You see, football in Malaysia and other parts of the world is soccer to Americans. So, soccer = football. I watched the football World Cup every four years. Heck, even bet on it when I was 14, but that's another story.
As this is my first time watching Super Bowl Playoffs while understanding a tiny bit of rules. (thanks to my roommate, Britt who is a Patriots fan!) Before her detailed explanation, all I could comprehend from the game was big muscular men with paddings and guards pushing, running, attacking each other for that oval-shaped ball. Don't get me wrong, I am not dissing football. I never seen a football game before I came to the United States. Anyways, this year, it was a requirement for me to watch American football Super Bowl commercials for a class requirement. I rather watch the commercials than the playoffs because I didn't really understand the game. However, thanks to the class requirement, I enjoyed watching at least three quarters of the playoffs.
What mesmerized me more were the money spent on commercials for airing time. Millions were forked out for 30 seconds of airing time. Some commercials were memorable, some were funny but some made me clueless and didn't get why would they dump few million dollars on airing time to put out a grade D commercial??! FAIL!
What impressed me most although it wasn't the best commercial was the Honda CR-V commercial with Matthew Broderick skipping work and having fun. The people behind the commercial were smart to show the scene of Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown and Matthew performing a Chinese song! It may not mean anything to other races, but as a Chinese, that reeled me in because it was still Chinese New Year during the playoffs - the 14th day! (Chinese New Year Celebration goes on for 15 days.) Other than that, did you notice the plush soft toy is a Panda? Why is it a Panda, not a teddy bear? or any other animals? Panda is consider a rare and important animal in China. Does this mean Honda is trying to pull in more asian buyers in the U.S.?
Moreover, do you notice the places Matthew went were promoting places to go in Los Angeles? The Museum of Natural History, the theme park by the beach, hot sunny days with tall Palm trees. Doesn't that make you just want to spend time there instead of getting stuck in this cold 32 degrees weather?
Men behind the scenes for this commercial killed three birds with one stone - Promoting the function of the car, promoting the tourism of LA, and inclusion of minorities - Chinese. I think it's millions of dollars well spent because they were able to reach certain population, portraying the car's functions while promoting the tourism industry too!
I like your analysis of the Bueller ad. The ad, esp. the long form one, did promote a lot of activities, appealing to a wide variety of folks. And, yes, it would be nice to be out in a warmer climate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with part of your interpretation for the CR-V ad, as it advertised more than one aspect of the car, but I still am not certain to whether it advertised the car itself for what it's worth. I guess advertisements are designed to stick in your head and make you really want to buy a product, but, I still don't feel this commercial really showed much about the car rather than "it's fun" and the fact that a celebrity was in the ad.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog and hearing your analysis of the Bueller Ad, made me registered how effective this commercial was reaching out to the Chinese. When I first saw the ad that thought didn't registered, after reading your blog your brought a good point up. Yea, is Honda trying to reach out to the Asian community is a good question?
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