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CNN Live Today
Battle of the Ads
Aired February 02, 2004 - 10:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes you think you can be a clydesdale, son? And what was my answer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You go, donkey!
We turn your attention back to the Super Bowl. When the viewers tune in for the big game, some want action on the field, others are counting down to the commercial breaks. Joining us now to talk to us about the Super Bowl ads, the woman who literally wrote the book about Super Bowl ads, Bernice Kanner. Her book is "The Super Bowl of Advertising: How Commercials Won the Game," and she joins us live from New York.
Good morning.
If you write a book like that, then the Super Bowl is like your high holy day.
BERNICE KANNER, AUTHOR, "THE SUPER BOWL OF ADVERTISING": It's not just mine it's the whole marketing world's day. It got a little less holy yesterday.
KAGAN: You think the quality was down?
KANNER: I think that it's the first time that the halftime show won the game and the buzz after. I think that except for Anheuser- Busch, many of the marketers showed up underdressed for this party.
KAGAN: I'm looking at your top three picks, and you do pick three Budweiser commercials as your top pick. The one we just saw with the donkey and the clydesdale.
You also like the horse-drawn carriage, where the horse has a little gas, shall we say. Why did you like that one?
KANNER: Well, these were AOL's picks. I loved the donkey, because I found it very strategic. It was the emotional high that you had. It was the little hilarity, how he grew hair, and it was the idea that he triumphed, and that it makes the clydesdales, a symbol of the beer, such a high, holy place, if you will.
The next one, the Budweiser spot, which you have a horse ruining the date in the sleigh ride, actually was strategic in the sense that it appealed to young men, 21 to 29, who buy 80 percent of the beer, so that was designed to cover a different audience.
KAGAN: I'm sorry, I guess you'd have to consider that same audience, that same demographic group, when you look at this other Budweiser one, the one with the dog. I think we're going to play that one and take a look, so let's look at that one.
KANNER: Yes, top dog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch this. Piper, fetch.
Good boy, Piper. You're such a smart dog.
So, uh, what can your dog do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bergess, Bud Lite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Cute, but considering the targeted demographic, a little crass, but then there was a lot about the Super Bowl yesterday that was a little crass.
KANNER: Yes, but it was also the idea of avenge of the underdog, again.
KAGAN: Ah, OK, literally the underdog. A little bit more wholesome. Chevrolet had an ad with kids with soap in their mouths.
KANNER: Now what I found so interesting about this, is it was the only one with a real novel idea. I think they could have done better just eliminating the holy and just have the woman standing with the soap.
KAGAN: And what are they selling here? I think that's the ultimate question.
KANNER: They're selling the fact that this is one good-looking car. And to my eye, it was the only one that wasn't in red last night. Every other car was in red, and this one was a startler.
KAGAN: And real quickly, $2.3 million just to buy the time. That's not even the production cost on these things, for 30 seconds of time. Is that a good buy in the marketing and advertising world?
KANNER: Ordinarily, I'd say yes, because everybody's primed to watch your commercial. They watch under a microscope. They watch with groups, and they talk about them the next day. But it was a very poor waste of money if you ran a commercial that either got you talked about in a negative way, as Ciallis (ph) and Levitra did, or you disappointed, as Federal Express and monster.com did, because they set the bar so high before. We were expecting great things, and we didn't get it.
KAGAN: Well, hopefully, they will step up their game next year. Bernice, thank you for your time.
KANNER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Appreciate it. Bernice Kanner, the book, the Super Bowl of advertising.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 2, 2004 - 10:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes you think you can be a clydesdale, son? And what was my answer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You go, donkey!
We turn your attention back to the Super Bowl. When the viewers tune in for the big game, some want action on the field, others are counting down to the commercial breaks. Joining us now to talk to us about the Super Bowl ads, the woman who literally wrote the book about Super Bowl ads, Bernice Kanner. Her book is "The Super Bowl of Advertising: How Commercials Won the Game," and she joins us live from New York.
Good morning.
If you write a book like that, then the Super Bowl is like your high holy day.
BERNICE KANNER, AUTHOR, "THE SUPER BOWL OF ADVERTISING": It's not just mine it's the whole marketing world's day. It got a little less holy yesterday.
KAGAN: You think the quality was down?
KANNER: I think that it's the first time that the halftime show won the game and the buzz after. I think that except for Anheuser- Busch, many of the marketers showed up underdressed for this party.
KAGAN: I'm looking at your top three picks, and you do pick three Budweiser commercials as your top pick. The one we just saw with the donkey and the clydesdale.
You also like the horse-drawn carriage, where the horse has a little gas, shall we say. Why did you like that one?
KANNER: Well, these were AOL's picks. I loved the donkey, because I found it very strategic. It was the emotional high that you had. It was the little hilarity, how he grew hair, and it was the idea that he triumphed, and that it makes the clydesdales, a symbol of the beer, such a high, holy place, if you will.
The next one, the Budweiser spot, which you have a horse ruining the date in the sleigh ride, actually was strategic in the sense that it appealed to young men, 21 to 29, who buy 80 percent of the beer, so that was designed to cover a different audience.
KAGAN: I'm sorry, I guess you'd have to consider that same audience, that same demographic group, when you look at this other Budweiser one, the one with the dog. I think we're going to play that one and take a look, so let's look at that one.
KANNER: Yes, top dog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch this. Piper, fetch.
Good boy, Piper. You're such a smart dog.
So, uh, what can your dog do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bergess, Bud Lite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Cute, but considering the targeted demographic, a little crass, but then there was a lot about the Super Bowl yesterday that was a little crass.
KANNER: Yes, but it was also the idea of avenge of the underdog, again.
KAGAN: Ah, OK, literally the underdog. A little bit more wholesome. Chevrolet had an ad with kids with soap in their mouths.
KANNER: Now what I found so interesting about this, is it was the only one with a real novel idea. I think they could have done better just eliminating the holy and just have the woman standing with the soap.
KAGAN: And what are they selling here? I think that's the ultimate question.
KANNER: They're selling the fact that this is one good-looking car. And to my eye, it was the only one that wasn't in red last night. Every other car was in red, and this one was a startler.
KAGAN: And real quickly, $2.3 million just to buy the time. That's not even the production cost on these things, for 30 seconds of time. Is that a good buy in the marketing and advertising world?
KANNER: Ordinarily, I'd say yes, because everybody's primed to watch your commercial. They watch under a microscope. They watch with groups, and they talk about them the next day. But it was a very poor waste of money if you ran a commercial that either got you talked about in a negative way, as Ciallis (ph) and Levitra did, or you disappointed, as Federal Express and monster.com did, because they set the bar so high before. We were expecting great things, and we didn't get it.
KAGAN: Well, hopefully, they will step up their game next year. Bernice, thank you for your time.
KANNER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Appreciate it. Bernice Kanner, the book, the Super Bowl of advertising.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
