Friday, February 4, 2011

The Future of Super Bowl Ads?

Every time my friends and family gather around the TV to watch the Super Bowl, there are two main camps: those who watch the game for the football and those who watch it for the commercials.

The high-priced, highly-anticipated Super Bowl commercials are a huge part of the big game experience, and practically every year there are several ads that are teased in the days leading up to the commercial's big Super Bowl reveal.

But Volkswagen is taking a different approach by releasing the full version of their soon-to-be-aired Super Bowl ad on YouTube. 

After garnering 5.6 million views and counting, it's safe to say VW's contrarian approach paid off.

The commercial features a kid dressed in a Darth Vader costume trying to use The Force around the house to avail, until he "starts" the family's 2012 Passat (with a little help from his dad using the keyless remote). It's actually a very well-done commercial that takes great advantage of the Star Wars geek in me. Apparently I'm not alone, given how much attention the ad has gotten.

What's really interesting is that VW's success with revealing their commercial early could lead to more and more companies doing the same thing in hopes of building that pre-game buzz.