive kick-off, the tide quickly turned and Team Groupon had to fall back on a pathetic Defense as 100 million members of the opposing team rushed the poor sods at the point of scrimmage. Under rules regarding in-play TV ad injuries, they couldn’t even call time out.
You can’t fault Groupon for having a unique playbook. Full-on brutal tackle of Dalai Lama (the opposition’s lightweight Running Back); unnecessary roughness to Rain Forest (who may be in his final season); and a quarterback sneak around Peaceable Whale (the slow-moving but no-nonsense Samoan Full Back). We certainly didn’t see any Hail Mary’s from this team.
It definitely seems as if the Groupons knew who the enemy was, and who to take out of the game one-by-one. Yet the last laugh was on Team Groupon, and as we speak we can guess that it is still huddled in conference calls with lawyers, advertising and branding agencies (who now it seems want their business), irate ambassadors, pissed-off non-profit conservation organizations, geography teachers (those weren’t Tibetan mountains, and anyway how the hell can you make fish curry in a totally landlocked country? or why would you even want to?), possibly law enforcement officials due to threats, reporters, investors, Liz Hurley’s agent, and those so-called lunatic fringe “branding” experts from all over the world.
It’s kind of interesting to note that back in the bubble days, fledgling Internet startups, flush with cash (that they could, and did, flush), bought Super Bowl airtime to run “edgy” ads featuring things like gerbils being shot from cannons, and no one made a peep (surprisingly the Gerbil Rescue Foundation itself wasn’t even fazed). So now it seems that we’re in another self-righteous era where these annoying “causes” are important, and we can’t poke fun at them, even a little, on the Super Bowl without getting spanked.
Then there is the antiseptic and un-biased view of the whole thing. Success! Groupon is a household name! Listen to that “buzz”! Wow, we got way more bang for our Super Bowl buck! Damn, we’re good! Run that recall number by me again? 100%? You’ve got to be kidding!!
And so it goes. From what little I saw, the actual football game was pretty good. Next year -- on Super Bowl LXVI we can expect another spectacular Groupon Fat Boy or two. Here are two that have been kicking around the pinball machine in Groupon’s Mountain View employee lounge:
“Baby arctic seals -- adorable, sweet and innocent – are being slaughtered by the millions . . . so Groupon members can get 80% off these luxurious seal fur coats!”
“Black Americans – noble descendants of a proud African culture . . . [that’s enough! ed.]
[If you were otherwise occupied during these and all the commercials, tune-in to: http://tinyurl.com/ygm5gjq]
[And for far more intelligent commentary on this topic see Wager James Au’s lovely piece at http://tinyurl.com/4d7lsfw]
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