This is not saying a lot, because, Jesus Fucking Christ, what an awful parade of terrible celebrity ads—the worst collection in Super Bowl history, which is saying a lot.
Yes, the ads were via the Servant Foundation, a known anti-LGBTQ hate group. And the ads were partially funded by the homophobic (and sexist) Hobby Lobby CEO, David Green.
No matter. ALL ads must stand on their own, without the background noise, at least creatively. And these stood out, in a good way.
Today’s Marketers constantly parrot the old ad school maxim “Break Through The Clutter”, while continuously facilitating work that is The Clutter. These two spots broke through, powerfully.
Both of these ads have been online for months, but seeing them in the context of the Super Bowl was startling.
The :60 “Love Your Enemies” ad hit America (and the world) right at the right time, right in its hate-spewing face. No V/O and the use of emotionally-charged stills violently cut through the clusterfuck of noisy fast-cutting ad scenes. And the use of the song, “Human”, by British singer Rag’n’Bone Man was ace. If you weren’t moved by this ad, I pray for you.
The :30 “Be Childlike” was less impactful, but still a nice ad featuring a nice Patsy Cline song. Nice collection of kid stills, plus one nice color video of black boy and white boy hugging (though that was a bit much).
Yes, I know I said all the game ads were going to be terrible. But seeing these ads within the context of all the other hollow creatively-bereft spots changed mind about them.
I'm a devout atheist and have to agree although I felt the ad with the adults was better. I'm a photography consultant so I loved seeing an ad made entirely from stills. I find the notion of paying to produce these ads kind of hilarious. It's not as if Jesus doesn't get enough free PR.