The Best Superbowl Ad Was for the iPhone

[MacRumors]

More than fifty commercials aired during the Super Bowl this past Sunday, including one from Samsung that again poked fun at Apple's customers.

Apple didn't run any ads during the Super Bowl, at least not officially -- a fact that puzzled some commentators. But, as investment guru Jim Cramer points out, Apple did have an advertisement of sorts air during the Super Bowl.

After the game was over, Colts hall of famer Raymond Berry carrier the Vince Lombardi Trophy along a long line of New York Giants players. Players took turns touching or kissing the trophy, all the while taking photos and videos of the event. By far the most common device used to record the moment was the iPhone -- an event seen by millions.

Jim Cramer:

And I said to myself, there it is, not some pet dangling a bag of chips or some headlights killing vampires or King Elton getting trapdoored. Nope, there was an ad worthy of Steve Jobs and the company he built.

Of course, it wasn't an ad. It was just a collection of the most cool, most idolized competitors in the world whipping out their favorite device, which they had on the field, ready for action.

[...]

In the end, it didn't matter. To me, the endorsement of Apple by real athletes who were not paid, especially when contrasted with the gift of the GM Corvette that Eli Manning didn't even seem to care about -- "Eli, the keys, the keys, don't forget the keys!" -- said it all.

A 30-second spot during the game cost advertisers $3.5 million. For 1 minute and 20 seconds, Giants players used their iPhones to capture a once-in-a-lifetime moment that tens of millions watched on television. Cramer believes that this, more than any anything else, was the best advertisement of the Super Bowl.

via Daring Fireball

Article Link: The Best Superbowl Ad Was for the iPhone

 

[Ahheck01]

I agree completely. Was anyone else thinking this as they watched that moment live?

 

[DaMike8]

Samsung's commercial just got OWNED.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I agree completely. Was anyone else thinking this as they watched that moment live?

better question is did anyone else notice it. I know a lot of people tend to turn it off the TV shortly after the game is over.

It nice free advertisement and something Apple could use if they wanted to make an Ad around it but in terms of the public even noticing. Unlikely unless you were a tech nerd or a Apple fan.

 

[Colpeas]

PWNED! A happy customer is the best advertisement you can have.

 

[craznar]

Sorry to burst your bubble Mac fans, but and advertisement that only targets existing customers is not exactly the best advertisement ever.

How many people who have never used an iPhone would have even known it was an iPhone they were all using.

We may call it the cheapest advertisement, but it is far far far from the best.

 

[TMar]

As I watch it live I really only noticed one iphone being used. I'm sure if I watch it back and specifically watched for it I would see more but the fact is Football Joe didn't notice or care. Crappy "Ad" opportunity is crappy.

 

[bretm]

I saw the Apple logo briefly on 1 phone, and another was white so I assumed it was an iPhone. Otherwise they were just generic black smartphones. Unless you own an iPhone, you're probably not going to recognize them as iPhones even if they were, so no, this is not an amazing ad for Apple.

 

[Rumple]

I never noticed it. I don't care what phones people use.

 

[Zwhaler]

Meanwhile in Africa ...

 

[Moyank24]

I agree completely. Was anyone else thinking this as they watched that moment live?

better question is did anyone else notice it. I know a lot of people tend to turn it off the TV shortly after the game is over.

It nice free advertisement and something Apple could use if they wanted to make an Ad around it but in terms of the public even noticing. Unlikely unless you were a tech nerd or a Apple fan.

I actually noticed it....That guy was doing the slowest walk in the history of walking - how could you not notice?

I think that may make me a tech nerd.

 

[jacobo007]

Sorry to burst your bubble Mac fans, but and advertisement that only targets existing customers is not exactly the best advertisement ever.

How many people who have never used an iPhone would have even known it was an iPhone they were all using.

We may call it the cheapest advertisement, but it is far far far from the best.

So, only people who own an iPhone, know how an iPhone looks?

I don't own one and i know how it looks, the apple logo on the back of the thing gives it away too.

 

[Kid A]

i think Cramer may be making a bit of a stretch there.

i wouldn't have thought to look for the iPhones had he not mentioned it.
then again, if i could rewind and watch this on a big screen in 1080i, rather than on a youtube clip, maybe it'd be more obvious? (i wasn't watching the live broadcast anymore at this point).

nonetheless, i'm sure Samsung would say they (the Giants) are just a bunch of sheepish fanboi losers.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I actually noticed it....That guy was doing the slowest walk in the history of walking - how could you not notice?

I think that may make me a tech nerd.

well most people on this site will fall into either Tech nerd or Apple fan category so this is a bad group to take a sample from.

 

[jontech]

I noticed and was busy putting my NY Giants hat back on.....


Beats that awful Samsung commercial which turned everyone off....

 

[sterlingindigo]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Pwnd samsdung, hehehe.

 

[*LTD*]

It's all about the iPhone, folks. No getting around that. When the the glitterati, sports figures, and Hollywood at large flashes them around, you know whose got brand power.

 

[Sora]

Some people pay attention to detail. Other gloss over it.
I saw the iPhones and thought it was hilarious considering how much Samsung paid to poke fun of hardcore iPhone fans who line up. (http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/247498/three-things-note-about-galaxy-note-super-bowl-ad)

I don't hold it against those who didn't notice the athletes, family members, friends snapping away with their iPhones. Some people just don't pay attention to things like that.

To each his own.

Also, while it's another story. Seriously Samsung, a stylus? I'm not going to ask if "you're serious" - because spending $10 million evidently secured your position. I'm sure you all will kill this year! If this year is 2003.

 

[nagromme]

Very noticeable even in low res—the white ones especially; at least 4 of those (plus a bunch of black ones, few of which could have been anything but an iPhone). Those white ones stand out enough to add mindshare even for people who didn’t consciously notice. Like billboards and bus ads and muted TV ads: whether you focus on the ad and think it through or not, the more the image is put in front of you, the more you notice what’s on the shelf (or web)!

And of course the unintended “ad” continues even now, with people on the web talking about the event afterward, making people aware who never even noticed the first time.

 

[ProVideo]

I like the base my buying decisions of technology on what professional athletes use.

 

[Eduardo1971]

I agree completely. Was anyone else thinking this as they watched that moment live?

Yeah, I actually told my wife that it seems like a lot of players had white iPhones.

So much for the theory that 'real' men don't buy white iPhones for themselves.

 

[miss.manson]

I noticed, and I wasn't really even paying attention...
"Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus."
"It's like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it. In multitasking, if you see a task manager... they blew it. Users shouldn't ever have to think about it." - Steve Jobs

 

[Man9z0r]

Except for the fact that the people who would be in the market for a phone would prob not notice it was an iPhone. Plus who says they are happy with it?

I am just playing devils advocate.

 

[Acevesx]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

You're just plain ignorant if you think people dont know what an iPhone look like

 

[Samskeyti]

Raymond Berry seemed to be thoroughly enjoying them touching the trophy he was holding. Almost gif worthy.