As the most watched, annual sporting event on TV in America, big-name companies spend millions of dollars on ad production and broadcast airtime during the event. As such, there is an expectation for them to be entertaining and compelling. This year's lineup was full of high-budget product and service ads, A-list celebrity endorsements, and entertaining humor.
But one ad, in particular, resonated with gamers with a heavy dose of feel-good nostalgia: Pokemon!
Pokemon Super Bowl 50 Commercial
To celebrate the franchise’s 20th birthday, Game Freak (the game developers of Pokemon) aired an ad in the third quarter of the game. The ad featured a diverse array of young people: a boy runner in a setting that resembles the Indian subcontinent, a young female chess prodigy, an adolescent black football captain rallying his teammates, and finally - a young Japanese Pokemon trainer about to engage in a championship battle.
As the camera moves from character to character, the youth become inspired and invigorated by the accounts of the previous character.It's an creative scene transition mechanism that positively associates the Pokemon brand with a diversity of cultures and activities in a compelling manner, especially with background taiko drumming reminiscent of Battle Star Galactica.
What do you guys think?
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Comments below!
While I haven't ever been a fan of the Pokemon series, its popularity the world over is unquestionable. Not only does this ad conjure Pokemon as a global pop culture force, it likewise projects the same idea for gaming.
ReplyDeleteVideo games are more prevalent than they have ever been, inching into all corners of life, enjoyed by a range of people. There's a game for pretty much everyone; from epic home console adventures, to smaller experimental indies, and smartphone apps, gaming is everywhere. And so are the gamers. It was cool to see them represented on TV's biggest stage.