Ask HN: Favorite Technology Company Superbowl Ads? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Favorite Technology Company Superbowl Ads?

3 pointsDanielBMarkham5 comments

We all know that many people just watch the Superbowl for the commercials. Where else would some company spend $20 Million just to make you laugh/remember their brand?

So what's your favorite technology company ad for the Superbowl?

I've got to admit, I like commercials with monkeys. CareerBuilder.com has done a great job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4WVZDljBfk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR71GnQ4CU4

As a side topic, do these ads make much sense financially? I know for startups they don't, but they've got to make some sense for companies or they wouldn't keep buying them. I wonder what the company profile needs to be to make these things worthwhile?

I LOL and i still remember their name, so money well spent.

Super Bowl Ad (2000) E*Trade - "Out of the Whazoo!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0_tfoTTGOQ

That's a good one!

"Does your husband have insurance?"

"Insurance? He's got money coming out of the wazoo!"

While there have been many good ads that debuted at the superbowl, only a few have been great superbowl ads, that is, that have taken advantage of the context.

I think that the best superbowl ad was the e-trade ad at the beginning of the 1999 or 2000 superbowl that had a chimp dancing in a garage.

The caption was something like "We just blew $2 million on this ad. What's your retirement plan?"

The following year, after it was clear that the dot-com bust was real, e-trade had another superbowl ad. In this ad, a chimp led a horse through a ghost-town of dot-com mascots. (Yup, including the sock monkey.) The end shot was of a rocket, presumably taking the chimp into space.

Note: a 30-second ad this year is running somewhere north of $3 Million

The Apple 1984 commercial is my favorite www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8.

Unless you are releasing something as significant as the Macintosh I think it's too much money.

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