Super Bowl Ads 2012

ByWayne Willis February 6, 2012January 25, 2018

I looked thru the Super Bowl ads this year and have the following observations:

* car companies simply MUST advertise, even at > $3m / :30 seconds. I thought the car commercials were the best

* e-trade didn’t disappoint; their latest baby advisor was precious

* movie trailers are another high ROI category. There were many of them, all of the adventure / fantasy genre … no romantic comedies for Super Bowl fans!

* GoDaddy continues to sell sexual titillation; I’m glad I left them over the SOPA dust-up.

* Coke, Pepsi, Bud … always solid performers

When cultural anthropologists/historians look back on 2012’s SB ads for insights into the zeitgeist, I think the automotive commercials will tell them everything. Beyond the perennial “sex sells” (Fiat, Kia) and the funnest one of the lot (Volkswagen’s dog slimming down), several viewed the world as truly scary and cars were your insulation. Lexus protects you from technological “change” that constrains you. Chevy’s post-apocalypse view, where the world is a disaster zone but the Silverado truck owners are fine, saved by their Chevy truck, is the darkest view. But leave it to Clint Eastwood to hit the pitch-perfect note of defiance in the face of challenge: Chrysler’s Halftime In America.

Miscellaneous

Polyglot Japantown

ByWayne Willis August 9, 2010January 25, 2018

California recently passed the point where Caucasians were a majority. We are now only a plurality. On walks in the park, you are likely to hear people pass, chattering with each other in langauges other than English. Spanish, of course. But frequently Chinese, Russian, undetermined Slavic-sounding languages and, around our neighborhood, Japanese. Further…

Business | Miscellaneous

Learning About the Microbiome

ByWayne Willis March 7, 2015November 24, 2022

As we move Illumai from a luxury-fasion brand to a brand presenting consumers with a radically new cleansing technology and model, I’m learning more and more about the human microbiome. Our founder, Michael Zasloff, MD, PhD, has been studying the self-healing properties of skin for over 20 years, and a key element of Illumai’s benefit to…

Miscellaneous

Secretariat

ByWayne Willis February 22, 2012March 10, 2018

I watched the movie, Secretariat, last night. It was OK. Only OK. Watching the actual horse Secretariat, when he was running in 1973, was much better. This ESPN show from a decade ago really captures the story (in 5 short segments on YouTube). Interviews with all the players — owner, trainer, jockey, others — and…

Miscellaneous

Kaha Lani #228

ByWayne Willis May 26, 2010January 25, 2018

We just came to terms with the seller of a condo on the eastern coast of Kauai. Closing in mid-June. It’s a wonderful location, right in the middle of a park. This picture doesn’t show the new Kauai Path that runs along the shoreline. The beaches are amazingly white and nearly deserted. Just north…

Childhood & Adolescence | Family | Miscellaneous | Personal

My Sister, Diane

ByWayne Willis August 19, 2010January 25, 2018

I recently got to spend some time with my sister, Diane — first at a wedding, then on a long, 8-hour drive to her home and then for a short visit with her and her son, Tim. I also met her boyfriend, David, who asked about me about growing up with Diane. I gave my…

Miscellaneous

Chincoteague, Virginia

ByWayne Willis May 29, 2010December 24, 2023

From 1950 to 1955, Dad was stationed at the Chincoteague Naval Air Station, which was on the road from US Route 13 out to Chincoteague Island. It forms my first memories. Here is a Google Earth view of the area today. The facility was decommissioned by the Navy and used by NASA as their…

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