After the Super Bowl, there are plenty of lists ranking the best commercials that were played throughout the events. So, here, I’d like to briefly explain my favorite Super Bowl commercial. From a marketing perspective, I think that this ad does a beautiful job at tackling their goal of market penetration (from Ansoff’s matix). Mercedes and sports cars in general are generally marketed to the wealthy businessman. This ad attempts to break that association and have it encompass more people by using symbols that appeal to the counterculture individuals of the 1960s.
The Elements
The commercial starts by zooming in on a poster of Easy Rider. A man then picks a song: Born to Be Wild, which happens to be the song that Easy Rider opens with. We get an overview of the activities in the bar and even catch a glimpse of Wyatt, Easy Rider’s main character, tattooed on one man’s arm. All these elements are intended to create an emotional connection between the advertiser’s target market of 1960s counterculture individuals. Later, another man clearly a part of the crew enters completely outraged that someone blocked them in. They all go outside to see who it is and lo and behold, it’s Peter Fonda wearing the jacket his character Wyatt wore in the movie. The crew stared in astonishment as Peter Fonda got in his Mercedes and drove off. The ad ends with Fonda passing the Route 66 sign, the national symbol for adventure and freedom. And to end with a bang, the song Born to Be Wild turns into Built to Be Wild, in reference to the car.
The Goal
This ad systematically makes their target market relate to and trust the characters in the ad. If the characters were in awe of the car, that means that I, as the viewer and someone who identifies with 1960s counterculture, have to buy that care in order to secure my membership in that group and to continue to live a free and adventurous life. I love that this commercial leaves nothing to chance and clearly aims to appeal to its target market by including a number of symbols that appeal to the viewer’s values.