The Commercials: Almost as Unexpected as the Game

In my last blog post, I discussed the types of commercials I expected to see air during the Super Bowl last night. However, to my surprise, I was very wrong with my predictions to what we would see from advertisers. Although there were still some commercials about cute animals and partying, I did not see many commercials using women to sell a product. Instead of seeing the usual entertaining commercials viewers look forward to during the game, there were many serious commercials as well. Is this a step in the right direction for commercials?

Some companies, like Nationwide and NFL, decided to try and convey an important message to viewers about societal problems. Nationwide's commercial about the young boy who will never grow up took a turn for the worse when he exclaimed the reason was because he died in an accident. Many viewers found this commercial extremely upsetting and dark for the Super Bowl, and Nationwide responded to the comments by saying, "We want to build awareness of an issue that is near and dear to all of us--the safety and well being of our children." Preventable injuries in the home are the leading cause of death for young children in America, which is surprising to me. I didn't really think of household accidents as being such a problem for youths, so I guess Nationwide did it's job in raising awareness for a cause for me at least. However, I agree with others in that it is a dark commercial for what should be a fun evening. I think they are raising an important point and discussion, especially since over 114.4 million viewers tuned in last night (a new record), but I'm just not sure if the Super Bowl was the right time for the commercial. 

The NFL also decided to air a commercial raising awareness to domestic violence. To me, this was really surprising and ironic. The league has been criticized for its handling of the Ray Rice case earlier in the season, especially for it's lack in punishment, so they decided it would be good publicity for their league to make a commercial preventing domestic violence. I have nothing wrong with a commercial raising awareness to a problem that has been very prevalent in our society recently, but I don't think the NFL made it for the right reasons. I think the league was trying to enhance their image instead of really try to make a commercial for stopping domestic violence. 

As I mentioned earlier, I really did not see many commercials using women to sell a product, which I believe is a step in the right direction for advertisers. I think the advertisers did a lot of things right, even if the commercials weren't as funny as usual. The commercial "Like A Girl" by Always was in my opinion the best one aired. I think the company conveyed an important message and it made me really think about the phrase "like a girl". Overall, I think this was a surprising Super Bowl for all viewers, at least in the commercial department.