Monster, Doritos Score in Big-Game Blitz

By SUZANNE VRANICA Today's job market is enough to make people cry, but Monster.com, the recruiting Web site, found a way to make them laugh about employment during Super Bowl XLIII. Monster's ad, which starred a low-level worker who shares his cramped office with the backside of a stuffed moose, was among several humorous commercials in the Super Bowl line-up that scored high marks with advertising executives and consumers. "Touchdown. This is how a lot of people feel right now." said Rita Rodriguez, chief executive for the U.S. division of WPP's Brand Union. Best & Worst Super Bowl Ads Hysterical, maybe the funniest ad of the night," said Don Weir, a 41-year-old comedian from Media, Pa. Added Jessica Madden, a 29-year-old bank analyst in Chicago: "It appeals to the crowd now, because we are all wondering if we will have a job when we wake up." But the ad war was as tight as the battle on the field, where the Pittsburgh Steelers narrowly defeated the Arizona Cardinals. Indeed, Monster's ad, created by Omnicom Group's BBDO, shared the limelight with PepsiCo's Doritos brand, which also won over ad executives and consumers surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, with a comical spot in which an office worker lobs a snow globe at his boss. "A shot to the crotch is always a big winner," said Patricia Brennan, a managing director at MDC Partner's RedScout. Michael Smolen, a 50-year-old communications executive in Wilton, Conn., added: "Everyone at my party fell off their seats laughing." The commercial was created by amateurs as part of a contest to see whether ordinary consumers could outdo Madison Avenue's creative stars. (The ad won the USA Today's Super Bowl ad competition, which means its creators will win $1 million from Frito-Lay.) The most popular ads in the survey suggest that laughter is what people may be looking for amid the tough economic climate. While the big game always has plenty of slapstick humor, this year marketers included more feel-good ads in an attempt to lift the country's mood. Still, it was the Super Bowl's familiar belly-laugh formula that scored big. In the survey, Monster.com and Doritos dethroned perennial fan favorite Anheuser-Busch InBev. "Anheuser lost its Super Bowl crown," said Dean Crutchfield, a branding expert who most recently worked for Omnicom's Wolff-Olins. Even so, a few of the brewer's seven ads got the thumbs-up, including a spot in which one of its iconic Clydesdale horses played fetch. Another involved talk-show host Conan O'Brien. Omnicom's DDB crafted both ads. With roughly 90 million people expected to tune in to the game and 69 glitzy ads scheduled for an appearance, marketers were under enormous pressure to break through the ad clutter. Ratcheting up the pressure was the combination of an abysmal economy and sky-high prices for ad time, which reached $3 million for a 30-second spot during TV's most-watched event of the year. CareerBuilder CareerBuilder's ad featured an abusive boss, screaming fits and a Speedo-clad cubicle-mate. Among the wave of sentimental and emotional ads, it was Coca-Cola that succeeded in plucking viewers' heartstrings. Its commercial featuring avatars, as well as another special-effect-laden ad that depicted insects stealing a Coke, won rave reviews. "They nailed it," said Mark DiMassimo, chief executive of DiMassimo Goldstein. "Happiness isn't about getting lost in a virtual world, it's about making real connections, and that is what the world needs right now." Wieden + Kennedy, of Portland, Ore. created the Coke ads. "Coke's bug ad was a visual delight," said Bill Ward, assistant professor of marketing at Ferris State University's College of Business in Big Rapids, Mich. Coca-Cola Coca-Cola's "Avatar" ad showed people morphing into 3-D animations. Many ad executives polled thought Coke outdid its archrival PepsiCo's flagship brand. Of the two Pepsi spots, one featured Bob Dylan and rapper Will.I.Am. The Dylan spot ruffled some feathers. "Dylan is supposed to be against corporate America, and he just sold out to make a few dollars," said Jerry Kebrdle, a 41-year-old lawyer from Yonkers, N.Y. Still, PepsiCo succeeded in winning over many folks with a heavy dose of comedic violence in a spot for its PepsiMax brand. In the ad, via Omnicom's TBWA/Chiat/Day, men shout, "I'm Good," after getting hit with a bowling ball, a golf club and other objects, won rave reviews from male viewers. "I laughed out loud," said Matt MacDonald, a creative director at WPP's JWT. View Full Image Monster.com In an ad for recruiting site Monster.com, a hapless employee shares his office with a stuffed moose. This year a long list of new Super Bowl advertisers including restaurant chain Denny's, BP's Castrol motor oil, and Cheetos, a brand owned by Pepsi's Frito-Lay unit, jumped into the game. Among the newcomers, it was Hulu.com, the online-video site owned by NBC and News Corp. (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), that was the clear winner with the executives surveyed. In its ad, crafted by MDC's Crispin Porter & Bogusky, actor Alec Baldwin explains how the site is really run by a bunch of aliens who have an "evil plot to destroy the world." "It's 'Men In Black' meets '30 Rock,' totally awesome," said Allen Adamson, managing director of WPP's Landor NY. The big advertising comeback award went to Careerbuilder.com, which last year had some Super Bowl partygoers feeling queasy with an ad that showed a lifelike heart jumping out of a woman's chest. The job site appeared to reverse its fortunes this year with an ad that suggested if you find yourself sitting in your car and screaming at the top of your lungs -- or your boss calls you "dummy" -- its time to find another job. Wieden + Kennedy crafted the spot for Careerbuilder, which is owned by Microsoft and newspaper publishers Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy. The ad was in the lead for best Super Bowl spot in early polling on WSJ.com. "It's hilarious and cleverly done," said Alain Sylvain, a managing director at RedScout. This year two advertisers invested heavily in 3D technology for their ads. Ad executives and consumers were divided on whether the ads lived up to their hype. "I was so fixated on the imagery I lost track of what the ad was about, said Alex Barth a 32-year-old student at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill. Cash4Gold Ed McMahon and MC Hammer starred in Cash4Gold's Super Bowl commercial. Other spots also got a cool reception. Ads from marketers such as Teleflora, Castrol, Cash4Gold.com, Volkswagen's Audi and Toyota Motor's Venza fell short with some survey participants. "The car commercials, Toyota Venza and Audi, are weak on distinction or making themselves stand out" said Lindsay Rubin, a 29-year-old who also attends the Kellogg School. "I usually love the monkey-themed commercials, but I didn't get that," said 41-year-old Lisa Hurst, a recently unemployed New York stock trader, referring to the Castrol ad. Some ads just rubbed people the wrong way. A Teleflora spot, which showed a woman being berated by dead flowers delivered in a box, was labeled "mean spirited" by Mr. Adamson at Landor. In the spot, the flowers screamed such insults as: "You're a train wreck!" A campy spot for Cash4Gold.com, which buys gold jewelry from consumers, involved former late-night TV personality Ed McMahon and rapper MC Hammer ostensibly selling their possessions; it was panned. "Unwatchable," said Eric David, a creative director at Kaplan Thaler Group, a unit of Publicis Groupe. "They are making a joke out of something that is not a joke in this bad economy." Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com