Nick’s picks: The best Superbowl ads of all-time
The television advertisements run during the Superbowl are among the most watched
and expensive commercials of the year. At $3.5 million per 30-second spot, and an
expected audience of more than 100 million, the ads tend to generate a great deal of
buzz – and sometimes controversy.
“This year the stakes are as high as ever, and companies are pulling out all the stops to
drum up interest in their creative spots,” said Nick Bontis, associate professor of
strategic market leadership in McMaster's DeGroote School of Business.
Below, Bontis talks about two of his favourite ads to be run during Sunday's game as well as his top five Superbowl ads of all-time.
Favourite ads of 2012
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“One of my favourites to watch out for this weekend is Honda's commercial that revisits
Matthew Broderick's famous movie 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off',” said Bontis. “This spoof
also has a full length version (2 minutes and 30 seconds) that includes ingenious spin-
offs of memorable movie scenes such as faking a sickness to sleep in, hiding from
authority, having fun at an amusement park, and of course, driving a nice car.”
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“I generally like sports car ads,” said Bontis, “so when two of the world's most rabid car
collectors (Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno) fight over a brand new Acura NSX, you have little
choice but to pay close attention.”
Favourite ads of all-time
CareerBuilder.com (2006) – “Organizations that are run by monkeys is a funny concept. Even funnier when it's a job search agency running the commercial.”
Volkswagen (2011) – “Have you ever tried to start a Passat with only your mind? This kid dressed in a Darth Vader costume used 'The Force' and succeeded. Just like the ad.”
Pepsi (1992) – “Pepsi used supermodel Cindy Crawford to promote its new soda can, which turned out to be a good idea.”
Xerox Photocopiers (1977) – “Poor Brother Domenic has to find a miracle,” said Bontis. “Check out the dawn of photocopy technology.”
McDonald's (1993) – “There's nothing but net when two basketball legends challenge each other to a skills competition. But how do they sell Big Macs?”
