Super Bowl – An Opportunity to Learn
The Super Bowl: The time of year when the best of the best walk on to the gridiron to battle for the biggest prize in football.
The excitement of “Super Sunday” is so widely felt that it’s practically become a national holiday. Store displays, supermarket circulars, radio and television advertising all signal that the big game is on its way, with an emphasis on being ready for the parties that will ensue.
As communicators of the Gospel, the Super Bowl offers all sorts of metaphorical opportunities for sermons and thematic worship services. From the idea of “Taking the Field” in ministry, to dealing with the agnoy of defeat – the possibilities are nearly endless. (graphic above available here)
What does game night have to offer those of us who design worship with visuals? Besides being an incredible display of multi-camera, fast-paced, graphics rich production, the side effect of the Super Bowl is a whole slew of really innovative, funny and unique commercials. This is the time of year that advertisers step it up, and if we’re thoughtful and intentional about how we watch, we can reap the benefits of that creativity.
As you watch the game this weekend, pay particular attention to how stories are told over the course of 30 to 60 seconds. What kinds of visuals do you see? How are fonts and color used? How is humor used to convey an idea? Which commercials made the biggest impact and why?
We may not have the production skills and resources that high end advertisers do, but there are all kinds of things that we can draw from the work they do. Look for ways to take your concept to the next level through ideas inspired by what you see. In the ad world we call that using references. We wrote extensively about it in Design Matters. It’s one of the best ways to take make your work more professional and inspiring.
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Feedback: What was the best commercial of the night and why?
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Phillip W. Palmer said,
Wrote on February 2, 2009 @ 10:18 am
The Doritos ad. It was done by two guys who are not in the ad business. It did exactly what it was supposed to do and it rocked. I laughed my $@& off. I’ve seen it 3 times now and it’s still funny. Nothing works like some guy getting hit in the junk with a snow globe.
pwp