are commercials really that effective?

[Bob]

for the super bowl, companies are spending millions of dollars on 30 second ads. i'm not a business major, but i don't understand the point of spending that much money on an advertisement. how does that make you money? companies wouldn't keep doing this if it didn't make them money, so i guess it must, but i really just can't imagine that a 30-second commercial is going to encourage people to buy several million dollars worth of bud light that they otherwise wouldn't have. i don't get how it works

[yeahwho]

Yes. Name branding, even if it doesn't make you go out and purchase a product, major corporations want you to think of their name when the word beer, HDTV, computer, chips, fast food, automobile, etc. comes into your brain.

It works on multiple levels.

[Bob]

yeah....i mean, i understand the idea, but it just seems to me that eventually there must be a point where you're spending SO much money on the advertisement, that it's just not cost effective...i guess $2 million isn't quite past that threshold

[milleson]

I like the ones with animals.

[alruggs]

it's not just the 30 seconds it plays on TV...it's also the word of mouth that comes with Super Bowl ads. People are going to be talking about them all week next week. It's sort of a competition too...bragging rights, etc.

[zorra_chiflada]

yes they are. they work on all kinds of levels. you're being exposed to a million different forms of design based advertising all the time. you might not realise it, but the good ones do stand out.

[yeahwho]

Bob does have a point with advertising though, i think about Coke & Pepsi and all the money spent on branding yet both of their bottled waters cost more per ounce than their soda's, w/o advertising....

Pretty clever those folks down at the pop factory. Is caramel flavoring actually less expensive than water? I think it's supermarket shelve space they're actually clamoring for.

[Kid Presentable]

People respond to advertising in uncanny ways. It depends on where they put themselves in Lazslow's (Sp?)hierarchy of needs, apparently. The consumer is malleable, like the Swindon lot.

In terms of positioning during the superbowl, well I could only assume people attach status and equity to the goods that can afford that slot. Even if an individual doesn't realise it, at least one person in their immediate circle will (ideally) be motivated to make a purchase based on these ads. Many could have made the purchases before seeing the ads, and the advertisement simply pushes them to continue.

I don't really know, but I love consumers and how stupid they can be.

[Documad]

It's been ages since I took an advertising class, but I remember that many of the most memorable and funniest commercials didn't help sell the product at all. Sometimes you remember the commercial, but you can't remember the product.

[Bob]

It's been ages since I took an advertising class, but I remember that many of the most memorable and funniest commercials didn't help sell the product at all. Sometimes you remember the commercial, but you can't remember the product.

i remember from the last super bowl, there was this commercial that was pretty funny (i feel sick admitting it, because i just hate commercials), where a guy was cooking dinner for his wife or something, but then the cat knocks over the pot of sauce, so there's sauce everywhere and he's holding a knife and i forget the specifics, but the wife comes home and it looks like he's about to skin the cat, and everyone laughed, even me

by the end of the game i'd forgotten what the product was. i want to say it was bud light, but i don't remember

[Documad]

I think that's often true of funny commercials, and beer commercials especially. Effective commercials are rarely funny.

[Jitters]

Effective commercials are rarely funny.

I'd argue with that statement, I rarely ever pay attention to a commercial unless it makes me laugh.

When you stop and think about it almost all the commercial aired on Superbowl day are comedy oriented.