She loves us, she loves us not so much.
And yes, it’s the silliest of advertising seasons. So, sue me. But somehow, it’s managed to get me thinking about the biggest of the big Sunday decisions and what it could mean for advertisers plonking down a reported $6.5 to $7 million on a gone-in-30-seconds grab for brand glory.
We’re talking, of course, about if, when, and whether Taylor will elect to descend from Kelsey family luxury heaven to grace Travis with a passionate on-field kiss following the necessary Chief’s win.
Let’s be honest: a kiss after a loss would be merely consolatory. More of a “better luck, next time loser” osculatory moment than a magical “oh happy dagger” event for the ages.
Anyway, if you’re an agency with an advertising horse in the Super Bowl, you’re likely to be more split down the middle on this than a pair of NFL tight ends. For those on the traditional TV side, it’s all digits crossed for the kind of career-making accolades that are the stuff of creative dreams.
For those on the social side, well, the prospect of Romeo-and-Juliet magic has to give you a case of the quivers. Not since 2013, and the famously timely Oreo “you can still dunk in the dark” tweet, has there been such a socially exploitable, ultimately meme-able, Super Bowl circumstance in prospect.
And this one is predictable. Sort of. Maybe.
Kind of ironic that the 49es are part of both games. Maybe it’s the team’s Silicon Valley location that makes it a center of socially magnetic gravity.
Attention, all you social pros: if you don’t already have your pre-selected pre-locked, pre-tested, and pre-loaded Taylor-and-Trav snark already in place, you’re in the wrong line of work. Ditto if you’re a brand that chose not to fork over for the in-game showing, but still want to shoot for more affordable attention.
After all, if it happens, a billion global hearts will be swooning. And that will be the perfect time for anyone in categories ranging from fresher, mintier breath to the swipe-left-or-righters to the music streamers to ambush their way into the zeitgeist.
Okay, this is all wildly random and a frankly odd train of thought for someone who doesn’t exactly fit the Swiftie demo. Unless you decide this is yet another example of the growing tension between the value of being socially nimble versus creatively adept.
No smooch and people will still have the mental availability to talk about their favorite ads (mine so far, Etsy). Smooch, and it’s the flash-in-the-plan, feed-the-content-maw proponents who win the day.
Just like the NFL. Because the money machine that is the NFL pretty much wins every Super Bowl. Regardless of who comes out on top.