Research concludes Superbowl ads a flop (especially Honda's)
02-06-07, 08:38 PM
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Research concludes Superbowl ads a flop (especially Honda's)
Read the full text here: http://sport.guardian.co.uk/br....html
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Super Bowl ads fumble, brain scans show
By Debra Sherman
CHICAGO, Feb. 5 (Reuters) - Super Bowl ads, which cost $85,000 per second during this year's game, fumbled overall as they failed to connect with viewers or just scared them, according to researchers who tracked people's brain activity.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles scanned the brains of five men and five women between the ages of 18 and 34 as they watched Super Bowl ads to measure the emotional impact. Participants viewed the commercials through goggles as they lay inside a donut-shaped machine called a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine.
The fMRI images show increased blood flow to specific areas of the brain that are activated by outside stimuli. Dr. Josh Freedman, one of the researchers who conducted the brain scans, said he saw a lot of activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anxiety and fear.
"We saw huge activity going on in the amygdala -- the threat detector -- so much so that we had to go back and double check our software," Freedman said in a telephone interview.
Among the top anxiety-producing ads, he said, was one for General Motors aimed at drawing attention to the automaker's 100,000 mile warranty. The ad features a robot working on the line at an assembly plant until he drops a screw forcing the line to shut down. Angry workers kick the robot off the line, rendering the robot jobless. "It's got everyone at GM obsessed with quality," the ad concluded.
"That one got people's attention. But they did not feel good about the message. It produced big spikes of anxiety and perhaps ... feelings of economic insecurity," Freedman said.
A controversial ad for Nationwide Insurance featuring Britney Spears' estranged husband, Kevin Federline, as a failed rap star working in a fast-food eatery also generated anxiety and feelings of insecurity, he said.
The most ineffective ad was from Honda, which showed participants were less engaged during the ad than they were when they looked at a blank screen.
Even ads for Budweiser beer, traditionally known for good-humored advertising, generated negative emotions, fMRI scans showed.
The commercials that produced the most positive feelings were those by Coke and Doritos, Freedman said. But compared with last year's lot of commercials, this year's Super Bowl ads fumbled.
HOW CAN THEY TELL?
....
Quote »
Super Bowl ads fumble, brain scans show
By Debra Sherman
CHICAGO, Feb. 5 (Reuters) - Super Bowl ads, which cost $85,000 per second during this year's game, fumbled overall as they failed to connect with viewers or just scared them, according to researchers who tracked people's brain activity.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles scanned the brains of five men and five women between the ages of 18 and 34 as they watched Super Bowl ads to measure the emotional impact. Participants viewed the commercials through goggles as they lay inside a donut-shaped machine called a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine.
The fMRI images show increased blood flow to specific areas of the brain that are activated by outside stimuli. Dr. Josh Freedman, one of the researchers who conducted the brain scans, said he saw a lot of activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anxiety and fear.
"We saw huge activity going on in the amygdala -- the threat detector -- so much so that we had to go back and double check our software," Freedman said in a telephone interview.
Among the top anxiety-producing ads, he said, was one for General Motors aimed at drawing attention to the automaker's 100,000 mile warranty. The ad features a robot working on the line at an assembly plant until he drops a screw forcing the line to shut down. Angry workers kick the robot off the line, rendering the robot jobless. "It's got everyone at GM obsessed with quality," the ad concluded.
"That one got people's attention. But they did not feel good about the message. It produced big spikes of anxiety and perhaps ... feelings of economic insecurity," Freedman said.
A controversial ad for Nationwide Insurance featuring Britney Spears' estranged husband, Kevin Federline, as a failed rap star working in a fast-food eatery also generated anxiety and feelings of insecurity, he said.
The most ineffective ad was from Honda, which showed participants were less engaged during the ad than they were when they looked at a blank screen.
Even ads for Budweiser beer, traditionally known for good-humored advertising, generated negative emotions, fMRI scans showed.
The commercials that produced the most positive feelings were those by Coke and Doritos, Freedman said. But compared with last year's lot of commercials, this year's Super Bowl ads fumbled.
HOW CAN THEY TELL?
....
02-06-07, 09:29 PM
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If it was done based on a million people from different race, background, education, geographic areas.. and etc.. then they may have something. Research based on 10 people and came up with a theory is just DUMB. 
02-07-07, 01:50 AM
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A sample size of 10? This is VERY elementary. I don't think UCLA should warrant having there name on this type of article. Anybody in the science field would know that the research methods of this study are very ammature, at best.
And by "researchers", they mean 2nd year sophmores. I had stuff published my FRESHMAN year and I was quoted as being a "researcher." I could have done this study in middle-school if I had the equipment.
I'm only ranting because I'm a Bruin.
And by "researchers", they mean 2nd year sophmores. I had stuff published my FRESHMAN year and I was quoted as being a "researcher." I could have done this study in middle-school if I had the equipment.
I'm only ranting because I'm a Bruin.
