American Culture – Super Bowl!
I like sharing both English AND culture with you guys. That’s what the 232 brand is all about. It’s impossible to learn English properly without learning tons of new culture as well.
I just watched the “Super Bowl” today. The super bowl is a very famous sporting match. It’s the final game of NFL football.
This is a very different game than what most of the world calls “football”. We call the game that is played at the world cup “soccer”. We call “American football” just “football”.
Soccer isn’t so popular in America and Canada (probably because we suck at it). So when we’re talking to each other about football, we’re talking about a different game. And the most important game of the year is the “Super Bowl”.
This is a MAJOR sporting event on TV because about 100 million people in the US watch it on TV. That is about 30% of the whole country. More Americans watch the Super Bowl more than anything else on TV. This means that advertisers LOVE this opportunity to make TV commercials. Every year, companies pay a fortune (lot’s of money) for one 30 second commercial. This year, one 30 second commercial cost about $4 000 000 USD
These Super Bowl commercials get talked about a lot. It’s the best way to make many people think of your brand all at one time. Now with the internet, Super Bowl commercials are even more important, because people watch them both on TV and then on Youtube and other video sharing sites. They share the commercials on Facebook etc. Blogs write about them. Even I’m giving free advertising to these companies right now!
These are NOT just regular commercials. The companies spend a lot of time and money designing these special commercials. They are supposed to make people think positively about your brand. They are supposed to make people talk about your brand. They Can’t be boring. Boring is a bigger fail than stupid or weird.
I want to talk about 3 commercials I saw today and show them to you. I’d love to hear your comments below. Which ones, if any, did you like? Why did you like them? Why did you not like them?
1st commercial: Blackberry
I wanted to start off by talking about Blackberry, Canada’s most famous technology company. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian, I don’t know. Anyway, Blackberry is trying to get back in the smart phone game after totally sucking compared with Android, Samsung, and Apple. They are starting to sell their new Blackberry 10. It is by far the best phone the company has ever made. This could save the company if people like and buy the phone. I’m curious to hear what you guys think of the brand image of Blackberry in your country.
The commercial tried to be clever and basically say the Blackberry 10 can do so many things, therefore it would be easier to show you the things the new Blackberry CAN’T do. It’s supposed to get people thinking and talking about the new phone. Was this a good idea? Here it is:
2nd commercial: Doritos
This one is a cute of from Doritos. They are trying to show the relationship and a guy with his pet goat. The goat loves to eat Doritos. What do you think about this one? (By the way, It’s a joke. Americans don’t really have pet goats!)
3rd commercial: GoDaddy
This is a commercial from GoDaddy. This is a website company. The commercial takes a big risk and wants people talking about the commercial. Some people think it’s terrible, some people think it’s awesome. It depends on your taste. Certainly people ARE talking about it. Do you think it’s too much? Was it a good idea or a bad move? I’d love to hear your thoughts guys!!!!!
February 4th, 2013 at 7:15 am
Well. In my opinion the best videos are the second and third ones. They are funny, stay on mind, and they are intelligent
February 4th, 2013 at 8:41 am
I find the 2nd video better than the rest. It’s funny, interesting and most importantly it delivers the message clearly. Let’s get some doritos fellas
February 4th, 2013 at 8:55 am
Hi, the 2nd is the best!. The noise made by goat when saw the empty shelf – priceless!!!
February 4th, 2013 at 9:32 am
I thought Blackberry was American’s!
blackberry was the best of three of them
it’s a kind of culture to enjoy smartphone-commecial-war
i want to add blackberry to other top mobile phone group
it’s going be more fun to enjoy their ideas competition!!
thanks!! your effort/////////////
February 4th, 2013 at 2:12 pm
I think the first one, blackberry is the best. the o=second one doe’s not have any special feature, and the third one is too much, It’s kinda creepy when they kiss
February 5th, 2013 at 6:22 am
I don’t know if any of you have noticed my comment in the “one comment only” blog, but that’s all right. This is the last time I’m giving you an special announcement. If any of you are curious about my upcoming philanthropy, don’t hesitate too much, drop me an email at c.b.deus@gmail.com , up to 20 emails will be answered.
February 5th, 2013 at 8:15 am
The 1st one is rather creative)))! The second commercial is a bit stupid (seems like Doritos are for pets), the 3d one is really disgusting!(((
February 5th, 2013 at 8:39 am
hi there!
these commercials are one more evidence of the fact that different cultures has different sence of humor.
i am from ukraine (CIS region) and i find this commercials quite silly.
sorry if i hurt someone!
in any case thanky you for sharing!
keep doing it
February 5th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
It is always seem strange for me American football is called “football” becouse from name of this play is quite clear that it is a play in which players play ball by their feet, but I never sow in American football they use their feet.
February 5th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
“…Even I’m giving free advertising to these companies right now!…” You have right to do this because you’re sharing your inspiration and knowledge with us for free too. And I never heard NFL was giving tickets for free even they have enormous money from advertisement
February 5th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
The second is cute coz it makes people and animals share taste
February 5th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
“..The second commercial is a bit stupid (seems like Doritos are for pets)..” I agree with your opinion about all of three comercials. In case of the second I must admit it is not only seems stupid.. I think advertising products like this one is extremely dangerous, especially for children and teens. See here http://www.ted.com/playlists/75/what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html (Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food)
February 5th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
How much do you get to advertise these things? Be honest………..!!!
February 5th, 2013 at 9:52 pm
The best video is the first one,
February 5th, 2013 at 11:57 pm
I prefer the second one，because it is funny，interesting and impressing！ The third one is disgusting，but I believe it will be cause people talking about it.
February 6th, 2013 at 8:40 am
Rating according stupidity (*) and disgust (@):
GoDaddy ***** @@@@@
Doritos **** @
Blackberry ***
So it goes, amigos. Watching American FOOTBALL makes you smarter.
February 6th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
I personally don’t like any of those commercials. Tastes differ but in my opinion they all are far too usual, even boring. Just to feel the difference watch Turkish airlines commercials. I just admire their advertising style if I may say so ))
February 6th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
I am hitting the”like” button to the doritos commercial. What a bad idea the guy had buying that goat. He screwed up his whole life.
February 6th, 2013 at 5:28 pm
All of them are awfull ,disgusting. I didn’t enjoy watching those commercials.
It is waste of time to see this kind of thing.
I’m sorry, but that is my thought.
February 7th, 2013 at 9:58 am
Everyone knows that Americans are stupid nation. They were granted the all the unjustified privileges due to some historical events in the past like wars in Europe (which was highly profitable for them), expansions west in south at the cost of the Spanish speaking nations, and other … lucky for them. Most of them relied on cheating, dirty politics and economic exploitation of the other nations. Dollar as a reserve currency is one of the factors that still keep them on their feet. It will not last forever, people have already realized who they are dealing with.
February 7th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
guys!
you should not forget that the main idea of any adv is motivate consumers to spend some money but not to be pleasant for them. so if it works out for americans, ok, go ahead.
February 9th, 2013 at 7:47 pm
The one for doritos is the worst, silly, stupid
I’m quite harsh but the com for the web site but is quite disgusting, really don’t like it.
So the winner is Blackberry.
I’m a little disapointed, I thought that those valuable commercials would have been more creative…
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:03 pm
I found second commercial funnier than the rest ones. The first one was sort of insipid and it is the one I ceratinly will forget in the near future. The last one was let’s say “uncomfortable” to watch given the fact that it was only commercial. I for sure would not get such impression while watching a movie, but it is not what I expect to see in commercialls. Nevertheless it will stick in my mind and that is what it was all about. Given the fact that it was displayed during super bowl it must heave made a lot of people talk about it. So in terms of effectivness the third ad is the winner. As for me just like I said I enjoyed watching doritos commercial. Every time I watch commercial that makes me laugh I am more likely to buy the product. Hard to explain it, but maybe the funnier commercial I find the smartest people I think are behind the brand, consequently final product must be worth buying.