I’m not a fan of watching Super Bowl ads before the actual game. As a result, I didn’t pay attention to the Newcastle Brown Ale promotion in 2014 because I thought it was an actual ad. But, it was much more brilliant and should have a huge effect on Super Bowl ads going forward.
If you haven’t seen it, see the videos here and check out more about the story behind “If We Made It.” They created a campaign around the mega huge commercial they would have made…if they had the money. Anna Kendrick was set to star in the commercial and gives her very funny take on what happened. They also planned to have Keyshawn Johnson play a cat on a skateboard. He gives his take as well.
While they didn’t make the commercial, they do have the storyboards for what it would have been. Besides walking us through the ad, they filmed actual focus groups giving their thoughts. The members of the focus group gave varying opinions of how effective the ad would have been.
They didn’t only storyboard their own ad. They also put together storyboards for how they would have made many of the actual ads that ran during the game. Of course, their versions would have been mega huge!
The campaign went viral and created quite a buzz leading up to the Super Bowl. It shows what creative companies can do through social media and word of mouth to create a buzz without actually having a Super Bowl commercial. Coupled with the trend of leaking ads early and some companies have to see this as a major opportunity. I don’t think the Budweisers, Doritos or Cokes will go this route…$4 million (in 2014) is a drop in the bucket for them. But, I think you’ll see quite a few companies push their resources online.
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