It is not surprising to us that marketers use whatever means necessary to separate us from our money. They would even admit as much. But it is surprising, at times, to see what depths they will sink in order to accomplish their goal.
The Super Bowl has long been marked as an American tradition, both for the game it represents and the marketing it provides. Ranked annually as the most-viewed television program of the year, there is no wonder Madison Avenue invests as much time into the game as the football teams themselves.
As somebody who has developed a great frustration over our consumer-driven culture, I often watch the commercials, not for entertainment’s sake, but to determine the underlying promises being offered behind the products. I am rarely pleased with what I find.
Often times, we discover marketers making promises they can’t possibly keep. Here were eight I noticed during this year’s Super Bowl.
8 Empty Promises in this Year’s Super Bowl Ads
1. An Automobile Can Make You a Better Parent. Hyundai.
Parenting is hard work. It requires intentionality, observation, wise counsel, strategy, and follow-through. And I get a little worried when a car manufacturer makes the claim that their vehicle can help me do it better.
Certainly, there is always room for new tools to parent better. But spending tens of thousands of dollars at a local car lot to buy a car I can track on my phone will never replace the parental impact of hard work, significant conversation, appropriate boundaries, and quality time.
2. A Television Can Prevent You from Missing Out. CBS.
I don’t know if there is any product in the world better at promoting its own self-interests than television. When we watch anything, we are bombarded with advertisements promoting other programs.
The networks, of course, are quite calculated in how they do this. Most often they feed on our fear of missing out by highlighting “This Year’s Most Watched Program,” “This Year’s Best New Series,” or “This Week’s Can’t Miss Game of the Year.” Each time, they subtly implant into our minds the false reality that everyone is watching. And with it, they include a promise they will never fulfill: the best way to never miss out on life is to spend it in front of a television.
3. A Candy Bar Can Give You Unparalleled Confidence. Butterfinger.
Over the years, I have noticed countless manufacturers promise their product will grant more self-confidence—cologne, cars, and clothing, just to name a few.
But this year, a candy bar made the same claim— that, somehow, chocolate covering a flaky, crisp, peanut butter-flavored center can make a person bolder than bold. This is a promise I may never understand—other than the fact that marketers routinely try to promise self-confidence packaged in their unique product.
4. A Body Spray Will Help You Discover Your Most Powerful Uniqueness. Axe.
Axe Body Spray is no stranger to attention and critique. Since 2003, they have made a name for themselves portraying various ways their products supposedly help men attract women. Teenage boys have worn their scent ever since.
This year, their promise was nuanced. While they did make a point to remind consumers that their product makes men irresistible to women, they also indicated their product will help wearers discover their most powerful uniqueness. How wearing the same scent as everyone else helps a young man discover his uniqueness, I’ll never know.
5. An App Can Get You a Mortgage (and all the stuff you’ve always wanted). Quicken Loans.
In one of the oddest commercials of the night, Quicken Loans promised its users quick, easy home ownership—mortgages seemingly available to anyone with a smart phone. And because home ownership inevitably results in more purchasing (lamps and blenders and couches), home ownership makes mortgages even more accessible to others as the cycle of demand increases.
I understand convenience is helpful and to a point, their premise is correct. Convenience and accessibility is a major driver in our compulsion to acquire. But the idea that making mortgages accessible to everyone is a smart move for our country fails to recognize the lessons we learned the hard way over the previous decade. I was glad to see The Washington Post renounce it so quickly.
6. A Watch Can Make You Stronger. Fitbit.
Our society loves shortcuts. And marketers love to manipulate this tendency whenever possible—especially when it comes to matters of health. The Fitbit watch advertisement is a good example. In this ad, consumers who wear the medal and plastic device around their wrist often display superior strength and health compared to those around them.
Fitbit had a strong Christmas mostly because of their subtle claims that wearing their product will get you into shape. Indeed, the watch may provide some helpful tools. But when it comes to matters of health, few things have changed within the human body. It still requires discipline and intentional effort—there are no shortcuts.
7. Watching Football Can Improve Intimacy With Your Spouse. Super Bowl Babies.
Certainly the NFL deserves credit for originality. Their internal data suggests Championship-winning cities see an increase in babies born nine months after the Super Bowl. Never mind the fact that “data suggests” is the strongest wording they felt comfortable using, they needed the studies to reinforce their promise: Football brings families together and may, if your team wins, result in more than your team getting lucky.
I won’t argue with their presumption because I haven’t seen the studies. And while the commonality of football may offer some bonding opportunities for families, I have a hard time believing football is an aphrodisiac in most interpersonal relationships.
8. A Fast Food Cheeseburger is Historically Delicious (and Healthy). Jack in the Box.
Fast food restaurants are not unique in making promises they can never fulfill. Chips, soda, and countless other processed foods do the same. Jack in the Box, perhaps with tongue-in-cheek, made the claim that their new Double Cheeseburger is “historically delicious.”
But this year, not only do they make empty promises concerning their burger’s flavor, they also make the claim that their new double cheeseburger is also healthy. Oh, they wouldn’t make the claim with actual words, that would be too obvious. Instead, they rely on image association. In their commercial, the new burger is offered to a healthy, fit, young jogger who gladly accepts the burger and proceeds to take a large bite out of it. The juxtaposition is clearly orchestrated and meant to instill a specific message and promise—this fried double-burger served with processed cheese and mayo is not bad for you. In fact, it is consistent with a healthy lifestyle.
As with most of the empty promises contained in this year’s Super Bowl ads, we ought to know better.
Maggie @ SelfThrive says
I can definitely see your issue with the commercials here! I just try to take them with a grain of salt, though. In fact, before I started reading this article I couldn’t even remember all that many of them. The only thing I was interested in that night was the new Captain America trailer, honestly :). But I do agree with one of the above commenters that PayPal was another commercial filled with empty promises.
CJ says
Love this post. The more we focus on what the world says will bring us happiness, the less content we feel.
John P. Weiss says
Not a sports fan so I skipped the Super Bowl, but a friend emailed me the “Puppymonkeybaby” commercial. My take away: Looks like people who did serious drugs in their youth can go on to a very lucrative career in advertising!
Ilhja says
The first one made me mad about something else. That Dad is so over the line that he cannot see it anymore. I see it in a lot of americans movie so I guess that it is a okay way for a dad to behave? (I am not an american).
I would be so angry at my dad and then meet up with friends or date without him knowing it.
It is sad to see ads for what they are, I don’t stop enught to think about the message they are sending.
Jennifer @ Path to Simple says
Interesting perspective! I think it can provide great value to watch commercials with a critical eye. I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, so I didn’t have the pleasure of viewing these ads. But, I can think of another scenario where analysis of commercials may be beneficial…during a conversation with children as they watch Saturday morning cartoons! Advertisers strive to convince children that “this toy” will make them popular, happy…whatever message they seek to convey. Questioning and challenging the message from advertisers is a great lesson to teach children, and one that will hopefully stay with them into adulthood.
Naomi Alexander says
As a Brit I found this interesting because we don’t have adverts during sporting events (BBC has a licence fee – isn’t funded by advertisers) – although we do get oodles of ads during other programmes on other channels.
How does it work with sport though? – I mean, when do they insert adverts? – isn’t there the possibility of missing a goal/try/run/wicket (sorry, over here it’s mainly football(soccer), rugby, cricket that would be most popular).
Oh, and I totally agree about the Axe comment (we call it Lynx here) – how on earth can you be individual when every other young man is wearing it?!
dangilbertistheantichrist says
Really, what you need to know is that play in American football is not a structured around continuous play like soccer or rugger. It uses similar skills, but used in a series of timed set pieces (called “downs”).
Timekeeping for the game is thus separated from real time –the clock that matters is the duration of the play in the set pieces– which is how a game that is ostensibly 1 hour long actually runs 3 hours of real time.
American football is thus not a great in-person spectator sport, but enjoyable on television –most of the fun is trying to understand the tactics and strategy, which television can make much more enjoyable than IRL.
That’s in total contrast with European styled sports, which are mostly from the pre-television era when you’d have to be in the stadium (and in the case of West Indies cricket, where entire towns shut down for the matches). In that case, advertisement is bought and sold wholesale (e.g., entire stadiums with one big sponsor, or advertisements on jerseys).
This isn’t to say that one form is better or worse than another, they’re just different. The norm for soccer, where you have AIG or Etihad’s logo on the front of a jersey, would be totally rejected by Americans as “too commercial” just because it violates our sense of normalcy.
The closest America ever got to that kind of marketing was when there was when Disney formed a hockey team and called it the Mighty Ducks (after their own movie), and they were a laughing stock until Disney sold the team off.
Kathryn says
We watched one of our favorite westerns ‘Cheyenne’. Haven’t had cable for 16 years. I agree that ads are made to make you discontent. I was born in the 60’s and we never had a TV. What a blessing.
Kellen says
And yet you’re a proud capitalist. The cognitive dissonance of that is mind boggling.
Judy says
How do YOU know what we are?
Kellen says
The author of the blog has acknowledged that he’s a neoliberal capitalist. Doesn’t make any bones about it. He thinks it’s a great system and that it will “solve” all of society’s problems. His perspective lacks class analysis, but then capitalists don’t examine political and social issues through the lens of class. All they care about is profit and protecting the bourgeoisie’s oppressive policies.
How that fits with minimalism is anybody’s guess. Maybe you can take a stab at it!
joshua becker says
Well, now you’re just putting words in my mouth.
ASJ says
I was more disturbed that Peyton Manning said the same thing twice during his interviews about his priorities of hugging his wife and kids and drinking Budweiser all night. I’m like….really dude? You can’t even answer a question without being paid off to advertise? He said it twice, Robot-Peyton like Robot Rubio. Disappointing.
Melissa says
They asked him in the second interview to repeat what he said in his first interview so he did. He is not paid by Budweiser.
Lucretia Roletta says
Thoughtful post! I could not stomach how stupid these commercials were. In the past, at least,these used to be more creative!