Advertising Expert Reviews Best and Worst Super Bowl Ads

FAQs

• How did the idea for the firm's axe-throwing Super Bowl commercial come about?

  Ross Lerner said the idea started out a little different and evolved when the whole team at the firm met. He said the firm is a target of insurance companies, and probably of some of its competitors, so they had a little fun with it.

• Did Mike Morse really hit the bullseye in the axe commercial, or was it a trick?

  Mike Morse said there were no tricks. During warm-up he couldn’t even hit the board for his first 10 or 15 throws, but he hit a bullseye on the first real take and hit it again on the last take.

• What did the Open Mike panel think of the controversial Peloton ad?

  Mike Morse said about 70 percent of the people he talked to thought it was a good spot, while about 30 percent thought it was sexist. Speakers on the show said they saw it as being about health and feeling better rather than about her body, and one called it heartfelt. They noted that the actor who played the husband, a schoolteacher and part-time actor, got death threats.

• How did Ryan Reynolds's gin ad respond to the Peloton controversy?

  According to Mike Morse, Ryan Reynolds, who had come out with a gin, released an ad featuring the same woman from the Peloton commercial within days of the controversy, within about a week by his estimate. Ross Lerner said you have to capitalize on moments like that, and that being quick, relevant and topical is how you get the post-spot buzz advertisers seek.

• Why did Mike Morse consider the earlier Ambulance Chaser Super Bowl spot risky?

  Mike Morse said he needed to be talked into the Ambulance Chaser spot because it went right at the heart of lawyer jokes, which to him was bolder than axe throwing. In the spot it looked like he was running down the street after an ambulance. Mike said it won a best national spot award from the National Trial Lawyers Association.