Super Bowl Ads: Worth the Price Or Waste of Time? 347
samzenpus writes "Every year companies are willing to dish out big bucks to reach tens of millions of consumers with their Super Bowl ads. With an average price tag of $4 million for a 30-second commercial, this year is no exception. We've seen: beer obsessed frogs, field goal kicking horses, celebrities drinking various beverages, explosions of all sizes, homages to 1984, and day trading babies in the past. Since talking about the commercials has become almost as popular as the game itself, here's a place to do just that. What have you liked and what do you think would have been better left on the cutting room floor."
Ads are toxic. (Score:4, Insightful)
The superbowl doesn't change that.
Worth the Price Or Waste of Time? (Score:4, Insightful)
Neither: Waste of Money.
slashdot... (Score:5, Insightful)
Commercials (Score:4, Insightful)
My take on Superbowl commercials is the exact same as the rest of the year. Namely, I avoid commercials wherever I can. Got rid of cable back in 2010, in favor of Netflix and other streaming options. Not looking back.
Re:1984 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Waste (Score:4, Insightful)
Spending $4M gets you an ad during the superbowl. Uploading a video to youtube doesn't make it go viral.
Shitty content. Shitty beta site. Stagnant traffic (Score:5, Insightful)
It's no secret that Slashdot's traffic has been stagnant at best, if not decreasing. Alexa's and Compete's numbers don't paint a rosy picture. Their estimates aside, I think it's obvious that Slashdot's popularity and influence has been on a decline for some time now.
Shitty, irrelevant stories like these do not help. This story is purely about marketing. There's absolutely no technological aspect to it. Nor are science or math involved. This story does not belong on Slashdot, plain and simple.
This is the kind of crap we can find at reddit. We come here to Slashdot specifically because we don't want to see stories like these!
The new ultra-shitty beta site sure doesn't help the situation. Now we get to see irrelevant, unwanted stories displayed worse than they currently are, with discussion that's much harder to follow, and damn near impossible to participate in.
Slashdot likely won't ever regain the influential position it once had. Shitty stories like this and the shitty beta site will make that a certainty, though. They'll continue to drive away the few remaining users.
Ads are not sold by the second... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ads are not sold by the second, but rather by a price per thousand viewers, known as CPM or Cost Per Thousand. On a CPM basis the Super Bowl ads are equal or below the cost of regular ads... If you want to reach a lot of people they can be an effective part of a marketing mix.
Re:Radio Shack Ad Best So Far (Score:5, Insightful)
Doberhuahua (Score:4, Insightful)
I think this Audi [youtube.com] commercial is hilarious and hope the word "Doberhuahua" is now used for "something that sounds like a good idea, but would actually be very bad." Like, "That Unity interface is a Doberhuahua."
Re:Slashdot : Worth the Price Or Waste of Time? (Score:4, Insightful)
> Those of us who've suffered Slashdot for more than the last decade should be 100% embarrassed that we still come here with shit like this being posted.
As someone who has actually been on here for more than a decade I find your pretense mildly amusing.
Re:slashdot... (Score:2, Insightful)
slashdot news for nerds^H^H^H^H^H americans.
I'm american and I don't watch the superbowl, neither do most people I know. The superbowl is the bread and circuses for the mindless sheep.
Re:Ads are toxic. (Score:5, Insightful)
Originally, it was about football.. Now it's about rampant consumerism. Of course, europeans and aussies would know nothing about rabid obsession over soccer...
Re:Ads are toxic. (Score:1, Insightful)
people watching a football game on television is no more a seditary event than you posting on slashdot. at least they do it with other people and enjoy a party atmosphere. going to a party also has nothing to do with one's other interests, which in this case would likely lean towards participating in sports of some kind.
if something like the superbowl doesnt interest you, rather than be a dick that no one wants to invite to a party, ignore it and spend that extra time getting your head out of your ass.
Re:Ads are toxic. (Score:4, Insightful)
Damn straight. World cup notwithstanding, soccer is a summer curiosity here, watched mainly by migrants from Europe and their grandchildren.
Re:Waste (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember: the primary job of advertisers is selling advertising, not selling the stuff that's being advertised. They put a lot of effort into convincing people that advertising is effective.
I Think the Super Bowl is A Waste of Time (Score:2, Insightful)
Worth it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Shitty content. Shitty beta site. Stagnant traf (Score:3, Insightful)
It's completely irrelevant. Dice was completely clueless when they acquired slashdot. They've turned it into a corporate-loving, irrelevant, average, mediocre, wannabe-like-everyone-else site. Slashdot has a unique audience and which Dice has completely ignored, and they've directed this place like every other millenial-driven ADHD twitter clone.
Money kills good things. Dice are fucking idiots. Thanks for fucking this one up guys.
Re:Shitty content. Shitty beta site. Stagnant traf (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, because it's not like [slashdot.org] Slashdot had stories about [slashdot.org] the Superbowl [slashdot.org] during its heyday [slashdot.org].
Re:Ads are toxic. (Score:4, Insightful)
Advertising is a way to let people who may be interested in purchasing your product or using your service that you exist, nothing more, nothing less. On a fundamental level, there's nothing wrong with it.
There are certainly issues with some ads, in terms of the products they sell, the stereotypes they reinforce, and in some cases the veracity of the claims that they make(though outside political advertising regulation keeps that sort of thing largely in check. There can also be issues with the tools advertisers use to reach us and in some ways the degree to which they manipulate us, but that's not the same as saying "Ads are toxic".
That kind of attitude is so pointlessly naive it's ridiculous. Are signs on shops toxic? Yellow pages advertisements? Websites for products or services? Review Sites? Slashdot Articles? All are a form of advertising.
Re:Slashdot : Worth the Price Or Waste of Time? (Score:2, Insightful)
Indeed, because Slashdot has always been such a bastion of informed journalism. If anything things are slightly better because only about 20% of the articles are rampant Microsoft/RIAA/MPAA hating click bait. Heck I think I've actually gone a full month without seeing anyone type Micro$oft. Slashdot has changed, mostly because those of us who have been reading this place for more than a decade are older now, and it's also not changed which can be frustrating because we all have. It's never been anything other than what it is though, though fire hose has made it a little less horribly biased.
Re:1984 (Score:4, Insightful)
You remind me of the people who complain there ain't enough sports on TV when there are whole networks dedicated to it.
If you want more references to 1984, watch C-SPAN.