EVELYN CADENA

           In honor of their 20th anniversary, Pokémon purchased a 30-second commercial with 37 words in total, spoken and written, at this year’s Super Bowl called “Train on.” This commercial was not only to celebrate its 20th anniversary, but to celebrate their relaunch of their original “Game Boy” games in Nintendo 3Ds, and their new interactive download in-game app “Pokémon Go.” This ad had a combination of two types of TV spots, which are vignette and product icons. It is considered a “vignette” because it is telling the story of many people around the world to keep training and improving themselves. As well, it is also a “product icon” because it has several Pokémon references for Pokémon’s fans. Some of them include Pokémons in 3D and in the chess game, as well as, parts of the lyrics from the original song, among others. This ad also encourages its audience to share their favorite Pokémon moments by launching a campaign on social media, using the hashtag “#Pokemon20,” in which not only fans share their experiences, but also celebrities and “featured trainers.” After the commercial was aired, it ranked in the spot 43 out of 63 in the “USA TODAY Ad Meter”. This ad resulted in 11.4 million page views within hours of its debut on YouTube and 305,000 social mentions according to iSpot.tv. The Pokémon TV spot did contain a universal truth which is “you can do anything you set your mind to.” Also, it had one of the five creative trends pointed out in the Adweek article which is: Skip the sermonizing. The reason is, that it creates a sense of movement and optimism since Pokémon’s fans are called “trainers,” it encourages its audience to “train on,” to keep moving forward and improving themselves. As well, it can cause joy to people who used to be fans of the Pokémon franchise. This is the reason why I love this ad because it reminds me of my childhood and tells you that anything is possible.

            The second ad that I chose is the 60-second ad with 50 words in total and is “A Mini Marvel (Hulk vs. Ant-Man)” commercial from Coca-Cola. This ad is considered a vignette because it tells the story of the Hulk vs. AntMan fighting for one Coca-Cola Mini to show that at the end it does not matter your size, you can still enjoy a Coca-Cola mini. Usually, Coca-Cola’s commercials are about families and friends coming together to appreciate a happy moment with Coca-Cola. On the other hand, this campaign worked together with Marvel to celebrate their smallest package option by promoting a universal truth: sometimes you just want a little Coca-Cola. That is why this commercial ranked on the 19 post out of 63 in the USA Today Ad Meter. As well, the campaign includes a virtual hunt for a limited edition Marvel-themed Coca-Cola Mini cans, which just requires the audience to keep replaying the commercial. As well, Coca-Cola released clues in their social media, to be able to engage their consumers and promote the Mini Cans to people who are starting to drink less sugary drinks. Unfortunately, I was not able to obtain data from when the ad was released, however, currently, the commercial reached 10,000,00 views on YouTube. It created a buzz or talk due to the fact that the upcoming movie, “Captain America: Civil War” was released in March and the “Ant-Man” movie was released on Blu-Ray that same year. As well, it created interactive content such as making your own video and being able to obtain Limited Edition Avengers Mini Cans just by following their social media. Personally, I liked this commercial since, I am a Marvel fan and seeing Ant-Man vs. Hulk (which they were not together in the previous movie) is humorous, and a smart idea to promote a Mini Can next to the biggest man in the world: Hulk.