Dive Brief:
- Wendy’s is making its first foray into Super Bowl in-game advertising with a 30-second TV spot, according to MediaPost. The ad takes aim at other burger chains for using frozen meat, and also includes a microsite for “Othr Guyz,” a fictional competitor that proudly touts the many practical uses of its frozen beef "freezy disks" beyond eating and enjoying.
- Consumers can see Wendy’s Super Bowl spot during the game and on YouTube as well as embedded on the fast food franchise's Twitter page.
- The dedicated Othr Guyz website is fairly extensive for a jokey one-off, including the main parody video and a wide variety of links to additional content like an intentionally broken online ordering system and 800 number.
Dive Insight:
The Othr Guyz website is a great example of a brand making the most of a Super Bowl ad. Taken alone, the TV spot is short and has a high cost — Fox is reportedly requesting up to $5 million for 30-second spots this year — but adding a digital element that is both funny and clever makes it more likely that the brand message will be heard and even shared by more people.
As TV ratings wane, even for big destination viewing events, adding digital legs to a campaign is increasingly essential to converting viewers and keeping chatter going after the fact.
Interestingly enough, Wendy’s effort was spurred, at least in part, by a Twitter exchange with a customer who challenged the fast food company’s claim that its burger patties were never frozen. The incident went viral, with some applauding Wendy's sassy replies. But the company said that the back-and-forth also made it clear that there was work to be done in solidifying its never-frozen marketing message, according to MediaPost.
Although this has been a somewhat unusual Super Bowl advertising season – brands have been late to teasing ad content for the big game – Fox is expecting to earn $500 million from pre-, post- and in-game advertising.
