I was pleasantly surprised with the number of bridges built from Super Bowl ads to websites. And for the most part, I'm referring to anything more than just having a URL at the end of the spot. Pepsi, Castrol, Gatorade and GE remembered to add a URL, but a handful of brands went the extra mile and tied in a call-to-action…
- Hyundai showed their take of an ad for the new Genesis Coupe, then urged viewers to go online and "edit your own" version of the spot.
- During the strange conclusion of Cheetos' ad, viewers were asked to "let loose at Cheetos.com." (This is probably the weakest of the tie-ins.)
- Frosted Flakes used their ad time to describe charity work they're doing, and asked viewers to head online and help them decide where they should donate next.
- Vizio (a flatscreen TV manufacturer) concluded their sparse commercial with instructions to go online and enter a contest, "Million Dollar Event."
- And of course, GoDaddy had a couple of borderline PG ads promising extended PG-13 material if you visit them online.
The best tie-in? Jack In The Box. In their Super Bowl ad, spokes-box Jack gets nailed by a bus. The hit was brutal. And as pedestrians gathered around a mangled Jack, the screen fades to "HangInThereJack.com"…
If you make it to the Jack website, there's a pile of stuff that expands the story (for example, an update from an ER doc and cell phone video of the accident). Also, you can join the storyline yourself by posting a get well note or video, and follow Jack's progress via your mobile phone (with SMS updates), twitter and Facebook.
Oh, and in case you're wondering what this has to do with selling fast food, the site suggests that, "in lieu of sending flowers, please order anything on the menu, anytime of day…. Jack would want it that way.
Anything I missed? What was your favorite?
