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American Morning

Super Bowl Spots

Aired January 30, 2004 - 07:35   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Houston, site of Super Bowl 38 on Sunday, police are on high alert against terrorism. Surveillance and security measures will be equal to a level red threat status. But police say there is no credible threat at this time and that people should enjoy the game.
It is the biggest sporting event of the year. An estimated 137 million people will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. But for many, the excitement begins when there's a break in the action, and that is when these eagerly awaited Super Bowl ads will appear.

Here's one of them. This one's from MasterCard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MASTERCARD COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Diapers, milk and laundry detergent, $25.

HOMER SIMPSON: Oh, yes, and that stuff he just said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Routine oil change, $20.

SIMPSON: Ooh, jeez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haircut, $75.

SIMPSON: Seventy-five bucks!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting your errands done quicker to spend more time with your family, priceless.

That's getting your errands done quicker to...

SIMPSON: Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. Stupid voice- over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some things money can't buy.

SIMPSON: Ooh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For everything else, there's MasterCard.

SIMPSON: Wooh, it's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And joining us this morning to talk about the Super Bowl spots that'll have people buzzing on Monday is Suzanne Vranica, advertising executive for the "Wall Street Journal."

Nice to see you.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

SUZANNE VRANICA, ADVERTISING REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Thanks for having me.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of how they are this year. Some years they're really -- I thought last year was a great year. But you've seen them, so you know going in.

What do you think?

VRANICA: I've seen about 99 percent of them and I think it's really disappointing this year.

O'BRIEN: No, really?

VRANICA: They're a little flat.

O'BRIEN: Really?

VRANICA: I have to say. I'm really disappointed. But there's a few secrets still left, so I'm hoping when I get back to the office I'm a little wonder there.

O'BRIEN: The ones you haven't seen are the ones that are going to wow you.

Which ones do you like?

Which one do you like?

VRANICA: Well, again, I think A.B. is going to steal the show, Anheuser-Busch. They have nine ads. Sedgewick the Entertainer is back. He goes through a painful spa treatment, so I think people will be really happy to see that.

O'BRIEN: I'm going to stop you there so we can take a look.

VRANICA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM ANHEUSER BUSCH COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Must be tough being a big time basketball player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough being a mega hit singer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Designated driver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VRANICA: That's the corporate -- that's the drinking responsible ad. There's going to be plenty from Anheuser-Busch that you're going to laugh at. There's tons of them to go. There's nine ads and they're excellent, excellent, excellent.

O'BRIEN: Now, these ads cost in excess of $2 million apiece. But you've said that that's not the actual number. I mean that's not necessarily what people are paying.

VRANICA: No, on average, $2.3 million. But an advertiser like Anheuser-Busch buys nine ads and they're definitely getting a deal. They're not paying that top price.

O'BRIEN: Do you think the old standards, the Bud, Anheuser- Busch, the ones that always seem to come up year in and year again are going to do well this year again -- Pepsi, Coke?

VRANICA: Absolutely. Pepsi has got a great lineup for us. There's an ad that they have going on with a small boy playing Jimi Hendrix who chooses a Pepsi over a Coke, and, thankfully, because that leads him on his way, his path to being a rock star.

O'BRIEN: Thank god.

VRANICA: Thank god.

O'BRIEN: Which ones don't you like?

VRANICA: Well...

O'BRIEN: Which ones are going to tank?

VRANICA: Well, I think the one that's really going to tank is this erectile dysfunction bowl that's going to go on. You know, I don't know about anybody else, but, you know, families gather to watch the Super Bowl.

O'BRIEN: Back up. What is it?

VRANICA: Erectile dysfunction. There's a lot of pharmaceutical companies out there trying to, you know, put their -- make their mark with their new drugs. And that's something that's going to be hard pressed, hard to play at home on this Sunday.

O'BRIEN: Some ads are really funny. Like the Terry Tate ad from last year, remember, all the workers who weren't doing their jobs. He would come in and tackle them and it was very funny. I've got to tell you, until you filled me in a few minutes ago, I couldn't remember for the life of me who created that ad. And that's the real problem, isn't it, because it's not really successful if you remember how funny it was but you have no idea who the advertiser was?

VRANICA: Absolutely. That's the biggest problem. You know, you go for the big entertaining ad, but at the end of the day, we all remember what they were, what they looked like, even the celebrities that were in them. But what we don't remember is the brand that they're for. So that's the big danger here.

O'BRIEN: Lots of beer ads. Lots of scantily clad women. I mean that's nothing new. I've read that the actual number of people who watch the Super Bowl, it's highly skewed to women.

VRANICA: Oh, absolutely. Half the audience is women. And I think advertisers often forget that and they gear a lot of their ads towards men. And you have to remember, this is a perfect opportunity to reach, you know, millions of women out there. So I think you have to be really kind of sexual neuter when you go for your advertising and make sure you're hitting both targets, because it's a golden opportunity. Procter & Gamble has got advertising this year, so I think they're aware of that.

O'BRIEN: There's -- Procter & Gamble meaning also a lot of household goods.

VRANICA: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: That sort of conventionally would appeal to the women.

Pepsi, there's an ad with Britney Spears with Pink and Beyonce Knowles that many people are buzzing about as a Super Bowl ad. I was surprised to read it's not a Super Bowl ad.

VRANICA: It's not a Super Bowl ad.

O'BRIEN: Really?

VRANICA: In fact, I have been -- people have been stopping me saying where are we going to see this new Super Bowl ad, what quarter is it going to roll? Well, it's a mistake. It's actually an ad that's running in Europe...

O'BRIEN: This is it right now. It's a gladiator type.

VRANICA: And it's not going to run here on the Super Bowl at all. It's running in Europe. Pepsi is, you know, steadfastly denying that it's going to run in the Super Bowl and we sort of have to believe them at this point. The reason that it's not running is it doesn't match their U.S. campaign that's running. Right now in the U.S., they're focused more on pegging Pepsi to the foods that you eat every day. So it's a little bit of a toned down kind of ad approach, as very different from that.

O'BRIEN: Well, now, why wouldn't they take all the buzz off of this and quick just swap out and run that instead?

VRANICA: Well, we keep asking them that, so who knows what they'll decide today. But as far as we know, it's a no go.

O'BRIEN: Can a good ad -- outside of what we remember about Microsoft, about Apple Computer, Macintosh back, way back when -- can a good ad really launch a company?

VRANICA: Absolutely. O'BRIEN: I mean really?

VRANICA: If you look at...

O'BRIEN: These days? Really?

VRANICA: Absolutely. If you look at Monster.com, they came out at the first Super Bowl. They had this fantastic ad years ago with "when I grow up," a bunch of kids sitting around talking about...

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

VRANICA: It's a famous ad and it really launched that dot-com.

O'BRIEN: I remember that.

VRANICA: I mean a lot of the dot-coms tried it, you know, during the dot-com boom, but failed. But a lot of them, you know, are still around.

O'BRIEN: Well, it is certainly going to be interesting. See, and I've got to tell you, for the bulk of us who actually watch the game only for the ads, it's really what we're watching for; maybe the half time show, as well.

VRANICA: You're in good company.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Vranica, nice to have you.

Thanks for being with us, again, from the "Wall Street Journal."

VRANICA: Thanks for having me.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being here.

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 January 30, 2004 - 07:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Houston, site of Super Bowl 38 on Sunday, police are on high alert against terrorism. Surveillance and security measures will be equal to a level red threat status. But police say there is no credible threat at this time and that people should enjoy the game.
It is the biggest sporting event of the year. An estimated 137 million people will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. But for many, the excitement begins when there's a break in the action, and that is when these eagerly awaited Super Bowl ads will appear.

Here's one of them. This one's from MasterCard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MASTERCARD COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Diapers, milk and laundry detergent, $25.

HOMER SIMPSON: Oh, yes, and that stuff he just said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Routine oil change, $20.

SIMPSON: Ooh, jeez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haircut, $75.

SIMPSON: Seventy-five bucks!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting your errands done quicker to spend more time with your family, priceless.

That's getting your errands done quicker to...

SIMPSON: Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. Stupid voice- over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some things money can't buy.

SIMPSON: Ooh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For everything else, there's MasterCard.

SIMPSON: Wooh, it's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And joining us this morning to talk about the Super Bowl spots that'll have people buzzing on Monday is Suzanne Vranica, advertising executive for the "Wall Street Journal."

Nice to see you.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

SUZANNE VRANICA, ADVERTISING REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Thanks for having me.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of how they are this year. Some years they're really -- I thought last year was a great year. But you've seen them, so you know going in.

What do you think?

VRANICA: I've seen about 99 percent of them and I think it's really disappointing this year.

O'BRIEN: No, really?

VRANICA: They're a little flat.

O'BRIEN: Really?

VRANICA: I have to say. I'm really disappointed. But there's a few secrets still left, so I'm hoping when I get back to the office I'm a little wonder there.

O'BRIEN: The ones you haven't seen are the ones that are going to wow you.

Which ones do you like?

Which one do you like?

VRANICA: Well, again, I think A.B. is going to steal the show, Anheuser-Busch. They have nine ads. Sedgewick the Entertainer is back. He goes through a painful spa treatment, so I think people will be really happy to see that.

O'BRIEN: I'm going to stop you there so we can take a look.

VRANICA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM ANHEUSER BUSCH COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Must be tough being a big time basketball player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough being a mega hit singer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Designated driver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VRANICA: That's the corporate -- that's the drinking responsible ad. There's going to be plenty from Anheuser-Busch that you're going to laugh at. There's tons of them to go. There's nine ads and they're excellent, excellent, excellent.

O'BRIEN: Now, these ads cost in excess of $2 million apiece. But you've said that that's not the actual number. I mean that's not necessarily what people are paying.

VRANICA: No, on average, $2.3 million. But an advertiser like Anheuser-Busch buys nine ads and they're definitely getting a deal. They're not paying that top price.

O'BRIEN: Do you think the old standards, the Bud, Anheuser- Busch, the ones that always seem to come up year in and year again are going to do well this year again -- Pepsi, Coke?

VRANICA: Absolutely. Pepsi has got a great lineup for us. There's an ad that they have going on with a small boy playing Jimi Hendrix who chooses a Pepsi over a Coke, and, thankfully, because that leads him on his way, his path to being a rock star.

O'BRIEN: Thank god.

VRANICA: Thank god.

O'BRIEN: Which ones don't you like?

VRANICA: Well...

O'BRIEN: Which ones are going to tank?

VRANICA: Well, I think the one that's really going to tank is this erectile dysfunction bowl that's going to go on. You know, I don't know about anybody else, but, you know, families gather to watch the Super Bowl.

O'BRIEN: Back up. What is it?

VRANICA: Erectile dysfunction. There's a lot of pharmaceutical companies out there trying to, you know, put their -- make their mark with their new drugs. And that's something that's going to be hard pressed, hard to play at home on this Sunday.

O'BRIEN: Some ads are really funny. Like the Terry Tate ad from last year, remember, all the workers who weren't doing their jobs. He would come in and tackle them and it was very funny. I've got to tell you, until you filled me in a few minutes ago, I couldn't remember for the life of me who created that ad. And that's the real problem, isn't it, because it's not really successful if you remember how funny it was but you have no idea who the advertiser was?

VRANICA: Absolutely. That's the biggest problem. You know, you go for the big entertaining ad, but at the end of the day, we all remember what they were, what they looked like, even the celebrities that were in them. But what we don't remember is the brand that they're for. So that's the big danger here.

O'BRIEN: Lots of beer ads. Lots of scantily clad women. I mean that's nothing new. I've read that the actual number of people who watch the Super Bowl, it's highly skewed to women.

VRANICA: Oh, absolutely. Half the audience is women. And I think advertisers often forget that and they gear a lot of their ads towards men. And you have to remember, this is a perfect opportunity to reach, you know, millions of women out there. So I think you have to be really kind of sexual neuter when you go for your advertising and make sure you're hitting both targets, because it's a golden opportunity. Procter & Gamble has got advertising this year, so I think they're aware of that.

O'BRIEN: There's -- Procter & Gamble meaning also a lot of household goods.

VRANICA: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: That sort of conventionally would appeal to the women.

Pepsi, there's an ad with Britney Spears with Pink and Beyonce Knowles that many people are buzzing about as a Super Bowl ad. I was surprised to read it's not a Super Bowl ad.

VRANICA: It's not a Super Bowl ad.

O'BRIEN: Really?

VRANICA: In fact, I have been -- people have been stopping me saying where are we going to see this new Super Bowl ad, what quarter is it going to roll? Well, it's a mistake. It's actually an ad that's running in Europe...

O'BRIEN: This is it right now. It's a gladiator type.

VRANICA: And it's not going to run here on the Super Bowl at all. It's running in Europe. Pepsi is, you know, steadfastly denying that it's going to run in the Super Bowl and we sort of have to believe them at this point. The reason that it's not running is it doesn't match their U.S. campaign that's running. Right now in the U.S., they're focused more on pegging Pepsi to the foods that you eat every day. So it's a little bit of a toned down kind of ad approach, as very different from that.

O'BRIEN: Well, now, why wouldn't they take all the buzz off of this and quick just swap out and run that instead?

VRANICA: Well, we keep asking them that, so who knows what they'll decide today. But as far as we know, it's a no go.

O'BRIEN: Can a good ad -- outside of what we remember about Microsoft, about Apple Computer, Macintosh back, way back when -- can a good ad really launch a company?

VRANICA: Absolutely. O'BRIEN: I mean really?

VRANICA: If you look at...

O'BRIEN: These days? Really?

VRANICA: Absolutely. If you look at Monster.com, they came out at the first Super Bowl. They had this fantastic ad years ago with "when I grow up," a bunch of kids sitting around talking about...

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

VRANICA: It's a famous ad and it really launched that dot-com.

O'BRIEN: I remember that.

VRANICA: I mean a lot of the dot-coms tried it, you know, during the dot-com boom, but failed. But a lot of them, you know, are still around.

O'BRIEN: Well, it is certainly going to be interesting. See, and I've got to tell you, for the bulk of us who actually watch the game only for the ads, it's really what we're watching for; maybe the half time show, as well.

VRANICA: You're in good company.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Vranica, nice to have you.

Thanks for being with us, again, from the "Wall Street Journal."

VRANICA: Thanks for having me.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for being here.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com