Super Bowl Makes Babies Blog

While watching some sweaty guys fling around a pig-skin is enjoyable to some, let’s be honest. Monday morning around the water cooler will not consist of debates over whether the Steelers should have gone for it on the fourth down or whether the Cardinals could have played better defense. Instead, the real game everyone is watching is the ad game.

Whether it’s a scantily clad vixen trying to sell you a domain name or a stain that just won’t stop yelling, companies are shelling out $3 million dollars for 30 seconds of the most prime time ad space of the year. But is 30 seconds enough?

Advertisers aren’t relying completely on that brief time slot of glory. This year will be, as Kenneth Corbin of InternetNews.com called it, a “Web 2.0 extravaganza.” The big brands are seeing the necessity for collaboration between their television media and their social media. Advertisers are priming the pump for the big day with a social media blitz that includes mentioning their ads on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even blogs.



For an example, check out the YouTube outtakes of the E*Trade baby which act as a perfect teaser to the E*Trade Super Bowl ad. To top it off, the baby even has his own Twitter account where he posts tweets such as, “Remember when I vomited on national TV? Whoa.”

Twitter me this, Twitter me that

“Tweet” used to just be the sound a caged song bird made. However as the world of social media grows, “tweets” now also refer to the mini-blog posts found on Twitter.com which limit users to 140 characters per “tweet.” This short format forces users to be concise with only enough room for short updates or links to other web pages.

The posts can range from an update on the war in the Middle East to an equally important update on what you're having for dinner. It’s also beginning to become an ally to many public relations practitioners who are able to make press releases accessible through a new medium. However, not all “tweets” end up sounding like a melodious song bird as a Ketchum vice president found out.

James Andrews, the song bird in question, was in Memphis, TN meeting with the communication team for FedEx which is a client of Ketchum. Ketchum, an international public relations firm, has been the agency of record for FedEx for quite some time.

According to The Commercial Appeal, Andrews posted a tweet during trainings sessions that read: “True confession but I'm in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say 'I would die if I had to live here!'”

There are many ironies to this story for me. First, I happen to have been born and raised in Memphis, TN. While I chose to move to Chicago, Memphis is and will always be my home. Second, I actually interviewed with Ketchum for a job recently. While I won’t pass off the whole company for one executives insulting remark, it does put a damper on my perception of them. Third, besides Andrew’s experience as a vice president of a public relations firm that probably shuns the idea of bad mouthing the city of a client, he was actually in training sessions on SOCIAL MEDIA at the time.

Tweet, tweet!