Welcome to the latest edition of our News, Views & Clues — a quick rundown of things that caught our eye, triggered our imagination, and stimulated our curiosity.
SB50 – Morning After 1 – This Bud’s for…
There was plenty written about the game AND the ads. Peyton “Always Be Selling” Manning gave a shout out to Budweiser that everyone figured he was paid to do. He’s SO overexposed (think “Manning fatigue” is just like the “Rachel Ray fatigue” from a few years back) these days (Papa Johns, Nationwide, etc.)
You can read about his shout out here and here.
SB – Morning After 2 – Taco Bell’s Bigger Than Launch
Taco Bell clearly had some fun with their “Bigger Than” ad promoting the ”Quesalupa,” a hybrid of a quesadilla and chalupa.
See AdAge’s write-up here.
Very fun and something we didn’t mind watching again and again.
SB50 – Morning After 3 – Jeep Forever!
AdAge had a nice write-up on two ads from Jeep. Both of spots were awesome!
The “4x4ever” ad, which ran in the fourth quarter, is more contemporary and set to original lyrics and a music score created specifically for the spot and sung by Morgan Dorr. The ad “celebrates the formidable story of capability that has transcended time and designs, and reimagines the idea of 4×4 to mean living a life that is without boundaries,” the automaker stated.
Impactful for sure!
Also, stylistically they broke the mold and did a portrait-style ad (AKA vertical), clearly anticipating that many would be watching from their mobile phone. See Adweek’s write-up about it here.
Note: The Big Game always draws a lot of competition among car companies. This piece at Autonews.com has a nice summary of the ads and how well they did on and offline.
Ready to shift gears? We are. Here are a few more things that caught our eye.
More Patents than Tommie?
The New York Time ran an obituary on Artur Fischer (Inventor With More Patents Than Edison, Dies at 96). With more than 1,100 patents to his name (just ahead of Thomas Edison, who had 1,093), his innovations ranged from the plastic wall plug to a line of bestselling toys.
“I am interested in any problem to which I can provide a solution,” Mr. Fischer told the German magazine Technology Review in 2007.
The Sound of Music – Pathways to the Brain…
The Times also ran a story (New Ways Into the Brain’s ‘Music Room’by Natalie Angier) about some work researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been doing which identified neural pathways in the brain that react almost exclusively to the sound of music — any music.
It may be Bach, bluegrass, hip-hop, big band, sitar or Julie Andrews. A listener may relish the sampled genre or revile it. No matter. When a musical passage is played, a distinct set of neurons tucked inside a furrow of a listener’s auditory cortex will fire in response.
Doc found this particularly interesting as it confirmed something he’s known intuitively.
Song of the Week
Song of the Week
Speaking of music, here’s our song of the week. Very catchy and it has found its way onto Annie’s mobile as her ringtone. Lyrics include this:
We used to play pretend, give each other different names,
We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away,
Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face,
Saying, “Wake up, you need to make money.”
Yo.
That’s a Wrap!
Hope you enjoyed this week’s NVC. Make sure you check back in for future columns along with our As We See It (AWSI) posts that will also appearing on a more regular publishing schedule.
Stay curious and may the Jedemi Force be with you!
-The Gang
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Bonus Content:
We thought this full page ad that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Super Bowl Sunday was a classy move by the Carolina Panthers.
Super Bowl Team places ad.
Continuing with the Super Bowl, Comcast / XFINITY featured one of our favorites –Oakland A’s pitcher, Sonny Gray, in this “Change the way you experience TV” Super Bowl ad.
Teammates tweeted about it.
Short and long versions are below.
How about this for changing how you experience LEGOs?
This paper airplane machine is made entirely of LEGOS.https://t.co/NCoDn7FIuD
— The Verge (@verge) February 11, 2016
Lastly, we’ve included a few annoying Peyton ads for your viewing pleasure
[Apologize in advance for the RIDICULOUS toll-keeper, forced ads that play before the real ad we want to show. Just look away and have your finger on the mute button. ]
[…] We noticed that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has just named DDB Chicago the agency-of-record for Jeep and Alfa Romeo in the U.S. At first we were like, that’s too many changes in the ad world for us to absorb in a week. Then we saw it was the agency that did the “4x4Ever” Super Bowl ad. […]