What an Odd (and Stupid) Strategy

The Super Bowl of not just football, but of advertising, is just a few weeks away. And PepsiCo, owner of both Pepsi and Doritos, has adopted a strategy that just doesn’t make sense to me.

You can go to a site and vote on the ad you want to see during the Super Bowl. Think about that. You can watch all the ads or ‘contenders’ online right now, then they will spend over $6 Million (minimum, estimated) so you can watch them again on Super Bowl Sunday.

I’m scratching my head over this one. Of course the only reason for having the site is to drive traffic and have as many people as possible visit that site. So they probably will get millions of people to go and see the ads. Now I ask, what is the point?

Super Bowl estimated viewing is in the 150 million range (U.S.). And as most of us know, depending on the game, placement at strategic times during the game is critical. If it is a blowout, people drop off dramatically during 4th quarter. If it is a close game, 4th quarter is the absolute best time slot.

Now as a media buyer, you have to make the choice before the game, kinda like betting Las Vegas style.

But as a consumer, if I have already watched the 10 spots on this site, they will have absolutely no impact on me during the estimated $3 million dollar buy that takes up :30 of my life. Unless of course, you are such a loser that your life is based around going to this site, voting and having the satisfaction of seeing the spot you voted for, aired. Now that puts you into a pretty pathetic category. It would qualify you for America’s biggest loser.

So why make all these spots (production costs for TV spots are enormous), only to air a few? This is their idea of a great promotional tactic? Why not say, have a simple sweepstakes and give 5 people a million each. It would be cheaper in the long run, and have more impact. Or say, give a 12 pack away free to a bunch of people, by my math, they could give away 5 million of them for what they are spending on this effort.

Now answer me this, what would be more impactful for you to purchase Pepsi Max in the future? A juvenile bathroom humor Super Bowl spot you see at a Super Bowl party where you might just catch part of the spot (could be your bathroom or beer break), or free 12 pack?

And in reality, it isn’t the Pepsi’s of the world where we see memorable, permanent branding spots. They usually come from the companies that are trying to break through, and they usually take some chances. Quick, other than the Cindy Crawford spot, think of one Pepsi or Doritos spot that you remember from a Super Bowl. Yeah, as I suspected, probably not a one.

After watching the new spots, not one of them even made me smile. They are so ordinary, so formulaic, so bland, so just…boring.

Some advice to PepsiCo. Take the money and lower your product cost. Or just give away thousands and thousands of little rewards to a multitude of consumers throughout the year.

But that isn’t going to happen. This is all ego driven. Nice box seats for the CEO and few key buyers. I reluctantly give you the website where you can vote. Tell me if you agree.

Here it is, or as I call it, as lame as you possibly could get.

What marketing genius is behind this colossal waste of money? These could easy be put in the record book as some of the worst spots created. Really sad, disappointing and painful to watch.