Snickers Betty White Super Bowl Commercial 2010, Article Review Example

The commercial for Snickers featuring Betty White that aired during the 2010 Superbowl sends the strong message that their chocolate bar provides energy, strength, and vigor to those who consume it.  The creators of this commercial show a strong awareness of their target markets, as well as knowledge of the manner in which popular culture can contribute to effective advertising.  The incorporation of humor, fantasy, and football allows for this commercial to fully capitalize on the large market of Superbowl viewers as well as ensuring a large market of secondary viewers once the commercial goes viral.

The commercial’s primary target market is male football fans in their their twenties and thirties, as illustrated by the age range of the men playing touch football in the commercial.  Older men also watch the Superbowl, and the incorporation of iconic elderly TV stars Betty White and Abe Vigoda allows for older football fans to be influenced from the commercial’s message of renewed strength and youthfulness through the consumption of a Snickers bar.  Younger men can be swayed by the desire to not appear elderly while engaging in sport, while older men can be influenced by a desire to see themselves transformed into a more youthful version of themselves.  Women are also a growing market during the Superbowl, and Snickers acknowledges this changing demographic by having a young woman play a key part in the commercial by bringing her boyfriend the chocolate bar that improves his game performance and energy level.

This commercial is extremely creative, a necessary requirement for Superbowl ads, which are both very expensive and popular solely because audiences expect them to be innovative, humorous, and creative.  As well, in order for Snickers to capture the important post-Superbowl viral market, spreading their message through both word of mouth and social media, they must address this market’s expectation of referential pop-culture driven messaging.  The commercial builds, to a certain extent, on gender and age driven biases, reinforcing the notion that neither women or older people are capable of performing well in sports.  However, although the commercial might become more inclusive and less biased were these elements to be removed, such a change would also strip the commercial of its humor.

The construction of the Snickers commercial demonstrates that its creators are aware of the important role played by pop-culture in building excitement within the demographic of young men who might have the opportunity to view the commercial either during the Superbowl or via the Internet.  Snickers is therefore separating its product from its origins as a snack for children in order to capture a new demographic of consumers who are concerned with being active while not necessarily healthy.  This removes Snickers from the obligation of dealing with any of the nutritional aspects of their product while enabling them to imply that their candy provides the quick energy fix that young athletic men may need while engaging in activities such as football.  While it doesn’t address the traditional concerns of female consumers for calorie-conscious snack products, this is acceptable because women only play a role in this commercial as the provider of the Snickers bar.  Snickers effectively imprints on this demographic by illustrating that their product can enable young women to please their boyfriends by helping them to succeed athletically. “Betty White Superbowl 2010.” Snickers. Airdate: