Heard on the Playground: Super Bowl Commercials are Super

According to Nielson, an estimated 40 million kids and teens tuned into the Super Bowl broadcast (approximately one-third of the total viewing audience). And what did they have to talk about the next day at the water fountain between classes? The commercials, of course.

In fact, commercials were the big winners of the Super Bowl broadcast for kids between the ages of 5 and 18, according to a timely study by Weekly Reader Research. In fact, many kids preferred the commercials to the game. When asked what was the best part of the broadcast, the commercials were cited as the first choice by over one-third of all respondents, beating out the game 34.9% to 30.8%. Girls went on to say that the commercials are the number one reason to watch the Super Bowl. By an overwhelming margin -- thirty-eight to twenty percent -- girls selected the ads over the game itself as the top reason to tune in.

What was the commercial that hit the strongest cord with the young set? The Federal Express Caveman commercial was their favorite. 15.6% cited the spot and brand on an unaided basis as their favorite ad the day after it aired. The highest rating for this spot was among boys -- aged 11-15 -- registering a 22.2% score.

And what made it connect so well? We believe that the commercial’s layering provided every audience the opportunity to enjoy the spot. The combination of slapstick humor in the unconventional setting of prehistoric time allowed kids to enjoy the commercial and the story, without the need to apply the abstract business message.