Super Bowl Sunday brings millions together from around the world. It is the perfect occasion for brands to grab the attention of consumers to remind them of their products or services. While fans are looking forward to celebrating their team’s victory, they are also excited to watch the big game day ads. If brands spend millions of dollars to promote themselves, it must be worth watching it, right?
Some brands tend to stay away from the usual, and expected, sexy and funny tone for their Super Bowl commercials. Instead, they surf the emotional wave. More companies understand the role they can have in the society and the importance of bringing awareness to serious topics.
While many gather to have fun and enjoy their Sunday afternoon, we wonder if offering tearjerker ads is a really good or really bad strategy.
An emotional advertisement can help stand out from the funny (sometime ridiculous) and sexy (too often provocative and offensive) commercials typically expected on Super Bowl Sunday. It can offer a refreshing point-of-view that acts in a different way to grab the public’s attention. Few brands dare to take a more serious route during such a joyous occasion, fearing they might kill the mood. But having such an attentive crowd is the perfect time to talk about what matters most.
Showing the humane aspect of your company is great branding, but consider the fine line between being emotional and depressing. Half of the public is already going to feel bad at the end of the game if their team loses, there’s no reason to make them feel worse by the end of the game.
Last year, Dove’s Men+Care “Real Strength” commercial featured dads as heroes, which had a high emotional engagement. The strong message resonated with all of us. While making us drop a tear, it also made us smile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoqWo3SJ73c
On the other hand, Nationwide’s “Boy” Super Bowl spot about child safety made us all feel depressed. If the topic was so important to bring up, using such a bleak tone of voice didn’t help engage viewers with the messaging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRVslkan08U
Making audiences cry isn’t a negative thing when producing a Super Bowl ad, but remember to insert a hopeful and positive message that will make consumers feel happy to be part of.
