My Sportsbetting Television Commercial #1 (Piano-Playing Chicken)

SPORTS BETTING SITE COMMERCIAL #1
(PIANO-PLAYING CHICKEN)

Ready for all the Super Bowl ads?

Last year, I conceived and created four television commercials for a Canadian-based sportsbetting website (Spreads.ca).  All four were rejected.

Since then, I’ve seen many advertisements for major sportsbooks airing on television, mostly airing during sports events.  Some are acceptable.  But most are terrible.  Oh, and they cost a fortune with highly-paid celebrity endorsers, mostly parroting confusing jibberish that sounds crafted by a clueless PR agency.

This year’s Super Bowl will run dozens of ads.  Many cost millions of dollars to make, and even more money for the time buy.  A few will be outstanding.  But most will be forgotten seconds later.

In contrast to the flashy ads you often see during events like the Super Bowl, I made these commercials — actually amateur sizzle wheels — at no cost in less than an hour.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

Note these short videos are templates for what would be a much higher-quality broadcast-ready advertisement and publicity campaign.  One of the components of advertising that I think is most effective (and underutilized) is “recurring themes” and repetition in messaging and brand awareness.  Running unconnected ads is often a waste of resources.  Picking a theme and sticking with it over time is far more effective in reaching the audience.  For instance, think of the Geico ads (with the gecko) or Southwest Airlines (“Wanna; Get Away?”), and others that are still running today.

I had this in mind when I made these four ads, with a recurring theme.

This is the first of four posts (Video #1).  Duration-30 seconds.