• by Masha Geller , February 4, 2002

Even though it’s not directly related to online media, today seems to be the day to talk about the Super Bowl, and only the Super Bowl. It was a rare one - the game was far more entertaining than the commercials.

And that seems to have annoyed a firm called Merwyn Technology of Cincinnati, which today released its Persuasion Research results for 2002 Super Bowl ads. The findings identify which spots were “a waste of shareholders' money and which actually have a good chance of paying off with increased sales.”

Well, according to Merwyn, it looks like the more entertaining and memorable the ad – the less effective it is. Research from past Super Bowls apparently shows that as entertainment value of ads goes up, the potential to “sell” the advertiser's product decreases.

According to them, Super Bowl 2002 continued the long-term trend of poor advertising effectiveness. Doug Hall, Merwyn Technology CEO, even said that while Super Bowl commercials were “busy tugging at heartstrings, they aren't likely to do much for the companies who paid for them.”

I’m the first to remind everyone that the goal of advertising is increased sales, but this is going a little too far. Sales aren’t everything.

For example, I think that the famous Budweiser horses kneeling before New York’s skyline, bowing their heads in unison as a show of respect for the city, was far more valuable to Budweiser than any call to action may have been. But that must be my heartstrings talking.