Advertising Win

I've lamented for a while how unexciting and uncreative most advertising has become. This has even reached Super Bowl advertising which used to be Clio Award worthy once upon a time. (For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Clio Awards are advertising's version of the Oscars.) The last five or six years of Super Bowl ads has left me disappointed and sad. I graduated from college with a major in advertising. I love well-done ads and I'm happy to sit and watch great ads for hours. However, aside from a few bright spots now and then, there hasn't been much worth my time.

This year, though, there was a huge bright spot on the advertising radar. Honda CR-V did a Ferris Bueller commercial that I thought was brilliant. Why I thought this ad was awesome: 1. who hasn't seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off? 2. It's a largely well-liked movie and it's become iconic in many ways. Even if someone hasn't seen the movie in years, we all can remember the teacher saying, "Bueller. Bueller. Bueller." The film is filled with moments like this that people remember. 3. We don't forget it's a Honda ad, but at the same time, the sell isn't pounded out over and over. Honda allows us to enjoy the spot. 4. People are talking about this ad. Honda is getting a lot of free press, including here, I guess, as I discuss their ad. You can't buy buzz and if someone specifically goes to YouTube to watch the commercial, Honda is getting more rapt attention to the spot than they would have with a media buy.

How true was Honda to the movie? I found a video where someone put the commercial side by side with the movie. You be the judge:

If you want to enjoy the ad on its own merits, here's the extended version of Honda's homage to Ferris: