Was it just me, or was the deaf Pepsi commercial missing from the Super Bowl?
I didn’t watch the pregame or halftime shows, but I watched the whole game and I did not see that commercial. Also, it does not appear on this website that lists the commercials:
http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads
So what happened? Did Pepsi chicken out because the AGBell group gave it grief about its ad “promoting sign language”?
And did anyone notice Pepsi’s ads were NOT CLOSED-CAPTIONED!!!!
After two weeks of fuss and bother about Pepsi’s deaf commercial, when I saw Pepsi’s ads running without closed captions the only thing in my mind was:
“Pepsi has to be the stupidest company on the face of the earth.”
They pay all that money to advertise, and make such a fuss about their deaf ad, andy pay to caption the game itself, but they can’t be bothered to add closed-captioning to their ads, which costs about $200.
And did anyone else notice in the 3rd quarter when Fox made an announcement that Pepsi paid to closed-caption the game, they put up the COKE logo instead?
Good grief!
The Coke ads were better than the Pepsi ads, and they were both captioned, too. It made me glad I was drinking Coke while watching the game.
When I think that 60-second commercial costs $2.7 million in air time alone (not to mention the cost of making the ad), I kind of wish Pepsi had just donated the money to the National Association of the Deaf instead. Imagine all the good things the deaf community could do with that kind of moolah.
But of course, it’s more important to sell soda pop, right?
10 Comments
February 4, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Thank you! I LOVE YOU!!!
February 6, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Whoo-hoo, that last paragraph, “…I kind of wish Pepsi had donated the money to the NAD instead. Imagine all the good things the deaf community could do with that kind of moolah.” Ya hit the nail on the head, dude.
Having been in the advertising business once taught me one thing, it validated P.T.Barnum’s dictum, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
February 7, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I prefer Coke; this blog reminds me to drink more Coke!
February 7, 2008 at 1:14 pm
i though the pepsi company told the deaf community that the commcerical about bob will be air on the super bowl game not saying when but of course pre game is not call superbowl dummy
February 7, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I am a teacher of the deaf and I told my students all about how the commercial was going to be on during the Super Bowl and how it really meant something for the Deaf community. We watched it on the Pepsi website the Friday before the Super Bowl and the kids were really excited. I watched the entire time the Super Bowl was on and even 30 minutes before and after- the commercial didn’t happen. I do not understand why they would hype it up the way did and then not show it. I was very disappointed.
I would think Pepsi would take the time to explain why.
February 7, 2008 at 8:25 pm
February 7, 2008
Hi Tom…
It was my understanding that the silent Pepsi commercial would be shown during the half-game commercial slot. I was puzzled about Pepsi being one of the major SuperBowl advertisers because for several years I have known that Super Bowl’s marketing officials chose Coke to be their major advertiser.
The silent Pepsi commercial was great but I was disappointed that the deaf driver in the commercial did not react to the drink. His deaf friend in car did not have a Pepsi on hand. The commercial had a few flaws. However, the deaf actors’ use of ASL created an excitement in the Deaf Community.
Vote for Tom Willard for NAD President in 2008!
February 7, 2008 at 8:43 pm
In ASL 102 at Scottsdale Community College we watched the Pepsi commercial before its scheduled showing. The Hearing class and Deaf teacher enjoyed viewing it as it raised a lot of questions and obervations. The subject of the original ASL joke with the husband and wife at the hotel was discussed in class too. I don’t watch football games so was not aware of the commercials “non-appearance”. However, exposure to the add was an eyeopener into what I “thought” was a tasteful “real-life” experience. To me it was “funny” without being satirical or degrading to the Deaf community.
February 8, 2008 at 12:09 am
All the info I saw said they would have the commercial on in the pre-game. A couple people I know saw it then. I think advertising for this proved inadequate and caused all the confusion. At least they tried to get it out there. Maybe next time?
February 8, 2008 at 8:18 am
Whoa! Everything has to be done with baby steps first. We should praise Pepsi Co. for making this happen. Your harsh words toward Pepsi Co. reflect the subaltern-elite attitude you have possessed through your comments. Without doubts, NAD supports Pepsi Co. for the commercial and NAD will correct you about your comments, if yours worthy the discussion or their time. Only small minded people think like this…and make comments like yours…and those people are not productive members of Deaf community, so if you feel strongly about your comments, find something that deserves your comments, like AGB?
February 8, 2008 at 10:08 am
Should PepsiCo be praised for not captioning their Super Bowl commercials? It was ridiculously stupid of them not to do so after all the fuss and bother about their deaf ad. They deserve the harsh words for their hypocritical inconsistency.