Advertising through television is one of the most popular forms of advertising for companies. Consumers cannot watch one half hour of TV without being exposed to at least ten minutes of commercials. Even just outside of the usual television advertising through commercials, companies can also place advertisements within programs in a more subtle way. This advertising through television brings with it many advantages as well as presenting many limitations. Advantages of this can also be seen as limitations.

One advantage of television advertising is the ability for greater creativity and impact. Companies can be more creative with their techniques and are able to demonstrate and show off their product or service. Typically the amount of creativity in this media is especially shown off during major events, such as the Super Bowl. Advertisers take the opportunity to set out to create something that will be eye-catching and will make the consumer pay attention. Advertisers have room to be creative and think outside to box Recently many companies have utilized a ‘prank’ like approach to advertise. This is seen through the advertising for the most recent mid-season premiere of the Walking Dead on AMC. 

Another advantage of television advertising is the widespread coverage and cost effectiveness. While the cost of putting together and distributing a commercial is typically quite expensive and can also be a limitation, if the company is attempting to reach a mass-market and widespread audience, this media is more cost effective than creating different advertisements and distributing them everywhere desired.

The Big Bang Theory demands the highest amount of money for a 30-second advertisement at $326,260 (Crupi, 2013). This high cost is justifiable for advertisers based on the shows ratings. On average 19.2 million adults in the 18-49 demographic watch the show (Crupi, 2013).

The cost of television advertising is also seen as a limitation. Not only do advertisers have to pay the high cost to have their commercial placed during a program, but they also need to consider the expenses of creating and producing a quality commercial that will be effective. On average it costs $298,000, a cost that continues to rise with more elaborate commercials (McClellan, 2013).

Selectivity is another factor that can be both an advantage as well as a limitation. Companies can target their audience by displaying their ad on certain television channels such as E! for women, or Sports Center which breaks down the markets. Though this is also a mass media so the companies can be spending all of this money to reach consumers who are not in their target market, making it an ineffective effort.

Belch, G.E., & Belch, M. A. (2001). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective (5^th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Crupi, Anthony. (13 October 2013). A Pricing Guide to the 2013-2014 Broadcast Season. Ad Week. Retrieved 18 Feb. 2014 from http://www.adweek.com/news/television/big-bang-theory-gets-highest-ad-rates-outside-nfl-153087

McClellan, Steve. (29 January 2013). Costs for TV Spots Rocket 7%. Media Daily News. Retrieved 18 February 2014 from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/192213/costs-for-tv-spots-rocket-7.html

Superbowl Commercials: A Disappointing Showing

The SuperBowl is one of the most watched television events in America. This makes the day not only incredibly important for the athletes participating, but also for the businesses placing advertisements throughout the game. A 30 second commercial during the game will cost companies around $4 million. For this much money just to place the ads, they want to be memorable and really achieve the goal of reaching the audience. For many watching the big game is made worthwhile because of the usually creative and fun advertisements, especially when their team isn’t participating (Go Steelers!).

After watching this years rather dull, unexciting game, I realized that not only was the game quite boring, but so were many of the commercials. They were not as fun and captivating as usual, and just a few hours after the game has ended many of them are already forgotten.

Best Commercials 

Even with the overall forgettable commercials, there were some that stood out. The best had to belong to Budweiser. Every year Budweiser captivates viewers with their coveted use of the Clydesdale horses in heartwarming fashion. This year was no different as they continued to pull at the heartstrings by involving the most adorable puppy that they tagged to be “best buds” with the horses. There are now such high expectations for the Clydesdale commercial that there is pressure to live up to previous years, and Budweiser definitely did that this year once again. Even though Budweiser is not blatantly advertised throughout the commercial it works because over the years they have built up an association between the company and the Clydesdales, and people grow to expect it.

Budweiser won once again with their “Hero’s Welcome” commercial. With another heartwarming, tearjerker of a commercial, they caught the attention of millions of people. They recorded the homecoming of a solider and provided him with a true hero’s welcome hosting a parade entirely in his honor. This commercial came at the perfect time since the Super Bowl is the ultimate TV event and just weeks from the start of the Winter Olympics; Americans have an ultimate level of national pride. Budweiser exemplified being proud of the country and supportive of those that work to protect it. Overall I would say that Budweiser once again nailed the Super Bowl advertisements.

Worst Commercials

Although there were a few good commercials, the event was largely overtaken by disappointing commercials. It was difficult to pick any one commercial to be declared as the 'worst'. Of these commercials, Honda and Geico were some of the worst of the night. 

Honda started off as a seemingly serious commercial, with Bruce Willis talking directly to viewers about the need for driving safely. He tells them to hug their loved ones, which alone does not make this commercial all that bad. In fact, this would not have been one of the worst commercials if the company had left it at that. The factor that put them in the worst category stems from attempting to then add humor to the commercial through having comedian Fred Armisen clinging to Willis throughout the advertisement. 

Additionally Geico reached for worst commercial of the night. The insurance company used their latest talking animal spokesperson, the pig, opting away from their traditional gecko. The only reason this commercial was remembered is because of how tiring and used up the Geico pig commercials are. The attempt to make this commercial humorous did not turn out in Geico's favor and instead caused viewers to immediately turn it down upon seeing the talking pig. 

Best Use of Humor

T-Mobile commercials had the best use of humor for the situation. Two of their commercials followed professional football player, Tim Tebow, poking fun at himself while talking about the advantage of being contract free. Anyone who pays attention to football, and even many of those who don't recognize Tebow as the quarterback who made a big impact a few years ago and cause the 'Tebowing' trend to go viral. Tebow is now without an NFL contract and throughout the two commercials talked about all the advantages of being contract free, with the ability to be a rock star, solve world peace, ride a bull, and deliver a baby. It worked well to show Tebow's since of humor about not having a contract and to poke fun at himself. 

Ethically Questionable

This year I did not find many commercials that were very ethically questionable. The closest one that was somewhat questionable was the Butterfinger commercial. This commercial showed a couple at peanut butter and chocolate going through marriage counseling. They used the solution of bringing in a third party (butterfinger) to make things better. This attempt at humor really did not come across very successfully. 

Environmental/Sustainability Related

There essentially were no commercials for any environmental/sustainable products or encouraging this kind of behavior directly. The closest would be for Alex and Ani. This commercial encouraged America to get back to the many closing Main Streets and restart them. It goes around the basis that Main Street is part of us and America. The reason this is environmentally related is because Alex and Ani products are all eco-friendly.