Those of you who know how into advertising I am are probably wondering why I haven't talked about any of the commercials from the Super Bowl yet. The biggest reason is that none of the ones that I saw were OMG good. There were a couple that I really liked--The trailer for Independence Day 2 was fun and I also liked the ad where the dad was trailing his daughter and her date wherever they went, but other than that? Meh.
And then there were the two that I really didn't like: The Doritos baby ultrasound ad was gross, but the worst beyond all doubt? That puppy monkey baby thing. WTF?
I'm sure the Mountain Dew executives were thrilled the next day because they were trending on Facebook and Twitter. I'm also certain that they didn't care that the vast majority of the response was extremely negative--any buzz is good buzz--but I believe that they are wrong.
Do I remember the name of the product? Surprisingly, yes I do. Win! say the Mountain Dew ad team. Not quite, say I. You see, that commercial was the weirdest thing I can remember seeing and very, very high on the disgusting meter. My reaction to that ad is so negative that I also have an extremely negative opinion of the product it was pushing. When I see that drink in the store, I can guarantee that some part of me will physically recoil. Judging by the strength of the negative reactions I saw online, I don't think I'll be the only one.
I could be wrong, but there's a line between making a bizarre commercial that people are talking about and making one that people are all talking about, but that is so repellent that it hurts the product. I believe that the Kick Start ad falls into the latter category.
