A good ad grabs our attention, draws us in, make us laugh, cry or think. And most importantly, an effective ad indelibly brands your mark on our brain while making us want to buy now.

Super Bowl ads often skip the branding and selling and stick to entertaining. It’s such a shame to waste your ad budget on anything less than all three.

Here are my Monday Morning Ad Exec picks of Super Bowl advertising winners and losers. I’d love to read about your favorites in the comments.


Best of Show:
Google. In a sea of loud, colorful, over-the-top ads, Google’s spot was a study in subtlety – selling all the the cool tools Google builds into it search engine without ever stepping away from the story. I was speechless. A flawless, amazing ad. I wanted to send flowers to the CMO and creatives that produced this spot.


Entertaining and Effective:
Snickers’ Betty White spot made laugh while communicating Snickers brand benefit.

FloTV’s Injury Report, Dodge’s Drive What I Want and Dove’s Man Life spots all empathized with the every man who’s home life is run by women.

NFL Networks’ Slo Mo spots with Arcade Fire celebrated the thrill of the game (not sure it sold the network).

Vizio’s Internet Inside ad did a nice job of communicating all of your favorite parts of the internet are now available inside your TV with character from classic viral videos.

VW delivered a fun spot with there’s a little Slugbug in every VW we make.

I have to admit I’m a sucker for the Cars.com Boy Genius campaign that’s run for a few years.


Boring yet Effective:
I think Hyundai is going to be the big sales winner from tonight’s Super Bowl. The Sonata campaign was well orchestrated, well produced and sold the car.


Entertaining and a Complete Waste of Your Ad Budget:
Kia crafted a fabulous piece of entertainment about classic children’s toys coming to life for and awesome adventure. Unfortunately, no one will remember it was for Kia. What exactly was the ads message? Room for your kids AND their stuffed animals? Fail.

Bud Light, once again, made several entertaining ad spoofs this year without selling a single bottle of beer. These could have very well been Miller Lite ads.


Expensive. Ineffective. WTF?
Bridgestone may very well be the least effective advertiser on the planet. The Shamu spot was part Groundhog Day part Hangover and no part tires (I thought it was a Chevy Silverado ad). The second spot looked like a trailer for a MadMax/Back to the Future mashup or an ad for spandex. A mightily expensive FAIL. No one will remember the Bridgestone name or that they actually sell tires.

Of special note is the inverse relationship between the production budget & effectiveness in the Bridgestone vs Google spots. Not sure if we should blame the agency or the client. It takes BOTH to create ad magic.

Audi, one of my favorite brands, delivered a stinker with Green Police. No one will remember the car.

Career Builder and Monster both sold the idea of getting a new job without selling the idea of why to use them (in an economy where most consumers are afraid of losing their job). HotJob, Linkedin, Craigslist and the local paper classifieds will benefit for free.

Emerald Nuts continues to astound me with their ability to squander money, bore and confuse me and forget to sell.

Boost Mobile Super Bowl Shuffle was a complete train wreck. I wasn’t even sure it was for Boost Mobile.


Other Notes:
Not sure anyone will remember Coke advertised during the Super Bowl. Being average, forgettable or boring may be the biggest sin in the world of advertising.

Intel’s human soundmark is the best in the biz. Their ads? Meh.

Doritos crowdsourced ads are not very good but I think their overall Super Bowl contest is a win.

Seeing double: Multiple ads featuring animals in hot tubs with models, little people, underwearers, beavers & tackling.

GoDaddy continues to go remarkable bad (but it drives traffic and name recognition). I’ve about ready to stop using the service because their ads and service are so bad (Read about GoDaddy’s checkout upsell process. Domain names for $1855 http://j.mp/9tguBm ).

See all the ads on YouTube’s AdBlitz: http://youtube.com/superbowl

Ideas are important. Ideas are great. We’re in the idea business - but ideas mean nothing without solid execution.

As you’re brainstorming your next big success, make sure you’re dedicating as much attention to the “on’s” of execution as you’re giving to the “P’s” of marketing. Remember: you don’t get credit for the things you talk about - only the things you finish and launch successfully.

“Innovation is rewarded. Execution is worshipped.”

Although I’ve never been a fan of Conan - I’m still not over Johnny Carson - his heartfelt speech, positive outlook and gratitude he showed toward NBC on his final show won me over.

“All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.”

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” - Conan O’Brien

My least favorite argument reared it’s ugly head last night.

The good folks at Operation Kid Equip donated dictionaries and school supplies to a group of under privileged third graders. In an article covering the good deed, one reader was angered that the children lived on the wrong side of an invisible boundary.

“we’re talking about the bad press “detroit” gets, and how much we love “detroit” and how we want to do great things for it and the donating these books to one of the wealithiest counties in the nation? seems like someone wants a big pat on the back without actually having to come up with the monumental task of reaching the kids that are so badly starved for books and learning equipment.”

Obviously for the commenter, not all poor kids are created equal.

It’s an age old debate that has been fueled by small minded people who never found time to read about the Star-Bellied Sneetches from Dr. Seuss. “Detroit is Detroit” some say, putting a line in the sand between the city of Detroit and the suburban neighborhoods outside the city limits. “I’m not part of Detroit, I live in Oakland County,” others boast.

They are both wrong.

Pick up a world map or a globe. When you look at the mitt, you won’t find Troy, Taylor or Trenton. There’s no Birmingham, Brighton or Brownstown. To the outside world, there’s only one city in the great state of Michigan. There is only Detroit. No one hears about the problems in Detroit and says “but things are peachy up in Ferndale.”

We succeed together. We fail together.

No one outside the state sees any difference between Oakland County and Detroit. Just as no one outside of California sees any difference between Orange County and LA.

The “8 Mile to the river” crowd needs to get over themselves. The suburb snobs need to wake up.

We’re all Detroit.

Children, poverty and positive action know no political boundaries. Until we erase the invisible boundaries between the boroughs of the Detroit area, the world will never bask in the light of our promise and our true potential.

Retropost: Say you’re from Detroit

Here’s a quick flip cam tour of the Ford exhibit at The North American International Auto Show.

Learn more about Ford:
http://www.ford.com

Learn more about Ford Fiesta Movement:
http://www.fiestamovement.com

Learn more about The North American International Auto Show:
http://www.naias.com