I'll admit that I watched the Super Bowl while multi-tasking on Sunday, so I didn't see all of the ads or even all of the game. (After the Patriots beat my Ravens in a very close game and "deflategate" reared its head, the Super Bowl lost some of its luster for me.)
However, I did see the Nationwide ad that has generated so much discussion. My reaction was probably different from many other viewers because of my background in marketing and journalism – and the fact that I cover the insurance industry. Initially I thought, "That wasn't what I'd expect of a Super Bowl ad," and then I realized that in the clutter of things that didn't really matter, this was one ad that would make a difference. It would save children's lives and hopefully make parents, babysitters and other child caregivers aware of how quickly these accidents can happen and how final some of them can be.
Nationwide chose a very public forum for getting people's attention about a life or death issue. Consider that the Super Bowl is the one event where everyone actually looks forward to the commercials. The pundits discuss how much advertisers spend on the ads and airtime to get their message across to millions of people. If the same ad had aired during any other show, the impact would have been lost and we would not be having this discussion.
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