I think I’ll rent 8 Mile tonight.
Let’s face it, it’s Wednesday now and everyone’s over talking about Super Bowl commercials. So I’ll spare you my in-depth opinions on the creative merit of this year’s lineup. Instead let’s talk celebrity endorsements for a moment. There’s something I can’t stop thinking about.
Chrysler ran a two-minute commercial about Detroit. It was honest. It was believable. It had Eminem.
Brisk Lemon Iced Tea ran a 30-second commercial. It wasn’t good. It also had Eminem.
Okay, fine, it’s happened before – celebrities endorsing multiple products. But it’s not the fact that he was in two commercials that I find so off-putting. It was the nature of the Brisk spot. The entire ad is Eminem talking about why Eminem doesn’t do commercials – even delivering the line at the end, “That’s why I don’t do commercials.” Really? Because you’re in two within 30-mintues. The second of which doesn’t meet any of the demands you just outlined – unfortunately making the Chrysler spot (which followed) a little less authentic in my opinion. Which is a shame, because aside from that, it was pretty much flawless.
It just makes me wonder if Chrysler was caught off guard when the Brisk ad aired before their mini-masterpiece. Did they know Eminem would be starring in another Super Bowl commercial? They must have, right? It seems like one of the first questions you’d ask before signing a big name to endorse your product on advertising’s biggest stage. I mean, I know agencies aren’t quick to share scripts with each other or anything crazy like that. But with so much money on the line, it seems like at the very least you’d be entitled to a heads up if the face of your brand was going to deliver an anti-endorsement message right before endorsing your product.
Maybe no one else noticed. Or cared. Either way, I’m having a great hair day.
Tagged with commercials, Eminem, Superbowl