Eels' Super Bowl Ad: Blink And You Miss It
Armchair athletes may have gathered around the watercooler after last year's Super Bowl to gab about Tom Petty's halftime show or Justin Timberlake's Pepsi commercial. But sadly, there was one Super Bowl-affiliated advert artist that most viewers probably overlooked: The Eels.
Yes, lost in the shuffle amid all the megamillion-dollar commercials and A-list performers was Mark E. Everett's acclaimed indie band and their lo-fi commercial for their rarities compilation, Useless Trinkets.
It's understandable why most people wouldn't be able to remember the Eels' ad, since it was in fact only one second long--the shortest commercial in Super Bowl broadcast history. (See, Super Bowl commercials don't come cheap--they cost $100,000 a second. Indie bands can't afford that! So the Eels simply scraped together the minimum $100K and bought their own little blip on the Super Bowl screen.)
But in fact, the Eels' ad never ran at all, as it was yanked from the air at the last moment. "In the end we were told that the NFL would have to find 29 other advertisers to buy one-second spots to fill a standard 30-second advertising slot and that they do not sell advertising time by the second," Eels frontman Mark Oliver "E" Everett lamented to Exclaim News.
Still, it was true subliminal marketing genius...so much so that Miller Beer is now launching a similar campaign for this year's Super Bowl. And how you wanna bet the NFL will let Miller's commercial run as planned? But don't forget, the Eels thought of it first.
If you missed the Eels' viral commercial--and let's face it, who didn't?--here it is, in all its blurry glory. Now watch closely, everyone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyn5aEtxIZ4
I guess they were relying on TIVOers to check what they thought they just saw.
(sarcasm)
This sucks. That sucks. Who cares? Big deal? the other one is better! blah blah blah.
Go Eels! The one second idea is original!
I couldn't even read anything, nor hear what the voice-over said. The only way to have known about the Eels is through this article. If this is the Eels intent to get famous, good luck....today's consumer wants in your face marketing. There's not even a logo or legible company name.
People, including myself, are too lazy to do the much hoped-for research to find out what happened while watching the Super Bowl (while intoxicated to boot...)
Is that $600 per spot or total for a 60 second spot for 10 weeks.