Oscar Winners Commercial Break

It’s Oscar night and we are all glued to the screen waiting to see if our favorite performances of the year won much deserved acclaim. The Kodak Theater seats and the red carpet are packed full of movie stars, some for their first time in the spotlight, some back after multiple nominations and wins.

But one place where you won’t see many A-list movie stars is in the commercial break… at least in America. Big names like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie shun commercial work in the U.S., but happily accept it –and the big paychecks it commands– overseas.

Here are some of those spots:

Nicolas Cage (Best Actor, “Leaving Las Vegas”)

 
Angelina Jolie (Best Supporting Actress, 
“Gia”)

George Clooney (Best Supporting Actor, “Syriana”)

 
Natalie Portman (Best Actress, “Black Swan”)

Julia Roberts (Best Actress, “Erin Brockovich”)

Sean Connery (Best Supporting Actor, “The Untouchables”)

 

Jodie Foster (Best Actress, “The Accused” & “The Silence of the Lambs”)

Their fee for these spots can be $1 million and up! Not bad for a job that often requires no more than a smile and saying the name of the product to camera.

Love is a stimulant… for the economy as well.

Why did Teleflora spend $3.5 million (plus production and agency fees, plus Adriana Lima’s fee) in a Super Bowl ad? Because Valentine’s day is the most important day for florists, with $1.8 billion spent on flowers alone.

As big as that number is, it pales in comparison with the $4.1 billion spent on jewelry or $3.5 billion on dining out. Even cards account for $1.1 billion. The average person will spend $126.03, an increase of 8.5% from last year. It all adds to good news for retailers still reeling from the recession.

If you are reading this and smacking yourself in the head for not thinking of a present earlier, we have done the work for you: here’s a helpful list of last-minute online gifts, and here’s another one. But do it soon, because forgetting Valentine’s has consequences: 53% of women would dump their boyfriends if they forget the day!

Happy Valentine’s, everybody!

The Super Bowl of Advertising

The big game is also when you bring your “A” game as an agency­­–and at a price tag of $4 million per 30 seconds of airtime, there’s more at stake than professional pride. A memorable Super Bowl spot can propel a new brand onto the minds of millions of viewers, and for established brands it can give them a push that often transcends marketing, becoming part of popular culture. Remember “Whassup?”

For us advertising types, the Monday after the game is dominated by discussions about who had the funniest or most memorable spot, if it was an up year or a disappointing one, many “how did they pull that one past the legal department?” and what do recent trends such as crowdsourcing (Doritos) mean for the industry. So in anticipation of the big game, and another batch of entertaining spots, here are our favorites from past years:

Ingrid Serrano

Let’s start with a classic. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “through the window, off the wall, nothing but net.”

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Stephanie Cruz

Who among us hasn’t wished for a Terry Tate to instill fear on violators of office etiquette?

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Olivia Errasti & Maureen Fitzpatrick & Danny Timiraos (our Star Wars FREAK)

The absolute favorite from last year, the Force was strong with this combination of simple insight and charming execution. Can Volkswagen repeat this year?

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Danielle Sokoloff and Yisel Zas

One of the advantages of Super Bowl advertising is its capacity to create instant iconic characters. The E-Trade baby is one of those. Plus the writing is spot-on. “Milkawhat?”

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Vivian Santos

How many times we recall a great spot, but not the brand featured? No danger of that with Google’s “Search Stories” campaign. Perfect integration of product and concept in a simple and emotionally charged execution.

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Gabriela Zamorano

Another Super Bowl icon, the Clydesdale horses for Budweiser never fail to put a smile on viewer’s faces. When the first notes of “Gonna Fly Now” play? Goosebumps.

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Barbara Marchena

Not only a SB classic, but one of the most beloved spots ever, perfectly capturing the essence of an iconic brand.

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Alejandro Barreras

Towards the end of the workaholism-fueled frenzied dotcom years, Monster.com asked if your career matched your dreams. Poignant, emotional, simple and spot-on for the brand. 

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Eric Zamorano

No list of Super Bowl favorite spots is complete without the one that launched Apple and the Macintosh into the national consciousness -and created the SuperBowl spot as must-see event.

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