So, ‘round about six weeks ago, in honor of UGA’s then-upcoming appearance (and, ultimately, victory) in the SEC Championship, I offered a celebration of three football and football-adjacent ad campaigns that, despite their longevity, continue to deliver freshness and cleverness season after season.
But that was then. Now, as we near the culmination of Playoffuary, Georgia has concluded its playoff journey, Notre Dame has clinched its spot in the championship game, and college football is stupid and I never liked it. I’m grumpy, and when I get grumpy, things make me grumpier, so here are three football-adjacent ad campaigns that may (or may not) have been great in the beginning but have started to strain the limits of their cleverness. And, because I’m not a complete, hateful killjoy (only a partial one), a redeeming element or two that remain fresh despite any other staleness.
Allstate, “Check Allstate First” football campaign (Wieden+Kennedy)
The what: Allstate encourages us to check their rates first, just as they should confirm their team’s mascot and saying before doing fan stuff.
The why: Okay, we’re getting this campaign out of the way first because it outstayed its welcome the minute it showed up. I just. I mean. I love me a people-being-stupid ad, and I’m willing to give a lot of room for people to be really, really stupid. These ads just stretch my ability to sustain that, and I find that disrespectful. There’s stupid, and then there’s “being surrounded by people shouting a thing other than what you’re shouting and not wondering if you’re shouting it wrong,”
One redeeming element: The shot of Puddles, the University of Oregon duck mascot, shaking his head and turning to walk away, disgusted, when the dude pulled out the duck for cooking. Excellent job, Puddles.
State Farm, “Bundle and Save” football campaign (The Marketing Arm)
The what: State Farm encourages us to bundle our home and auto insurance via Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and a bunch of football-related gags.
The why: Let me be clear about this: In the beginning, I loved these ads. You know I’m a fan of non-actor celebrities putting in stiff, awkward performances, and Patrick Mahomes and friends (like teammate Travis MaAuto) have filled that role adorably. We’ve just reached the point where their Clever Idea Keg is getting tapped out, with the “Bundlé/Savé” ballet class and “Most Valuable Bundler” being enough of a reach I’d love for them to at least find a clever variation or offshoot of the existing campaign.
One redeeming element: Patrick Mahomes’s smug look as he showers himself with confetti to celebrate being named MVB (Most Valuable Bundler)
Aflac, annual college football campaign (Dagger)
The what: Retired Bama coach Nick Saban, Colorado coach Deion Sanders, and a talking duck discuss the benefits of supplemental insurance.
The why: This is another situation that should benefit from the endearing stiffness of its non-actor actors, and early on, it did. Nick Saban, accompanied by a quasi-talking duck, playing against actual actors to tout the value of supplemental insurance? Worked far better than it should have. So why wouldn’t the addition of Deion Sanders, accompanied by a quasi-talking goat, work even better? Because doubling up on a good thing doesn’t necessarily make it better. In this case, it gives us two non-actor celebrity pitchmen playing against each other, without any other, more true-to-life elements or actual, trained actors to ground the concept.(Sorry, Coach Saban. Sorry, Coach Prime.)
One redeeming element: “Miss Terry’s not gonna like this.” Anyone familiar with Nick Saban and his sweet and sassy wife, Miss Terry, can appreciate that line.
Nothing lasts forever.
While I’m not crazy about the state of the campaigns’ current executions, I’m hardly going to bash the overall concept or the creative team behind them. They’re good stuff — it’s just hard to keep coming up with fresh ideas to sustain a campaign in the long run. (If it were, I wouldn’t have written an entire post highlighting three successful ones.) I also never promote pivoting a campaign for pivoting’s sake. But if a bit of a pivot, update, or redirect might be necessary to revive a flagging campaign, I’m for it.
So buck up, Campaigns That Have Maybe Outstayed Your Welcome. Any criticism here is meant to be constructive, to help you move forward doing better. You did it before, CTHMOYW, and you can do it again.
Except for Allstate. It’s only up from here. It’s fixable, though. Maybe give me a shout, and we can talk about it.