Disappointed with early release of Super Bowl ads

super-bowl-50-logoEven if you didn’t grow up a sports fan, you still watched the Super Bowl for its advertisements and maybe even the halftime show. You knew that the ads you saw were being released for the very first time. It’s also one of the only sporting events in which people don’t leave the room during commercials (unless they need to refill) because they are what many people look forward to seeing.

This year–like the past several years–that feeling of being surprised has disappeared. I guess it was only a matter of time, as companies have released their ads weeks prior to the game, with the hopes of increasing exposure.

As I think about it, it is a smart move for companies. Since companies are spending an average of $4.8 million plus production costs for a 30-second commercial, it makes sense the organization would want to extend the buzz to make the investment worthwhile. It could make a one-day campaign turn into a 10-day campaign. Also, releasing early gives the company a chance to break through some of the clutter.

It will be interesting to see how pre-releasing these ads will affect viewership numbers during the game on Sunday.

I hate slideshow websites

SlideshowsWhere is that child star from the 1980s today? Which athlete had the most arrests? What are the most unhealthy fast-food items?

Today’s listicles, written with tantalizing-sounding topics like the ones above, typically serve as clickbait in the form of a slideshow. The reasons for the slideshow are to 1) artificially boost a website’s pageviews and 2) trick the reader into clicking a link to a different sponsored post. I find both unethical, and I would never advise a client to do something so sleazy.

I love that in the recent South Park episode titled “Sponsored Content,” a character said, “I feel like I’m always trying to chase the news somehow. It’s like I’m in a black void trying to reach the news story. But then the next thing I know I’m reading an ad for GEICO. So I click out of that and try to read the news story, but it’s not a news story, it’s a slideshow, and I’m looking at the worst celebrity plastic surgery jobs ever.”

Is this how media companies want to earn a buck these days, by annoying and deceiving their audiences? I’m putting my foot down, refusing to look at any more slideshows. If that means I don’t get to find out the horrifying secret that hikers discovered in the woods or the 14 things about Kate Middleton that annoy the queen, so be it.

Won’t you join me?

The selfie bandwagon

Sometimes there’s a product or service that seems outrageous but for some reason, the public falls in love with it. A recent example is the selfie stick.

GIGA SelfieThe stick itself is part of a larger trend of people taking selfies, and Tourism Australia is taking advantage in its new “The GIGA Selfie” campaign.

The oversized selfie service is part of the upcoming campaign that’s trying to attract more Japanese tourists to Australia (the Japanese market is Australia’s sixth largest in terms of tourists). Tourists stand on a specific spot and use an app to set off a distant camera. Afterward they can download a short video that begins as a closeup but expands to reveal the surroundings.

This weekend will be the first opportunity for tourists to take the highly anticipated selfie. Future locations will be announced through social media outlets.

For companies, there’s no shame in jumping on the bandwagon in your marketing campaigns. Not only will the public be aware of the trend, but they may be more willing to use it.