The Super Bowl Showdown Between Advertisers

Check out the list of all commercials of Super Bowl Sunday and let us know which is your favourite and why!

Phone Innovators: Official 2012 Best Buy Game Day Commercial

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Coke 2012 Commercial: “Superstition”

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Bridgestone – Performance Football

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Budweiser – Return of the King

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Free to Pee – TaxACT Super Commercial

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Chevrolet – Happy Grad

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Doritos – Man’s Best Friend — Crash the Super Bowl 2012 Finalist

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Disney – John Carter Super Bowl Ad

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The Dog Strikes Back: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial

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AGT – Howard Stern

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Official David Beckham Bodywear for H&M Super Bowl Ad

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Coke 2012 Commercial: “Catch” Starring NE_Bear

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Chevy Sonic “Stunt Anthem” – Chevy Super Bowl XLVI Ads

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Marvel – The Avengers Super Bowl XLVI Commercial

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Teleflora Super Bowl Ad – Adriana Lima 2012

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Cars.com 2012 Super Bowl Ad – Confident You

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Doritos – Sling Baby – Crash the Super Bowl 2012 Finalist

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NEW E*TRADE Baby Game Day Commercial – Fatherhood

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G.I. Joe: Retaliation Super Bowl Spot Official 2012

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Camry Effect: “Connections”

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Hulu Plus Super Bowl Commercial – Huluboratory

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The Voice – Vocal Kombat

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OFFICIAL Clint Eastwood Chrysler Commercial – It’s Halftime in America

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Smash

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FIAT 500 Abarth – 2012 Super Bowl Commercial – Seduction

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Toyota Camry 2012 Big Game :30 Commercial – It’s Reinvented

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Coke 2012 Commercial: “Arghh” featuring NY_Bear

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Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt Super Bowl 2012 Commercial – “The Tease”

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Century 21 Real Estate LLC: Final Super Bowl Ad

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Acura – Transactions: 2012 NSX Big Game Seinfeld Commercial

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Budweiser – Eternal Optimism

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Bridgestone – Performance Basketball

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NFL Timeline

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Official 2012 Honda CR-V Game Day Commercial – “Matthew’s Day Off”

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MetLife – “Everyone” Game Day Commercial

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Act of Valor Superbowl Ad

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“Think Fast” – Official Big Game Ad for Hyundai Genesis Coupe

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Bud Light – Rescue Dog

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Time Warner Cable – Enjoy Better Anthem

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2012 Kia Optima Big Game Full Commercial

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CareerBuilder 2012 Big Game Commercial

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Thursday Comedies – Crank

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Samsung Mobile USA – Thing Called Love

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Prudential Financial – Day One-Linda Gutherie

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Swamp People Super Bowl Ad

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NFL Fantasy Million Dollar Fan

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Awake – Which is Which?

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Cadillac ATS – “Green Hell” Super Bowl XLVI Commercial

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QR Code Super Bowl 2012 Commercial

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Suzuki “Sled” 2012 Super Bowl Ad

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Football (Chase QuickPay)

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M&M’S “Just My Shell” Super Bowl Commercial

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Image: Shutterstock
Source: Mashable

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Bridgestone has made a great effort closing the loop on social. Let me how you how by some examples…

It is not all about campaigning and creating the funniest story, its about building relationships with your clients and facilitating a place where they are inspired to watch, share and engage. Communication from a platform is great; however make sure that there is an interconnectivity within your platforms.

Personally, I think Bridgestone is doing a good job. The facilitate platforms for their fans. These platforms are connected, they continuously communicate and Bridgestone makes sure that they do it in the right context i.e. SuperBowl Ad. They make sure the audience is inspired to watch, share, comment by delivering quality content.
Basically Bridgestone is ticking all four boxes of Community!

Bridgestone Facebook
Here you can connect with the Bridgestone Fanpage for engaging information, special promotions and exclusive contests, such as; winning a trip to the Super Bowl XLV.
Bridgestone is smart by not giving everyone access to the platform; you’ll have to become a fan first to unlock all the features, this enables Bridgestone to build their Digital Database!

Bridgestone Twitter
Bridgestone tweets updates about their products, brands, teammates and initiatives. They personify this by naming the operators: Angela and Chris. A missed opportunity is the links to Angela and Chris, plus there is no connectivity to their other owned media.

Bridgestone YouTube
Bridgestone has a decent Bridgestone Channel, but they have also invested in a context driven SuperBowl channel. Here you can view al their commercials and it has a great connectivity with their other platforms.

Bridgestone Community Portal
Connect with other Bridgestone fans, share the latest car photos, watch Bridgestone TV ads and see what are the most popular Bridgestone products as rated by their fans! Bridgestone wants to give you a space to show the world how Bridgestone helps you “get the most out of your car”.

Seeing all four efforts I feel that Bridgestone could of empowered their mission more effective:
“serving society with superior quality” by picking that theme throughout their Business and Branding Efforts.
Also for me a miss is the interlinkage between some of their Social Platforms their Facebook page and Twitter Page and the rest of the platforms.
When you pick a 365 days a year theme and fully close the loop you can give your audience the full experience and build a valuable community where everyone delivers their value.

I am curious to hear your opinion on the Bridgestone Social efforts and perhaps you have some great examples to share?  Please feel free!

Harbin beer ice sculpture. Watch this video on YouTube.

On December 24 the above video, entitled “零下34度！年终巨献！惊爆你的眼球……!” was uploaded to the popular Chinese video sharing site Youku (优酷网). In the clip four Chinese citizens create an ice sculpture of Harbin’s Saint Sophia Cathedral by pouring Harbin beer on a square at a temperature of 34 degrees below zero or minus 29 Fahrenheit.

In 10 days time the video has been watched 1+ million times on Youku (优酷网) and has spread to other popular Chinese video sites such as Tudou (土豆网), 56.com, 6.cn (六间房), Ku6 (酷6网) and Joy.cn (激动网), where it’s viewed an additional 300,000 times. The 91 second video has no call to action in the end screen or refers to a promotional site.

It’s unknown if this video is created as a fan-made video or is initiated by an agency to create buzz for the campaign Media.asia recently reported on: wwwins Consulting Shanghai launches a digital campaign across major Chinese portals (Sohu, Sina, MSN, Tudou, Youku and Kaixin) to promote Harbin’s 2010 FIFA World Cup Campaign, which encloses a meet & greet competition with Dutch soccer legend Ruud Gullit (路德·古利特), the ambassador for Harbin’s 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign.

Beer market in China
China became the largest beer producer in the world in 2002. China’s beer production has reached 40 million tons per year, more than the production of 24 million tons by the United States, the world’s second-largest beer producer. Germany, which has a long history of beer production, produces 12 million tons of beer a year.

Source: 56minus1.com

All these green content made me wonder if there is any strong viral content out there in social, featuring bikes…

Well, yes there is! Here’s our top 5:

Inspired Bicycles – Danny MacAskill

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Filmed over the period of a few months in and around Edinburgh by Dave Sowerby, this video of Inspired Bicycles team rider Danny MacAskill features probably the best collection of street/street trials riding ever seen. The video has resulted in over 4 million views on various video portals.

Bike Hero

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Performance

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Don’t Let Up

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Theo Bos rides 87 miles per hour on is bike

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Of course we’re wondering if there is  more great viral content featuring bikes out there, so please leave your video and comment below!

This weeks Viral Friday #1 position goes to Cadbury Eyebrow Dance. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and their advertising agency Fallon London are back with a new TV ad that features two children performing bizarre “eyebrow dance moves” to an electro-funk soundtrack. The runner up spot is for Alphacat with Barack Obama: Single Ladies. The, according to many, best Obama impersonator by far released a parody video of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). The Best Job In The World completes this week’s top 3. Are you looking for a new job? Tourism Queensland (Australia) might just have the job you were always looking for!

Do you want to see this week’s list from 1 to 5? Go on then, and have a look! We’d like to hear your opinion about the virals. Have fun!

1. Cadbury Eyebrow Dance

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and their advertising agency Fallon London are back with a new TV ad that features two children performing bizarre “eyebrow dance moves” to an electro-funk soundtrack. Over 1 million people watched the commercial since it aired a week ago. Previously Cadbury and Fallon made the drumming gorilla and airport trucks ads.
(Source: Guardian)

2. Barack Obama: Single Ladies

The, according to many, best Obama impersonator by far, Alphacat, has released a parody video of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). Almost 2.3 million people watched the spoof since Alphacat uploaded it to YouTube on 19 January. One of his other videos, in which Obama sings a parody of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like,” has racked up 1.4 million views. Alphacat’s real name is Iman Crosson, a 26-year-old Dayton, Ohio, native and dance major who started perfecting his Obama impression while working as a waiter in Manhattan. He recently moved to Los Angeles to stake out a career in Hollywood. “People told me I looked like Obama because I was the only light-skinned black guy at work”.
(Source: New York Magazine)

3. The Best Job In The World

Looking for a new job? Tourism Queensland (Australia) might just have the job you were always looking for! They are looking for someone to live on Hamilton Island of the Great Barrier Reef for six months and keep a blog telling the world why they should visit. The website, Islandreefjob.com, has had 2.3 million hits in two weeks.
(Source: Neatorama)

4. History Of The Internet

“History of the internet” is an animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to file-sharing, from arpanet to internet. The clip shows a brief overview
of this history and shall animate to go on discovering the history of the internet. The video is made by Melih Bilgil as a part of his diploma and got mentioned on TIME Magazine, Fontblog, ReadWriteWeb, Netzpolitik, Basic Thinking, DE:BUG and 8ninths.
(Source: lonja)

5. Taylor Momsen Escapes Paparazzi

Nike and Taylor Momsen teamed up for the above ad. Some might know Taylor for her part in “Gossip Girl”, an American television show. The Nike brand isn’t mentioned once during the clip, with only the Nike swoosh appearing a couple of times on Momsen herself.
(Source: The Inquisitr)

Here’s what brands and agencies do, says Godin: “they get a lame product, or a semi-lame product, and they don’t have enough time or money to run a nationwide ad campaign. So, instead, they slap some goofy viral thing on top of it and wait for it to spread. And if it doesn’t spread, they create a faux controversy or engage a PR firm or some bloggers and then it still doesn’t work.”

Godin continues:”Being viral isn’t the hard part. The hard part is making that viral element actually produce something of value, not just entertainment for the client or your boss.”

Next Godin explains that: “Marketers are obsessed with free media, and, as is often the case, we blow it in our rush to get our share. We create content that is hampered or selfish or boring. Or we create something completely viral that doesn’t do any marketing at all.

But I’m afraid I do not understand all of the remarks really well….

Godin continues: “Something being viral is not, in and of itself, viral marketing. Who cares that 32,000,000 people saw your stupid video? It didn’t market you or your business in a tangible, useful way.”

But a few lines later, Godin claims that his book (Unleashing the Idea Virus) was downloaded millions of times. And indeed he claimed fame, coined the term viral marketing and increased his number of speaking gigs by this book, and other books many enjoyed, including me!

But is it fair to expect that all marketers and agencies leave their obsession of free media behind, after having read Godin’s book? Since we are ‘blessed’ with mass communications, all marketers are indeed obsessed with shouting campaigns backed by paid media. And free media is even a bigger obsession.

And I’m fully behind Godin that (free) media is neither the holy grail nor solution. But I also feel and can make the safe assumption that Godin is aware this is change management and a process that will take a while to land in the minds of marketers.

I also feel Godin is right that: something that is not viral, cannot be made viral. It’s viral at heart or not viral at all. And indeed, better products would be better than lame products.

But I do feel that Godin’s steps of helping brands should go further than launching a bestseller viral book, or earning enormous amounts per speaking gig. Don’t get me wrong, he’s earned it and I applaud him for that. He even made viral marketing top of mind and provided many agencies with extra business.

So his books and speaking gigs are helping and a good start. But if he has the authentic need and passion to make viral marketing better, to help marketers lose their obsession for free media, to help marketers understand how they can listen to consumers to get from lame products to great products, that would be a great next step. And a necessary step if I read Godin’s comments?

In this case my question to Godin is: what have you done lately to protect viral marketing and to change the attitude at marketers and agencies? Where are all your concrete tips, examples, cases and blog items that help to change behavior at marketers and agencies? Based on your conclusions, they really seem to need extra help?!

If the anger for viral marketing getting a bad name is only a commercial move to earn attention for a book, it would not very authentic, if you ask me? So even if Godin is right (which I feel he is in most of his remarks) still the question remains: if he’s really that concerned and passionate about viral marketing, what will be his concrete steps and output in 2009 to protect viral marketing and to improve the behavior of clueless marketers and clueless agencies?

Will he dedicate part of his time to give new tangible assets and examples to marketers? Output that really helps the clueless ones to improve their behavior? Will he give examples and cases that open the eyes of marketers, so they really start understanding how they should listen to their customers and consumers?

Because I feel that commenting on the mistakes that others make from the sideline, are not the only concrete ways to change DNA of that specific marketers and agencies. We all know that your book was a great success and that it spread very well. We have heard that song over and over again, and it keeps returning each year, like a great classic Christmas hit.

However, in 2009 I would love to listen to a new CD, with a few new tracks. A new viral song that is refreshing, remarkable and especially very tangible to the ones that need it most: clueless marketers and agencies. And I’m convinced they need to hear a new song. So I hope Godin will try to help them. How?

May I suggest Godin i.e. creates a viral marketing playbook, with 101 concrete tips to marketers? Plays that are based on fresh cases, examples and ideas that really push (or should I say pull?) clueless marketers and agencies into the next steps of great viral marketing.

Help them find awesome viral campaigns or smart listening programs that really helps marketers to improve their products, to create satisfied and loyal customers and to create better brands. More new and fresh ideas, clear and tangible tips, and less referring to former successful books.

It can even be a book created by the wisdom of crowds. Gathering smart ideas from smart people. The book might become a collaborative tangible and valuable asset to all that need it. It might even become a bestselling book again, since all that helped with input and cases will probably send it to many friends and co-workers, and most co-authors will buy a copy (or two) of the book themselves.

But I hope the book will not only become a bestseller. I also hope the book will achieve a shift of mindset at many marketers and their agencies. Maybe the new book can even influence their thinking or DNA? Even if 10% of this target group would understand the examples and change their future behavior due to this book, I would call it a great achievement. And a very successful outcome. An outcome that is driven by the ‘passion’ for viral marketing or ‘believe’ in the need for better products and brands that listen.

I feel that the urge to create change, is reflected by the passion and need to get things really done. And here I am curious if we can expect that next step from Godin? He’s able to do it. So let’s do it! I really hope that his passion for viral marketing is strong and authentic enough to do that mission work in 2009. The need for change is being mentioned by himself in his article What is viral marketing?

Please read his item. Then let us know if you believe that Godin will take marketers and agencies by the hand in 2009, by giving them the concrete tips and tools to change their behavior.

I originate from the laws my grandmother hammered into my DNA:
“Igor, if you really, really want something to change; do not sit and wait for it to happen. Don’t complain about others that are not doing it. Don’t point at others that do not make it happen. If you really want things to change, the only thing that counts is: what have you done to lead this change? And if you have not done all you could yet, please stop pointing and complaining. Since the moment you stopped trying, is the moment you lost your right to complain about and to point at others.”

But fully true: my grandmother did not publish a book that became a viral success. Does it make her old-fashioned laws not true? I am not really sure yet.

So I agree with Godin’s remark: “Who cares that 32.000.000 people saw your stupid video? It didn’t market you or your business in a tangible, useful way? Nothing, if it did not help and did not influence consumers’ behavior, I would agree!

However, if I read Godin’s remarks about: viral getting a bad name due to clueless marketers and clueless agencies, there might be people that could think: Who cares that 32.000.000 people downloaded your stupid book, if it didn’t market you or your thought leadership in a tangible, useful way?”

Because some people might ask: if so many millions have read your book, why are so many marketers and agencies still that clueless?

People might draw the conclusion that the number of Godin’s book downloads are not enough to really change the business in a tangible and useful way?! At least, that seems to be the case?

So if we really want to change behavior, DNA and the way we do business, what do we need next from Godin to make that happen?

First of all – Happy new year and a fantastic 2009! In the first Viral Friday we look back at last year and present to you the 5 most popular virals of 2008!

The #1 position in the Best of Viral Friday 2008 goes to Officemax with Elf Yourself 2008. OfficeMax introduced Elf Yourself once again in 2008 for its third holiday season. The hilarious holiday greeting remains immensely popular with 57 million elves created in just 3 weeks. The runner up spot is for Yes We Can Song. The music video “Yes We Can Song” by Black Eyed Peas’ frontman Will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan became an instant viral sensation last year upon its release in early February. Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoes at Bush completes this week’s top 3. President Bush’s farewell visit to Iraq has become one of the favorites of 2008 in just three weeks’ time.

Do you want to see the rest of Best of 2008 list from 1 to 5? Go on then, and have a look! We’d like to hear your opinion about the virals. Have fun!

1. Elf Yourself 2008

Building on the campaign’s viral success of recent years, OfficeMax introduced Elf Yourself once again in 2008 for its third holiday season. The hilarious holiday greeting, which allows consumers to create dancing elves with the faces of themselves, friends, family, pets, celebrities remains immense popular. In the the first three weeks of the current campaign an astonishing 57 million elves had been created. Average time spent on the site doubled to 15 minutes and blog posts mentioning “ElfYourself” increased to 11,088 according to Google Blogsearch, already doubling last year’s total number of blog postings (5,456).

2. Yes We Can Song

This music video “Yes We Can Song” by Black Eyed Peas’ frontman will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan became an instant viral sensation upon its release in early February with over 50 million views on YouTube and Dipdive. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama even put the video on his website BarackObama.com.

Will.i.am got inspired by Obama’s “New Hampshire Speech” and adapted the lyrics to make the speech into a song. The singer managed to get a variety of stars like Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon to appear in the music video.

3. Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoes at Bush

President Bush’s farewell visit to Iraq three weeks ago has become one of the viral sensations of 2008 thanks to Iraqi TV journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi. During the press conference the President had with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Muntadar took aim and threw his shoes at the President. A combination of the journalists’ bad aim and Bush’s expertise at ducking flying objects saved the president from any potential harm. Seventeen days after its release, the video has generated 22 million views and 150,000+ comments. The incident also ignited a series of funny online games, making fun of Bush like The Bush Game, Flying Babush, Bash A Bush and Sock and Awe

4. Christian The Lion

The story of an unbreakable bond between man and beast was one of the most touching and talked about videos of 2008. It briefly chronicles the true story of a lion being reunited with the two men who raised him in London, years after he’d been released back into the wild in Kenia and become the leader of his own pride. The actual reunion took place in 1972, but this archive footage was rediscovered and posted to YouTube earlier this year. In total the video is watched over 30 million times.

5. Rick Rolled

You’ve been Rick Rolled! Over 20 million internet users have fallen for the ‘Rick Roll’ web prank – a link that’s apparently provided to a seemingly interesting source, when in fact, it is a link to the video of Rick Astley’s 1987 classic “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The first instance of Rickroll occurred in May 2007. On April Fools day 2008 YouTube Rick Rolled its users by linking all of the featured videos to the Rick Astley video. Two more Rick Roll instances surfaced in 2008. In September 2008, Hugh Atkin created John McCain Gets BarackRoll’d and in December 2008, Macy’s rickrolled the NY public at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.

First of all, online video brings the back the power to the consumers. That’s why consumers love online video so much. Consumers have been terrorized by TV broadcasters and advertisers for decades, and now consumers are in control.

Online video empowers consumers to watch the content they love, whenever they feel the need to see it (24/7). This shift from push to pull is loved by digital consumers. So broadcasters and advertisers must try and understand this consumer need much better. In the social space advertisers should learn to behave as facilitators…

And brands already believed in the power of TVC’s for decades. So to switch from TVC’s to online commercials with measurable impact and effectiveness is just a small step for brands.

Due to the credit crunch more CMO’s will shift their TV, Print and Outdoor budgets towards online video marketing. Simply because online video offers them many benefits.

Let’s take a look at the online video trend and the benefits online video marketing offers chief marketing officers.

Online video ingredient 1:
The worldwide penetration of broadband keeps growing fast. So online video will keep growing the coming 5-10 years.

Online video ingredient 2:
Online video is getting a much larger chunk of consumers’ daily media consumption each year.

Online video ingredient 3:
The impact of audio visual content is far more effective than Print or Radio or Outdoor as a medium.

Online video ingredient 4:
The production costs of online commercials are much lower compared to TVC production costs. Although most traditional advertising agencies hate online video: their revenue model is based on producing expensive TVC’s. Small brands can optimize on this and produce several ads in a year to communicate fresh message to its viewers. Brands can even create large opt-in databases when they launch a new webisode each 2 months.

Online video ingredient 5:
The airing costs (cost per contact) of online commercials are much lower than buying GRP’s. And due to the large chunk of unsold inventory online (social sites) the costs per contact of online commercials will even drop further coming years. So costs per contact of airing online commercials will even get lower!

Online video ingredient 6:
Online video and online commercials can grow reach fast due to the viral and long tail effect. A TVC will stop immediately if the GRP’s are burned. The presence of an online commercials is forever thanks to the long tail effect. Unlike a TVC, the brand video once uploaded on Internet stays forever.

Online video ingredient 7:
Online video marketing is measurable and accountable. Due to the credit crunch, CMO’s suddenly feel the need for proof of performance. With tools like ViralTracker CMO’s are suddenly behind the steering wheel.

Online video ingredient 8:
Consumers can rate and review online commercials and give their comments under the video. These are great learnings to CMO’s and they can immediately hire or fire their creative agency based on the number of views, score at the ratings or feedback in the comments.

Online video ingredient 9:
Online video has tremendous impact at awareness and engagement. With external brand tracking companies CMO’s will learn that online works great for branding, and internet can do much more than generate direct response and clicks.

Online video ingredient 10:
The response of online video and internet commercials is extremely high. Average CTR’s (click through rates) of online commercials are 4-9%. That is 25-75 higher than CTR’s at banners and other display ads.

So what’s next to CMO’s?
Well I hope this was useful to CMO’s. And will help them to change their thoughts and behaviour. Most of all, I hope this item sets you as a CMO free from all the wrong assumptions your traditional agencies are feeding you.

Please do remember, these traditional agencies don’t always do inform your wrong intentionally. They suffer from major lack of knowledge and experience, so they can only give you their assumptions.

But keep in mind with assumptions, they are dangerous. You would make me very happy to remind this rule about “To Assume”: ASS-U-ME!! You will not only limit yourself, but also your target group which will leave you for making the wrong choices, based on assumptions.

Source: Windchimes

And the viral “Crazy Leaders” for Amnesty International, winner of a Cresta Award. Both videos you might have seen before …

In October 2007 Brazilian YouTube user Seminovos drew over 2,5 million viewers with his offensive drawing video: “Ao mestre, com Carinho”.

Now watch the 45-second TV commercial, created by Hamburg-based Kemper Trautmann gmbh, for Beate Ushe in 2008, promoting the advantages of parental controls for Beate Uhse TV. Total views on YouTube 20,000+. The Tagline: “You will see it. Your children are not”.

Two years ago comedian Craig Ferguson, host of CBS’s The Late Late Show, paid tribute to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on his show and came up with a very original idea. Watch Rumsfeld solving a Rubik’s Cube puzzle, making origami & paper dolls, sketch, and roll a joint during press conferences, viewed 1.6 million times.

Now compare the previous video with the viral advert for human rights organization Amnesty International, created by German agency Scholz & Friends. World leaders George Bush, Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad get creative with origami, balloon animals and crocheting. Total views on YouTube 21,000+. The tagline: “We can change what they do”.

See also the massive viral Ping Pong Matrix (8.3 million views) and the internet commercial People Powered for Canadian cable company Shaw. Or Rollerblade Bottle Music and Audi’s TV Spot In Crescendo (CyberLions Shortlist).

Conclusion
Copying a succesful viral as brand will hardly get you the same viral numbers as the original videos, but it can get you top ratings and advertising awards.

Have you seen similar videos? Let us know or post them in the comments.

Lester Speight, the actor who plays the brash, voluble character, achieved significant recognition for his portrayal of Terry Tate: Office Linebacker in a series of 60-second Reebok commercials that first debuted during the 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII.

“How’s that for Drill Baby Drill! You just subscribed to Terry’s Journal of Pain!! And the first issue is free, baby! Whoo!! … Hey Katie!”

Production company Hypnotic, in collaboration with the Arnell Group, developed 9 short films between August 2002 and January 2005, created a website to host the Quicktime and Windows Media films, and produced TV spots based on “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker”, a film written and directed by Rawson Thurber.

Hypnotic’s Terry Tate website saw 1.8 million visits the week following the Super Bowl broadcast, 300,000 registered users and facilitated more than 1.6 million commercial downloads and over 500,000 visits per week for the next two months. During periods of peak traffic the Terry Tate site delivered over 650Mbps of data. Since then, those numbers have increased to more than 900,000 registered users and 15 million downloads.

The “Terry Tate Office Linebacker” 2003 campaign was an enormous success, and people from all continents today still recall Terry Tate!!

An overview of the Terry Tate episodes:

• Terry’s World (August 11, 2002); An introduction to Terry’s world.
• Draft Day (September 1, 2002); Felcher & Sons hire a new linebacker, Courtney Cate, to work alongside Terry in the office.
• Office Athlete Of The Century (September 14, 2002); Terry is awarded the prestigious Office Athlete Of The Century award from OSPN
• Vacation (October 15, 2002); After 1000 days at work without a single day off, state law requires that Terry must take a vacation.
• Super Bowl 2003 commercial (November 27, 2002); This is a remix of the incidents from the past episodes, depicting scenes from the past episodes.
• Streaker (December 4, 2002); In a direct spoof of a similar Nike ad, a naked man runs across the field during a soccer match.
• Sensitivity Training (February 1, 2004); Office worker Paul Merkin accuses Terry Tate of assault
• Late Lunch (January 22, 2005); A short episode showing how Terry tackles a worker, Roger, who returns back to his desk late for work.
• Pro Bowl; In this episode, Terry helps keep the players focused on the game and ready to give 110%.

An overview of Terry Tate Spoofs:

• Harry Hate – Campus Linebacker
• USS Stennis – Stennis Linebacker
• Vernon Valor – RA Linebacker
• Chris Wheeler – Dorm Linebacker
• CPT Wedly – The Disciplinator
• MIT Sloan Linebacker
• Evangelism Linebacker

Reebok’s Terry Tate 2003 Campaign Highlights

• Over 15 million film views (Total length equivalent to over 86 years)
• Over 900,000 registered users
• Over 6 million site visits
• Over 300,000 viral emails sent
• Winner of Gold Cannes Lion and AICP Awards in 2003
• Voted most popular Super Bowl ad in 2003 (Wall Street Journal consumer poll)
• Numerous national Terry Tate TV appearances including NBC’s ‘Today Show,’ CNBC, ESPN and E!
• Feature articles in USA Today, LA Times, AdWeek, Ad Age
• #2 Best Viral of 2003 chosen by Eatmail.tv
• Terry Tate rang the closing bell at the NY Stock Exchange (January 31, 2003)
• Terry Tate cut the ribbon to kick off the Boston Marathon (April 20, 2003)
• Terry Tate was the most watched commercial in TiVo households that tuned into the Super Bowl

Credits:

Creative Director: Peter Arnell
Executive Producer: Miriam Franklin
Production Company: Hypnotic
Director: Rawson Thurber
Director of Photography: Eric Haase
Editor: Jason Painter/Swietlik
Music: Larry Pecorella, David Hutten, Justin Hori/Comma
Audio Mixer: Loren Silber/POP Sound
Principal Talent: The Mighty Rasta, Michael Sean McGuinness

Source: Hypnotic, The Inspiration Room, Der Maffe, Wikipedia, Adweek