I understand there is some Gridiron football involved and apparently today the New Orlean’s Saints had a famous win… but for the rest of the western world, the superbowl is all about the sideshow event – commercials.

This year was not any different and the Forbes website have been kind enough to provide a digital selection of some of these television advertising commercials for you to review, consider, muse upon and hopefully enjoy. Oh, and buy their stuff!

Which ad worked best for you?

And importantly which ad worked best for the company commissioning it.

We think the E*Trade one wins hands down. The ‘wolfie’ online brought a smile to our face and the line about his airplane travelling pal dancing style being described as… ‘haunting’ made us laugh out loud. Instant classics.

The Doritos ad with the nimble dog venting vengence ran a relatively close second. Hmmm… man… there’s so many people I’d love to collar and bark at… jus’ sharin’.

The not-so-great ads? There were a number.

Keep an eye out for the Dr Pepper Cherry flavoured soft drink (‘soda’ in American-speak). It wasn’t the worst but it was far from good. Even with Gene Simmons from Kiss in it… or because of it – it was just plain lame. Pity.

Anyhoo, feel free to check out the superbowl 2010 ad’s below and see what you think.

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Almost everyone else, certainly all my peers,  saw it as witty and funny and just plain smart viral marketing in action.

What do you think?

Does this seriously promote and celebrate negative practices or is it yet another victim of political correctness run rampant… and do you think the makers of this clip kinda knew it would attract a consumer and media firestorm around it and banked on the upside of drawing more eyes to Air NZ as good thing regardless of how it is achieved.

* Just a quick clarification for those that have been living under a rock and don’t actually know what a ‘cougar’ refers to. It is often employed to describe a sexually active woman in her 40′s who are so desperate for affection and the pursuit of robust sexual encounters that they tend to target young often inexperienced men in bars and clubs.

And this is what this clip is sending up with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Cougars stalking their younger prey. Anyway enough of that – check out the video and be prepared to enjoy it… or be offended… or perhaps both in equal measure.

Look I am sorry but personally I thought that was just brilliant.

Is it PC? No of course not. Offensive? Not to me.

I can see similar on mainstream media during primetime. Just not as amusing.

The American ABC network is airing a popular show based on this very phenomena. With that in mind, I kinda figure the notion of “Cougars” has firmly sidestepped PCness and been accepted by mainstream community social mores.

The show is called ”Cougar Town” and stars the very cute blue-eyed brunette Courtney Cox, previously of ‘Friends’ fame’, as she stalks her younger toy-boyish prey. Check out episodes from the official website here.

Look in all seriousness I think Air NZ deserves a big gold star for cutting through all the competing media clutter with a storng dose of humour and has achieved their marketing objective of elevating their brand profile amongst social media savvy consumers at little cost and in doing so also produced a moment that can withstand repeated viewings.

Big tick to Air NZ. In fact in a very backhanded compliment manner – it is very ‘Virigin’ of them in many ways.

Some source credits -

The little postit image at the top of the post advertises a show from Donna Moore.

The clip is courtesy of Youtube (but I suspect Air Nz had a huge hand in it).

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Well certainly the Japanese know all about this and the legion of ‘Hello Kitty’ fans but I have just made the discovery that needs immediate sharing!

Branding juggernaut ‘Hello Kitty’ as part of its ever expanding toy and apparel line now features… ( cue dramatic drum roll followed by snare) …yes you guessed it – an ATM and a cash card for all the little ones to use.

Good to get them young I always say. Now young’uns can sit around and take turns taking money out of baby ATMs until they are all overdrawn. <sigh> Yay.

When I was a kid I played with frogs.
And tagged along at a respectful distance with my sister and her pals as they went from house to house indulging in various arts and crafts. And played ball.
No ATMs for me… okay they weren’t invented back then but you get what I mean.

Kids should be allowed to enjoy a childhood free of adult preoccupations.
That comes soon enough.

Yes that’s right, I am having a little soap box moment here. You got me cold.
I am not personally a fan of overtly commercializing childhoods – but extending off Darren’s recent post about branded transactional experiences – this would have to be a prime example of a branded transactional experience in the extreme. Oddly enough – if we were talking about a ‘Hello Kitty’ branded Visa or Mastercard I’d be very okay with that. In fact that sounds kinda cool – if you need the credit and are a fan.

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Consider branding slogans such as ‘Nike = Just Do It‘ or ‘, Compaq (HP) = Inspiration technology‘, ‘Nokia = Connecting People‘ or ‘FedEx = Absolutely, positively overnight‘. With amazing economy, they capture the essence of each companies personality, project their unique selling point, and are universally recognized within the marketplace.

A good event name and in turn theme should do exactly the same thing – present and project personality and purpose.

With the instant recognition that comes with famous movie one liners, they too can also serve as a creative resource starting point when developing an event identity.

Two one liners that I like to drop into conversations with work colleagues and family alike are – whispering in a knowing way that ‘I See Dead People’. And falling dramatically to my knees, arms outstretched to the sky and screaming ‘Stttte-lllllllla!’ Care should be exercised when delivering this when receiving the bill or check in a restaurant. It is not appreciated as a general rule by anyone.

I am also mindful of not sharing these movie inspired one liners around my significantly better half. It would seem that my wife no longer is blessed with a sense of humor. Along with a new facial tick whenever I am in the house. She also objects to the sound of me breathing while I sleep. But enough about me.

Check out this compilation as it counts down in 200 second the 100 top movie one liners. It’s really interesting to note how many of these have now become a firm fixture in our day-to-day language.

Good fun and a great source of ideas for building a marketing campaign from. And yet…

I am a tad disappointed.
This compilation missed the two all time favorites.

Despite the huge number of Jack Nicholson appearances there was no ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth’. And the famous line taken from the last Tom Cruise movie, before he really lost his mind, didn’t make the list. My wife likes using this one. Let’s not go there. She is lovely, she just has shockingly bad taste in her men… thank goodness.

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In addition to the to-camera confession and apology made by Vanilla Ice (posted here)we have also come across a number of other clips that were employed in the developing storyline for this campaign. We thought we’d share them with you.

The first documents Mr Ice wandering the streets of Florida… I suspect it may in fact be Fort Lauderdale rather than Miami as he lives there… just a bit of trivia. Could be handy in the future. Or not. Look this clip is a bit soft but I guess it gets the point across and helps build momentum.

The second better clip is a compile of Mr Ice seemingly ringing people randomly out of a telephone directly and apologizing to them… although some unkind people have suggested that he was just calling all twenty odd genuine fans.  This is not true people. Vanilla Ice has many a fan… and some have telephones.  Actually I like this one of the two as it seems less staged even though it clearly is.

We’ve employed a similar technique of story building with a number of different ‘developing’ clips as event invitation teasers and as a featured developing story revealed throughout an event run itself. This technique is very effective in providing a recognizable thematic thread to an event. It is effective in restating an events core messaging, and in turn proves effective in building on a shared event memory and ongoing event experience well after the event proper has concluded .

FACTOR168 recently employed with great success this technique with a ‘Jason Bourne’ theme for an overseas telecommunications company event series. The story documented a ‘teleco operative’ in search of his organizational identity within a harsh and unforgiving competitive world.

Atmospheric, layered, and entertaining. The story featured an ensemble cast of professional actors, industry ‘star’ cameos, and host organizational identities.

For a greater 360 degree immersive event experience, this strong tie-in theme was employed within the digital and print invitations, themeing the event environment and catering, featured within to-screen support material, soundtracks and musical stings, speaker programming, registration process, room drops and gifts, and satellite social events. The end result was an enhanced attendee participation and 100% post event messaging recall.

And finally… so as to wrap up this commentary on what was in our considered opinion a brilliant event marketing campaign by Virgin Mobile, and disturbingly now seems to have evolved into a creepy fan inspired homage to Vanilla Ice – here is an interview between one of those cookie cutter entertainment reporters apparently living ‘backstage’ and the Iceman.He talks about his career and a forthcoming televised celebrity rodeo (what the heck? Yup <sigh> only in America I guess).

Oh and look out for his freestyle rapping at the conclusion of the interview which just goes to prove that investing wisely is a very very good thing to do. Which got me to wondering how much money if any did he really get from this record… I recall a story about him being forced to sign away all royalties to Suge Knight or be tossed out a window… anyway…

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A beautifully shot advertisement showcasing the diversity of ‘the long white cloud’ in it’s locales and it’s people. The legendary story of this nations birth and the soundtrack of ‘forever young’ – it’s powerful and it works. I’d go…

This advertisement would have to be best in genre.
It’s a pity that their website lets them down so very badly.

Cluttered and difficult to navigate, and let’s be frank – just not that visually appealing. It has all the standard tourism site tools – the travel planner, event calenders and so on. I did however like the extension of the strong storytelling device evident in their advertisements with the send-a-friend a postcard and the the showcasing of visitors, residents, and fans home made films uploaded as 100% Pure NZ video experiences.

Fantastic ad, ordinary web presence. This should serve as a lesson to all of us. It’s not really good enough if there is no branded experience consistency across all facets of a project.

It would be akin to sinking the majority of your event budget into an expensive headline act and neglecting the event environment, high care table service, or even fundamentally a smooth and warm registration process. It never fails to amaze me that even today, some people spend a fortune on staging an important event only to neglect setting aside within their budget and site times for adequet presenter and techincal rehearsals and then wonder when things ‘happen’ or worse… don’t. Seriously talk with us or your current professional event management partner to best determine how to strike a considered balance between all aspects of an event so that you and your guests are assured a consistent and impactful experience across all aspects of the event cycle. It just makes sense.

Since we are on the subject of tourism style advertisements, a good one creates an expectation of a unique or at least a memorable experience and motivates the viewer to act on it. Consider the next clip which had the very hard task of promoting one of Australia’s east coast cities commonly regarded by many as a big country town – Brisbane. I think they did a pretty good job although would it compel me to holiday there or just make me feel warm and fuzzy about living there?

And finally, a personal favorite of mine. An advertisement for Las Vegas. What I like about this advertisement is it doesn’t show the Vegas most of us know – the shows, the strip, the neon lights, the gambling tables, the dancing and so on… no it just presents a little story and you fill in the ‘blanks’ with your own Vegas experience. Smart, fun, and effective. I’d go… for the shopping of course. Enjoy.

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Like a good flash mob moment, they appear to be democratically spur of the moment and yet a huge amount of pre-planning can often be involved. And they are becoming more and more popular, just check out the number of city specific zombie walks listed in the zombie walk forum. A clutch of states in the US, Australia, the UK, Finland, Brazil… people urrrrrrrrghhhh like it.

The zombie walk in Brisbane is a great example of the commercial power of flash mobbing with the charity of choice being…. you guessed it – The Brain Foundation.

What a fabulous tie-in and with not for profit outfits desperate for low cost or no cost special events that generates income and raises profile – this is a perfect fit. As an added bonus – unlike many other charity outfits with a more conservative position, the foundation through such a… well let’s be frank odd theme, also enjoys great targeted access to the difficult to mobilize Gen Y and to a lesser extent Gen X.

No surprise that the best example of flash mobs can be found in the USA. The following clip is a great example of a flash mob in process. Staged at Grand Central Station in New York – the mob on cue all froze, held their positions and then on signal reactivated. Memorable, well managed, and certainly worth watching… if for no other reason than enjoying the poor guy on the service buggy caught in the middle of the whole thing. Enjoy.

This and other similar flash mob moments were staged by Improve Everywhere – check out their site and the sister site Urban Prankster. Very inspirational for developing marketing campaigns that really create unsual and impactful experiences at ground zero.Certainly beats product tasters or girls in too small tops handing out leaflets.

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It is grim. It is 1984. The Gordon Geckos are on the loose. Everything is beige.

Britain’s miner strike, big teased hair, asteroid video game (loved this thing along with the sitdown Pacman), brick mobile phones, vinyl records, leopard prints, Maggie Thatcher lurks behind the scenes and the Cold War Cowboy is at work across the Atlantic. Travel is chorelike and sucks.

Cue the Frankie Goes to Hollywood inspired soundtrack and out stride forth the Virgin Atlantic glamourzillians in their fitted bright red uniforms and sexy stilettos – cutting a swath through a sea of tired beige. Ruby Cool. Very Ruby Cool.

Yup. Based off this ad alone, I’d want to change airlines too. The promise of an attractive branded experience over a simple transactional service can be very powerful. Well done Virgin Atlantic.

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Again – enjoy responsibly.

We really digged this clip as it had all the right ‘mix’ of components that translated into a good communication experience. Strong characters, a good storyline, a strong sense of humour, a fresh take of pop culutre (preps rapping!) and above all – much like the product – it was all good fun.

Enjoy. But of course in moderation.