TOW #18 - Skittles Super Bowl Commercial

The commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8X8Ygy5VjI

The Super Bowl is the single most important football game every year – but the difference between the Super Bowl and the rest of the NFL games is the commercials. The commercials are what draw in so many viewers each year. The Super Bowl is the event during which brands release their best commercials. There are always many different types of commercials, but the ones that consistently stick out are the funny ones. This year, during one of the first breaks in the game, a Skittles commercial aired, and really caught my eye.

It took place in a (presumably) teenage girl’s bedroom late at night. Outside her window, a boy was whispering her name and throwing Skittles into her window (mimicking the cliché romance scene in movies). However, when the camera cut to inside the bedroom, the girl was just catching Skittles in her mouth. After eating a few, she moved over. Her mother then moved into her spot, caught a Skittle, and moved over. Her father followed, and then came a robber a policeman, and a gopher. It was a very unexpected twist on the cliché scene.

I thought that despite not actually concretely revealing anything about its candies, Skittles made an effective commercial that appealed to its audience. Being a food brand, it is impossible for Skittles to give television viewers an actual taste of their product. In fact, the audience can’t even get a remote idea of what it’s like to eat Skittles. So, I believe the most effective way to attract customers (without giving out free Skittles) is to create a commercial like the one played during the Super Bowl, which purely made viewers laugh. Obviously, the humor won’t make people go out and buy Skittles, but it makes people that much more likely to buy Skittles when they’re out and looking for a candy to buy. If someone is stuck between Skittles and gummy bears, there is a good chance that they recall the funny Super Bowl commercial and choose Skittles.

Skittles’ Super Bowl commercial barely even advertised the product, but ultimately, it was a success. In thirty seconds, Skittles was able to make an imprint on the minds of the Super Bowl audience – a large audience. Although Skittles was unable to give viewers a real taste of the product, it was able to produce an effective commercial.