We live in reuse-and-recycle times, so it seems silly to spend millions on your Super Bowl commercial only to have it air once or twice to beer-swigging football fans. But thanks to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the Super Bowl ads of today will be seen and re-seen if the brands behind them get their way.
Budweiser, the go-to for clever beer commercials for the past several years, is using social media this year to give its fans a sneak peek at the company’s Super Bowl spots. Bud is challenging viewers to guess the plot of its ads with clues on Facebook. Will it be the brand’s Clydesdales who stomp their way into sports fans’ hearts again this year, or will it be a new wacky Wild West outlaw? Bud is hoping people will “like” the stunt enough to find out.
And Volkswagen is returning to the Super Bowl after a nine-year hiatus. The German car maker will debut two new spots during the game, but VeeDubs is keeping up the Super Bowl part long after the game is over. Morning-after viewings of favorite Super Bowl commercials have become a media tradition, and Volkswagen is mixing it up by premiering two more new spots the day after the game to capitalize on the heavy viewing audience to be had on YouTube.
Marketers are hoping that this year’s Super Bowl is the most tweeted about event ever. So in order to make that happen, brands are featuring Twitter and tweet speak on their much-watched commercials. Audi, for example, will feature hashtags at the end of its commercials in order to inspire tweeps to discuss the company. Teleflora, E-trade and others also are integrating Twitter and other social media sites again in their Super Bowl campaigns.
So which commercial will live on in social media lore? Which campaign already has a leg up by using social media to stir up interest? And which commercial do you hope will be absent from the game this year (cough, GoDaddy.com, cough, cough)? Tell us in comments section below!
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