For many years, the Super Bowl has had a massive US television viewership, and it is the most watched televised sporting event of the year, in the states.

The game has high Nielsen television ratings, usually around a 40 rating and a 60 share. This means that on average, 80 to 90 million people, in the United States alone, tune into the Super Bowl at any given moment.

The result of this, in previous years, was that brands would prepare their prime TV adverts for the half-time slot. Some of the most memorable from the last few years include VW’s Passat ad featuring the Vader Kid, and the ‘Old Spice guy.’

 

Both of these ads debuted during the Super Bowl half-time, both made it to YouTube, and both have gone viral (VW’s Vader Kid was one of the top 10 most viewed clips of 2011).

This year, brands seem to be taking a slightly different approach – releasing their ‘teaser’ ads on YouTube a week or so before the main event.

This Year’s Teasers

Toyota Camry – “Reinvented”

Toyota seems to have decided that the latest generation need an exciting and funny commercial to bring them to public attention.

The ad they’ve released features the reinvented couch, reinvented baby and reinvented food blender.

Little about the new Camry or the brand, other than that it has been ‘reinvented’, is mentioned and it will be interesting to see what Toyota do with this type of concept on Sunday.

Will they ‘reinvent’ the TV commercial?

VW – The Dog Strikes Back

Last year’s unofficial winner for best Super Bowl ad was undoubtedly Volkswagen.

This year their big launch is for the 2nd generation of the new Beetle. Aiming to take on the Mini Cooper, the new Beetle is bigger and more ‘butch’ than the old model, and VW will look to emphasise this.

In the advert, a slightly overweight dog that struggles to fit through the doggy-door embarks on an exercise regime to get leaner and meaner.

In the end, hearing a car approach, he dashes off fitting perfectly through the door and runs alongside the new leaner and meaner Beetle.

Not as cute as the ‘Vader kid’, but the ad has plenty potential for Sunday’s events.

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