Game Day Ads

The big game is this weekend and you know what that means don't you? Ads, ads, and more ads. Yes, companies we all know and love (or love to hate perhaps) have forked over millions once again to reach a captive audience. Millions tune in on game day and in the days following to see just what ranked among the top Super Bowl ads of the year. As a communications professional married to an advertising creative guy, I can`t help but get a little excited.

Normally, as we`re here in Canada, we have to wait until the day after the game to see what was tops. Not this year. Nope, this year many companies have released their ads or have given sneak previews well in advance of game day. And why not? With a pretty price of about $116 thousand dollars per second, you can hardly blame them for wanting to get the most out of their investments.

So far I've seen a couple that I quite enjoy, including this one by Honda with Matthew Broderick and it's play on the classic film Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

And this one by Budweiser strikes an emotional chord, which is refreshing to see from a beer company where the MO is usually girls, skin, and sexual innuendo.

One I'm not loving though is VW's "Dog Strikes Back". If you remember last year, VW had a wildly popular ad with the little kid as Darth Vader. They tried to tie that in this year`s ad with the dog and, in my books, it is a FAIL. It comes across as just weird to me.

I like the pre-grame preview. It`s fun. Now to wait for the whole wrap-up on Monday. What about you...
do you tune in on game day/post game to catch the ads?

National Post Apologizes, Good on Them

Earlier today I shared my thoughts on an ad that recently ran in the National Post advocating that LGBT issues should not be taught to young children in school curriculum. This afternoon the National Post issued an apology statement for running the ad.

While the statement certainly doesn`t excuse the ad from having run, it does demonstrate goodwill, and good business, on the part of this national paper. I agree with their statement that free speech should not be limited and opposing views, even these, should not be censored from the debate as only through debate and open discussion can we acheive positive change. However, as noted in the apology, the tone of this ad was not about free speech and debate but about blatantly trying to remove discussions from our schools. That is why the ad bothered me, and apparently many others so much.

I also commend the Post on choosing to donate all proceeds from the ad, which would certainly have had a hefty price tag in such a large scale publication, to an organization that promotes LGBT rights. You see, when you speak up and speak out, good change can happen.

I Hope He Learns Equality

Like any mother, I have many hopes and dreams for my son. One of those is that he learns equality and acceptance. It is something we have always planned to teach any child of ours at home and something I hope he also learns in school. So when I Ad in National Post Like the author of the article, I'm not surprised in the least that this type of ad was created or run publicly. That alone makes me sad. It says we've come to accept that others still fail to grasp the concept of equality. It says we still have a very long way to go in achieving an accepting and tolerant society. I do see a day though when we will get there. It may not be in my time, it may not even be in Hudson's time. But it will come. We just have to keep speaking up about the issue and making a difference.

I do hope that Hudson's school curriculum, when he reaches that age, talks openly about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) and other controversial issues. I hope he he learns about difference and likeness. That he learns different is not only ok, but good. Wonderful even. I hope his school teaches him to treat others with respect and dignity regardless of their sexual preference, abilities, race, age, or religion. I know teaching him about LGBT will not make him gay any more than teaching him about racism will change his skin colour or teaching him about disabilities will make him dyslexic. You can be certain I will be one PTA mom standing up for inclusion in curriculum, not exclusion.

Even still, I certainly won't rely on the school system to talk to Hudson about equality, acceptance and tolerance. He will learn about it first at home. We will teach him that it doesn't matter whether you are gay or straight, catholic or muslim, black or white. At the end of the day, he will know we are all just people, who feel, who love and hurt, and who deserve to be treated the same regardless of our differences. That's something he won't be confused about.

I hope this ad and it's supporters doesn't gain traction and that Hudson does learn about LGBT and equality in school and I know it is something he will learn at home.