"Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of The Decades" to reflect on best ads of the last 40+ years
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Super Bowl is about football. It is also about the half-time show and the ads.
With the cost of a commercial in the game on Sunday at more than $7 million, expectations from advertisers and viewers are very high.
There will be a lot of discussion online - and the next day - about the best ads of the big game.
Iconic Clydesdales, Mean Joe Green, Betty White - they are the stars of Super Bowl commercials you will never forget.
"Brands want to provoke an emotion. Whether that emotion is a bigger heartfelt conversation or it's comedy and they just want you laugh in the moment," said Dustin Black, Executive Creative Director at Colle McVoy.
Black says the advertiser isn't always banking on widespread positive reaction as long as it connects with the target audience.
"Mountain Dew perfected this a few years ago when they did their puppy monkey baby commercial. You know it was so bizarre that so many people went online just to talk about how much they hated it," said Black.
It is more fun to talk about our favorites.
"I go back to Mean Joe Green. I think of Cindy Crawford standing in front of that Pepsi machine and the two boys watching and being like, 'Oh my God that can's amazing.' Those are the kind of things that are imprinted on you as a youth that never go away," said Kevin Frazier, co-host of "Entertainment Tonight."
Frazier is part of the team bringing you "Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of The Decades" Wednesday at 7 p.m. on WCCO.
"There's the beginnings, the eighties. There's the nineties with supermodels and superstar athletes. Jump all the way to the 2010s and think of all the user-generated commercials like the Doritos stuff," said Frazier.
"Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of The Decades" will allow fans to vote on their favorite ads of the last 40+ years.
"In the end, America will get to decide. There will be a QR code that will be up on the screen so you can vote near the end. You can also go online but this is one of those shows where it is interactive and you have your say because who knows commercials better than the folks at home," said Frazier.
Frazier is also doing some of the kind of work he is known for on "Entertainment Tonight."
"You will get a sneak peek at some of the a-list actors that are doing Super Bowl commercials. You will see it first with us and I'm going to take you behind the scenes of the preparations of Rob Gronkowski's Kick of Destiny with Fan Duel. I mean, Gronk is trying to earn ten million dollars for America, and a lot of money for himself too hitting a live kick," said Frazier.
This year's advertisers, like every year, hope to use athletes, A-list stars, animals, and kids to make memorable, pop-culture-changing ads that last longer than the Monday morning water cooler chat. And if they are lucky, for decades.
"That's the true test of a great commercial. If in five or 10 years, it still has that sticking power in the back for your brain, you know it's a good spot," said Black.
