ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Arizona Cardinals in a close Super Bowl XLIII contest, Doritos’ fan-made commercial bested other advertisers in a vote by local residents.
More than 150 responses to Roberts Communications’ Water Cooler Poll—an online survey taken after the game—showed that Super Bowl ads are often judged on their humor. Rochester viewers chose Doritos’ amateur-created “Crystal Ball” as the top ad of the night. The commercial featured a man using a crystal ball to predict free Doritos and then using the crystal ball to break open a Doritos-filled vending machine. Careerbuilder.com’s “If you hate going to work…” repeated images such as a woman screaming in her car and a stuffed Koala Bear being punched, was another well liked commercial. Another well-perceived ad was E*Trade’s “Trading Babies” that featured the familiar talking baby with a new singing friend.
The always controversial GoDaddy.com’s “I’ve Enhanced” featuring Danica Patrick admitting in front of a congressional panel to enhancing her image with GoDaddy.com as well as Pepsi’s “MacGruber/Pepsuber” were among the least favorite in the Rochester area. The survey revealed that along with being the second most liked ad, Careerbuilder.com’s commercial was also ranked as the second most disliked commercial of the Super Bowl.
Rochester’s top three ads
The percentages from the Water Cooler Poll showed that—as in previous Customer Bowl research, humorous ads were the most popular.
- Doritos “Crystal Ball” – 19.4 percent rated this ad number 1
- Careerbuilder.com “If you hate going to work…” – 9.7 percent
- E*Trade “Trading Babies”– 7.1 percent
Rochester’s least favorite ads
The survey also showed that using the “sex sells” theory may backfire as GoDaddy.com’s ad was ranked as local viewers’ least favorite.
- GoDaddy.com “I’ve Enhanced”– 8.4 percent said it was their least favorite
- Careerbuilder.com “If you hate going to work…” – 6.5 percent
- Pepsi “MacGruber/Pepsuber” – 6.5 percent
Bill Murtha, CEO of Roberts Communications noted that the economy was referenced in a few ads. Bud Light’s “Business Meeting” ad centered on budget cuts. In addition, the talking E*Trade babies referenced the economy, saying that the website could help you “take control, rise up” over the current economic situation, which prompted the singing of Mr. Mister’s 1985 hit, “Broken Wings.”
As in the past, the humorous ads tend to be the most talked about and accessed via the web after the game. “During the game and the conversations that people are having today, people love a good joke,” Murtha said. “The ads that people are talking about around water coolers this afternoon are the ones that made them laugh the most.”