The Good, Bad and the Moments That Make You Scratch Your Head

Our fourth annual big game review took place at the historic Frida Cinema. The large movie stage was a perfect backdrop to host our panelists, moderator and a great audience.

Our panelists were carefully hand-picked by AAFOC president, Robb Hart and included:

• Daniel Rhodes, General Manager of Ideal Hall

• Nadia Voukitchevitch, Freelance Producer

• Aron Orton, Content Creator, Writer, Director, Amusement Park

The Song Remains the Same.

Majority of the spots used classic rock tunes to set the backdrop to share their story to us. Here’s just a few examples.

The simplicity of this spot makes Heinz Weiner dog spot a winner. Overall the panelists liked this spot. Come on, how you could not love Weiner dogs dressed in hot dog buns running along a grassy field. What is especially impressive to one of the panelists noted the impressive skill of the Director of Photography. He or she would have had to set the cameras really low to be able to clearly view these low-to-ground canines running along. Harry Nilsson’s (If I can’t live if living is without you….) tune brought overwhelming feelings of joy to bottles of condiments that greeted them.

Queen’s “somebody to love” was lovingly conveyed by a flock of singing sheep. Honda’s commercial featuring singing sheep was highly entertaining, and while it does a good job of connecting the story line with the singing sheep, the fact that Honda features speakers in the open bed as the key differentiator left us all wondering, ‘is that it?’

David Bowie’s ‘Starman’ was used by Audi Commander spot to show how their R8 supercar was going to launch this older astronaut to relive his glory days in space. One of our panelists did find this spot objectionable as the older astronaut appears to be completely disconnected from his external environment, perhaps suggesting Alzheimer’s. It’s a pretty impressive looking car.

Hey Bud, Can You Spare a Spot?

Budweiser’s spots were a hit and miss.

The traditional spot of Clydesdales bounding across the screen didn’t seem to convey anything new other than an overabundance of visual and audio data. What happened to the puppies? What happened to the storyline? Our panelists wanted to know.

By contrast the Bud Light spot featuring Amy Shuman and Seth Rogan, played upon the current political environment with some politically incorrect humor. Entertaining with lots of star appeal.

Munch on this.

Probably one of the most highly controversial spots, spurned outrage from pro-choice and pro-life groups. This non politically correct commercial had the expectant father enticing his baby with a Doritos chip, as the baby moving on the screen showing interest in food. So while it may not be considered PC, our panel felt Doritos came up again with a unique, memorable spot. Even if you didn’t agree with it. We dare you to laugh.

The Doritos Dogs spot was predictably entertaining and not controversial.

Carl’s Jr spot was predictable, but instead of the stunning female model, they chose a hunky chef eating a burger. While we understand Carl’s Jr wants to increase sales, maybe they should have spent more time on their creative brainstorming. This could have been a great opportunity to change their brand.

WTH?

We left scratching our heads with the LG spot. It was interesting to have Liam Neesson and speaking to his son about the future and the forces who want to stop it. But it’s just not believable. No one to stop a better television. While we like to live in fantasy land, this was too big a stretch for us.

And Snickers provided the awkward visuals of Willem Dafoe before he eats a snickers and transforms into Marilyn Monroe. We just can seem to get weird visual of Mr. Dafoe out of our minds.

Pharma Flails Fiercely.

Just because you have the money to buy a spot, doesn’t mean you should do it. AstraZenca felt the need to bring about opiate induced constipation.

And they also felt compelled to include Xifaxan; how irritable bowel issues can happen anytime, as the colon shaped hero portrayed his intestinal discomfort. Both spots left us feeling, a little uncomfortable. And we all felt pretty sad for talent under duress.

Doing the Dew.

While PuppyMonkeyBaby was targeting a younger demographic, Mountain Dew might have hit a home run. One of our panelists said this spot annoying, but his young children found this spot highly entertaining and humorous. And while the phrase puppymonkeybaby is annoying the first time, by third time it sort of grows on you, don’t you think?

Car Talk.

Hyundai hits a home run with this spot, effectively combining product features during the course of a first date with her father Kevin Hart stalking them. Its funny storytelling disguised as car commercial.

Perhaps the most dramatic and powerful message came from Jeep. One of the panelists shared with the audience this spot has already a Clio and for good reason. Powerful images showing America’s icons, cultural touchstones and the brand’s vehicles all made us sit up a little straighter in our seat.

Doing the Right Thing.

While public services spots don’t always have the high production value as the consumer brands, the No More, “Text Talk” spot on domestic violence prevention was simply, powerfully executed and aimed directly at the younger audience.

And for the rest of us, Budweiser hires Helen Mirren to deliver ‘the don’t drive drunk’ message. In her eloquent voice and manner, advises all of us who know better a string of insults and name calling, only the British can deliver. Budweiser crafted the delicate balance of advising and insulting. Bravo.