SYRACUSE -- Forget about the game, Super Bowl commercials are big business.
A thirty second spot this year cost advertisers $3.5 million. Kevin Tripodi, Creative Director at Eric Mower and Associates, says one of the most effective commercials this year was Chrysler's "It's Halftime in America." Tripodi says the commercial, narrated by Clint Eastwood, had a message that resonated with viewers.
On the other end of the spectrum, he says ads like the ones from Go Daddy.Com did not. "They don't really offer that much," he says, "Not a lot of information there and if you do go to that site the fulfillment is not really there."
The Go Daddy.com and Chrysler ad's were just two that made Eric Mowers best and worst list for this year's Super Bowl. Another favorite was Honda's "Matthew's Day Off" spoof of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" with Matthew Broderick bringing back his character from the famous movie. Tripodi says nostalgia commercials continue to be popular with viewers."A lot of people liked that. Some people thought it was a little sad that Ferris Bueller had hit midlife and was in a CRV, almost a minivan of the generation, but again it was the pop culture reference that was effective," he says.
Ads with animals are also effective. There were several to chose from at this year's Super Bowl. Lisa Dolbear of Syracuse says she liked Volkswagon's ad. " I'm a sucker for dogs on a treadmill and dogs doing human things and I drive a Volkswagon, so I liked it," she says.
