For some people, watching the ads at Super Bowl 2011 will be as much fun as watching the game. How interesting to deconstruct them and the companies' campaigns.
GM will air five Chevrolet commercials during the Feb. 6 game along with two ads in the pregame show and one in the post-game show, which it also is sponsoring.
It's a multimillion-dollar investment for a company that has sat out the game for two years as it reorganized and emerged from bankruptcy.
"GM last advertised during the Super Bowl in 2008, before the auto industry was brought to its knees by the recession. It emerged from a government-led bankruptcy reorganization in 2009 and returned to being a publicly traded company at the end of last year in a $23.1-billion initial public offering, the biggest in U.S. history.
General Motors historically had been one of the heaviest advertisers in the game. Between 2001 and 2010 it was the fourth largest advertiser, spending $61.1-million."
Nine auto makers are airing commercials during the Super Bowl this year, with Ford Motor Co. being the most notable absence.
A Kia ad will show an alien driving a Kia; Volkswagen features an animated Beetle speeding through a forest.
The mesmerizing ads make it hard for Super Bowl viewers to decide when to go to the washroom.
A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself. ~ David Ogilvy
