Collection of Random Thoughts

If you thought the Super Bowl ads, as a whole, were beyond terrible, you’re not alone.

Considering the recent piece for Norman Einstein’s, the chatter regarding the slate of advertisements during Super Bowl XLV has been entertaining to say the least.

Super Sunday has created this expectation that these spots exist for entertainment purposes only. Many companies that participate in the fun follow this line of thinking because they can actually afford to. Coca-Cola and Pepsi aren’t mom-and-pop shops looking to get exposure. Some do it for the sake of doing so, despite beating that drum one too many times (GoDaddy has managed to overuse the premise that sex sells). Yet, the main problem with Super Bowl spots is that they miss out in the basic principle of advertising; tell potential consumers why you matter.

It’s as if companies get hypnotized, then speared by Terry Tate year after year after year.

Remember him?

The Terry Tate ads were hysterical; a linebacker laying out office employees with vicious tackles and talking smack afterwards (surely an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in today’s NFL). They were the rage of water coolers, Chipotles and college classrooms in 2003.

And you probably couldn’t remember which company was advertised (it was Reebok). As great as those ads were, they failed miserably when it came to what’s called brand recall. Brand recall is where observers of an advertisement are asked to try to provide the maker of the product or service. According to Interactive Advertising Group (now Nielsen IAG), which measures advertising effectiveness, at the time they stated that Terry Tate rated rather poorly in the metric.

Why does this matter to you? The truth is that Super Bowl ads, while great for exposure, are rarely effective in convincing you to purchase an offering. What makes this worse is that companies are so desperate for ‘buzz’ that their ad copy (essentially, scripts) and casting reflect more about entertainment and less about relating to the consumer they want to entice.

Consider that for Super Bowl XLVI (46).

• Speaking of the Super Bowl, Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers, their fans and owners of any WWE replica championship belt & Aaron Rodgers jersey. You’re all winners. Even better than this is that someone else believes what I posted two years ago about the Quarterback Heavyweight Champion I call GB Punk.
  
  
• College basketball aficionados: you may be aware that I don’t follow the NCAA hardwood as much as I used to. However, you know obnoxious folks like me exist: I want to know who should I pay attention to in terms of potential players in the NBA?
  
  
• Some suggested reading: there may not be a whole lot of fans based on ratings, but if you’re looking for insights on the underrated FX program, Lights Out, take a look at “There’s No ‘I’ in Blog” where Friend of Scribe, Patrick Truby has done episodic reviews since the show began last month. I think it’s a solid show, but even in the DVR era, the biggest issue for its future is the time slot. It's pretty competitive on Tuesdays at 10PM.
  
  
• If you’re still wondering, “C’Mon Man” will never be lived down. That’s perfectly fine with this Scribe since one of his favorite writers, Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Silver recently discovered who that “Dude from Study Hall” was. Nothing but win, as the kids say.
  
  
• Finally, as with many of you, life happens. It doesn’t get in the way of work so much as it has a way of prioritizing it. Sincerest apologies, but your support of this hustle is surely appreciated. Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Happy Holidays from "Study Hall"

If You Saw "C'Mon Man!"...

and you're wondering if that guy with the backpack was me... it was. That was not how I planned to make my television debut (1:43 into the clip), but I'll take it.

Thanks to the uploaders and to Trent Dilfer for putting my bag on blast, LOL.

Dear (insert deity here), I'm not reading the comments.


Many keep asking what happened, so here it goes.

In all NFL post-game press conferences that I know of, the head coach speaks first. During that time, an announcement is made that the players will be available in the locker room; typically a few minutes into or immediately after the coach's presser. New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin had just finished speaking to the media and everyone made their way to the locker room a few yards away.

Unusual for the Giants - even after other tough losses - there were just a handful of players available to speak with. It was a ghost town and thinking on behalf of the players, I would have probably took off under the cloak of night myself. Instead of waiting for the media mob in front of that handful to dissipate, I made my way back to the official presser as Eli Manning and Justin Tuck would speak with the media.

What you thought was funny, I thought was... strange.

Eli - as always, a pro through and through - was likely ready to get home as the rest of us, which says a lot about he handled himself over the course of his career here in this madhouse area I call home. What you don't see was that other reporters were arriving, just quite a few steps slower than me.

The backpack: instead of leaving it in the press box above the field, I always keep it with me since I leave for home immediately after any game I cover. From my understanding, someone at a Philadelphia sports talk station joked that I looked as if I was carrying C-4 (don't worry, I think that's funny). Well, rest assured that wouldn't have happened since New Jersey State Troopers would have found that out quickly thanks to their canine unit.

You have to understand something about this scene: the normally loquacious media couldn't immediately think of anything to say, do or ask Coughlin at the start of the presser. Other than the Giants themselves, no one was more stunned that the press. There was nearly complete silence from the Giants media from the moment DeSean Jackson eventually crossed the goal line to the march to the press conference. Save for a handful of smaller conversations, there was a surrealism that blanketed us all.

The way I like to think of these 15 minutes (or 12) is that media folks of far bigger platforms were scrambling around, looking for dictionaries and thesauruses to attempt to describe the Miracle at the New Meadowlands.

Nearly two full days later, I still can't.

Don't worry, for those sick of hearing about it, I'm trying to speed up the window of fame here. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.