Super Bowl Ads

Super Bowl ads make people that do not work in the industry feel like they are the judges of an Ad Contest.  It makes them feel excited about the game being paused. They actually enjoy looking at an ad and evaluating if it met its expectations. I think this year, people just got disappointed. It was the same formula all over again: brands trying to be funny or outrageous or solemn. It just feels that advertisers are fitting their ads into these categories without even thinking if the tone is actually suitable for the brand.

My favorite ad did fall into the “funny” category, but I think it was a well-used resource. It felt in tone with the brand and what they were trying to communicate. I’m talking about the Radio Shack ad.

It all starts with a phone call to a Radio Shack store. The employee picks up the phone, listens and hangs up. “The 80´s called, they want their store back” and suddenly you get transported to the past. The soundtrack sets the mood for the most amazing seconds of TV that 2014 has offered so far: a parade of characters from the 80´s that come to take everything from the store. Pop culture at it best. As a viewer, I just couldn’t stop moving trying to detect as many celebrities as I could. I saw: Hulk Hogan, the singer from Twisted Sister, the mailman from Cheers, Kid N play, Eric Estrada from Chips, Jason from Friday the 13th, Chucky, the raisins, Teen Wolf. Even Alf made it. Some of the characters drove away in a Delorean! After seeing this amazing show, you get the delivery: Radio Shack has renewed the design of their stores.

It was entertaining, it had a nostalgic vibe, and it felt suitable for the brand. I really like when a brand makes fun of itself. Radio Shack tried to change the perception of being a dated store, that place where you just go a buy a cord for your 15-year-old TV.  It was not just humor or outrageous for the sake of it. The brand was being honest about the perception their customers have about them. They acknowledged it and made a twist about it and successfully made a connection with its viewers.

Appearing on the Super Bowl is not easy for any brand. Your ad is not only being measured against your competitors but against all of the other brands that appear – regardless you share the same category. People have become devoted critics, they have developed their palate and the critics are tougher that ever. So more important that ever is to know what you are doing.  Surprisingly, Radio Shack “won” the Super Bowl. For a brand that had not made a TV spot for the last decade, that’s no small achievement.