Can Super Bowl Commercials Move us From “Where’s the Beef” to “Where’s The Good?”

While football fanatics (note, I didn’t say Steelers fans) rejoiced in a great game on Sunday, those of us who tend to get more giddy about the entertainment in between plays were not as excited.  Since I work remotely, I didn’t have the advantage of standing around a real-life water cooler yesterday, but my virtual water cooler ie: Facebook and Twitter were full of disappointment around some combination of Christina Aguilera’s  bungled national anthem,  a bizarre performance by the Black Eyed Peas and of course the questionable and distasteful commercials from Groupon.  With all of the focus on these Super Sunday snafus and the uninspiring commercials in particular, I began to wonder if companies missed out on their opportunity to inspire and engage with fans and consumers alike.   

With an audience of more than 100 million, the stage is set for the potential of epic engagement. As I reminisced about Super Bowl commercials past, I thought back to 1984 and the classic Wendy’s commercial, “Where’s the Beef?” and I couldn’t help but ask myself “where’s the good?”  And maybe even, “where”s the inspiration?” Now, I’m not one of those do-gooders that feels that every component of my day must be filled with opportunities to give back, but in a time when people are desperate for outlets to find meaning it seems that advertisers missed out on an opportunity to engage with us in an authentic way.

Remembering back to last year’s Super Bowl, we all watched as Pepsi chose a different route and channeled the $20 million they would have spent on Super Bowl ads into the Pepsi Refresh Project.  Through Pepsi’s effort, anyone in the United States that had a compelling idea for making a difference in their community would have an opportunity to receive a grant to help bring their idea to life.  In doing so, the Pepsi brand received far more positive media coverage both nationally and locally than it would have had it spent that money on a traditional ad buy, and the program had a shelf life that extended far beyond the “day-after water cooler.”

The head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages America Shiv Singh, said in a recent New York Times piece, “this was not a corporate philanthropy effort, this was using brand dollars with the belief that when you use these brand dollars to have consumers share ideas to change the world, the consumers will win, the brand will win, and the community will win. That was a big bet. No one has done it on this scale before.”

And it seems, that even with the success of Pepsi Refresh, no one took a chance at copying their big bet in 2011 (although it has been announced that Pepsi will launch its new Refresh Campaign beginning in April of this year). Not only were the commercials absent any big risks in the philanthropic front – they seemed to generally lack an emotional appeal. And with a day in between the big game and today, plenty has been written about the “Best Commercials” but there seems to be consensus around one thing, there was something missing. Perhaps the exceptions came from the pride for Detroit that emanated from the Eminem and Chrysler spot, or the nostalgia many of us felt watching the young Darth Vader start his parents Volkswagon.

While we find ourselves immersed in a cause driven world, I was surprised we didn’t see more philanthropic undertones during this year’s Super Bowl. Perhaps we (or at least I) am expecting too much.  Maybe we should just let commercials entertain us and make us laugh – and presumably interest us enough so that we want to buy a product?  Although I’m not sure that the majority of commercials even were successful at accomplishing that.

We talk a lot about what it takes to appeal to a Millennial audience in order to inspire them to take action on issues they care about or to support one brand over another.  For a generation that craves authenticity and openness, there was something missing from these 30 and 60 second ads (although props go to Doritos who once again invited the public this year to write, shoot and submit videos for their Super Bowl spots). MIllennials want to interact with their brands, they want to support those companies who are “doing well by doing good.” Lots of brands spent lots of money on trying to reach us on Sunday night, but I think the ad agencies fell short by not allowing viewers and potential consumers to engage with the brand, or even find real information about the products they were selling.

Taking a step back from the commercials that made you laugh out loud or evoked your inner child – were you compelled by a brand or product because you recognized that it was a good company or that it cared about more than selling a product?

And, because I couldn't resist...enjoy this 1984 classic. Of course this was before we cared about things like calories or local sustainable foods, but these ladies sold good old fashioned American hamburgers...and we're still talking about it 25 years later.