How many times have you been asked, “What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?”
If you’re like me and find football as interesting as the reproductive cycle of the Latvian Slip Worm, you probably missed several minutes of ad-budget busting craziness and wasteful spending. However, fear not. Take a few minutes, precious time you won’t get back in this lifetime, and watch this somewhat funny, sometimes emotional recap. I’ll wait.
Great. Welcome back. What did you think?
Chrylser, obviously trying to make up for last year’s “Halftime in America” bomb, scored a home run in this year’s “Farmer” commercial featuring the voice of late broadcast veteran Paul Harvey. I’ll take Paul over Clint Eastwood any day.
Love it or hate it, the largest domain name registration company in the world, GoDaddy, scored big time with their commercial called “The Kiss.” Just seconds after the :30 spot of the very hot Bar Rafaeli french kissing a very nerdy guy simply called “Walter,” social media sites blew up with harsh criticism of the company known for their unconventional advertising.
Cries of “my kids were in the room” and “I thought the Super Bowl was family friendly” were being uttered my millions of uptight people who never played tonsil hockey or went to the submarine races.
I wasn’t watching the game, but I saw tweets and posts from people claiming they were never going to register a domain name with GoDaddy again. Wanting to experience the thrill of it for myself, I watched both the commercial that was broadcast as well as the “Internet Only” version posted on GoDaddy’s website.
After watching the broadcast version (which CBS rejected several times before finally accepting the final edit) I still didn’t understand what the fuss was about. But then again, I could see where the people who worship the ground Rick Santorum walks on would have their tightie-whities in a bunch. After all, conservatives don’t kiss. I heard they don’t fart either, but I don’t believe that.
I happened to enjoy the “Internet Only” version better. The kiss was longer and the repeated chanting of “go daddy” while the two went at it caused the ice in my drink to melt. Jessie Heiman, who played Walter, had a hell of a time as well. “Kissing a supermodel was great, in fact this might be one of the best jobs I’ve ever had,” said Heiman in a press release.
Um, yeah. I bet it was.
Facing some expected criticism, GoDaddy’s CEO Blake Irving said, “We’re not going to apologize for ‘The Kiss.’ It’s sparking conversations. It was approved by network Standards and Practices and it uses humor to illustrate the point about how powerful a combination ‘sexy’ and ‘smart’ are. Personally, I think it’s hilarious!”
I couldn’t agree more Blake.
Let’s face it. People aren’t going to stop registering domain names with GoDaddy, kids who saw the commercial aren’t going to be scarred for life and this too will pass much like GoDaddy’s founder Bob Parson’s controversial elephant hunting video which had it’s three minutes of fame. “The Kiss” was a win for GoDaddy. Probably a big win. The company called “The Kiss” their most successful Super Bowl commercial and one that delivered more new customers and more overall sales than previous ads.
Touchdown!
Almost 24 hours after the airing, people are still buzzing about the :30, in-your-face, lustful interaction between supermodel and nerd.
That’s what advertising is supposed to do.
That’s what makes a campaign successful.
Even if it leaves you a little breathless.