UNSATISFYING

I didn’t watch this year’s Super Bowl. As a result, I didn’t get to see the Betty White/Abe Vigoda Snickers ad everyone was talking about. I didn’t seek it out either cause, well, it was a Snickers ad, which have historically been pretty crappy. Then I saw the Aretha Franklin/Liza Minnelli spot several times and began to think Snickers might have one of the best campaigns running. That, of course, was before I saw this print ad, which feels like it wasn’t just produced by a different team, but by a different agency. Sure, it shares the same payoff as the spots, but that’s about it.

Here’s what I would’ve done:

1) Kept it consistent. The art direction, while not exactly helping matters, really isn’t the biggest problem here. It’s the copy that lacks the verve of the TV. It’s a little too “went with my first idea” to me. After all, rock stars don’t bust hotel rooms because they’re hungry, they don’t bust up hotels rooms cause they’re sober. And that’s the biggest miss about this—it’s not terribly thought out. Plus, let’s face it, the hotel-destroying rock star story is one of the biggest clichés out there. What I like about the TV is how it takes a tired old stereotype and puts a fresh spin on it, by actually getting Liza Minnelli to be the diva. This print ad just has a tired old stereotype and doesn’t take it any farther. It is what it is and no more.

2) Gotten visual. Now this is where the art director could’ve started carrying his/her weight. In both of the produced spots, you have such great visuals—Betty White playing football and Aretha Franklin on a road trip. So why wouldn’t you use them? The media buy has these spots in such heavily rotation, you can’t possibly see the print ad without knowing the context. Hell, you could even have standalone concepts with celebrities not shown on TV. After all, people are already in on the joke. That said, I really would’ve focused on exploring this option. Even using the above print ad’s lame conceit, Alice Cooper in full greasepaint would’ve had a lot more impact vs. a 15-word headline set in 48-point type against a brown background. But that’s just my take. And I haven’t had a Snickers bar lately.