Out to Launch
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
It's finally Wednesday, so why does it feel like Friday? Super Bowl teaser ads. Good, bad, or waste of time? Let's launch!
  • It's finally Wednesday, so why does it feel like Friday? Super Bowl teaser ads. Good, bad, or waste of time? Let's launch!

    Personally, I'm not a fan of teaser ads. I'm more of an all-or-nothing kind of gal. I'd rather have the element of surprise or the knowledge of having viewed an entire 30- or 60-second spot than watch 6 seconds of an ad that chances are, I probably won't like. Remember the teaser last year for Snickers? Exactly. That being said, this year's crop of Super Bowl teaser ads is good (to my surprise), bad and creepy. Embargoes prevent me from posting these ads in their entity. If I did, bad things could happen, like my subscription to Runner's World could vanish. That, I can't risk.

    Let's begin with creepy. Careerbuilder.com has two 30-second spots running in the big game during the second and third quarters, along with a new tag line, "Start Building." The brand also bows a new concept and creative from a new agency, Wieden+Kennedy Portland. Last year the brand ditched its monkey spokesanimals for an office survival mode setting that took place in a jungle. This year we have "Queen of Hearts" and "Firefly." In the first ad, a woman is sulking at her desk, while her boss feasts on lobster. Her heart leaps from her chest to perform a task that she's simply unable to do. Walking heart = scary. Watch the teaser here. "Firefly" stars an animated bug that could easily be the offspring of Jiminy Cricket and Tinkerbell. He appears to a man who wishes for a job he loves. Let's just say everything isn't always what it seems in dreamland. Click here to see the teaser.

    A teaser I actually enjoyed came from Bridgestone. The brand has two very different ads, "The Scream" and "Unexpected Obstacles," running in the first half and the third quarter to promote the performance of its tires. Each ad ends with the voiceover stating, "For drivers who want to get the most out of their cars, it's Bridgestone or nothing." A squirrel is dangerously close to being mowed down in "The Scream." A female passenger, among others, sounds the alarm. "Unexpected Obstacles" is the teaser I liked. I don't know if has anything to do with Richard Simmons jazzercising in the middle of the road or the driver who's about to hit him stepping on the gas rather than the brake. Either way, I had no idea Simmons had such toned legs. Both ads in their entirety are funny, but any spot with Richard Simmons and Alice Cooper wins in my book. The Richards Group created the ads.

    Cars.com, a first time Super Bowl advertiser, is launching spots in the first and third quarters as part of a larger campaign called "Car Shopping Confidence." Each ad begins at a car dealership with prospective buyers confident of their choice of vehicles because they researched their cars online at Cars.com prior to visiting the dealership. This ease in getting what they want from the car dealer prevents them from having to use Plan B: either a witch doctor or Glondor, a tattooed warrior. Watch the ads here and here. The spots close with Cars.com's new tagline, "Confidence Comes Standard." DDB Chicago created the ads.

    Ice Breakers, promoting itsIce Cubes brand of mints, has done poorly in the teaser department. The ad, running during the third quarter, stars Carmen Electra, sandwiched between bodyguards, having a spontaneous "whoa" moment when she eats a peppermint ice cube. Watch the ad here. I forgot it already. Tracy Locke created the ad.