---
title: Super Bowl Ads - Dividing by Zero - Guest Post by Emma Alvarez Gibson
description: Super Bowl Ads - Dividing by Zero - Guest Post by Emma Alvarez Gibson
---

[Blog | Brainzooming ](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog)

# [Super Bowl Ads - Dividing by Zero - Guest Post by Emma Alvarez Gibson](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/super-bowl-ads-dividing-by-zero-guest-post-by-emma-alvarez-gibson)

 Written by [Guest Author](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/author/guest-author) | Feb 10, 2011 10:50:00 AM

*Back in 2009 when I needed to start [writing about The Brainzooming Group and what we were going to do](https://www.brainzooming.com/?page_id=2206), someone introduced me (via email) to **Emma Alvarez Gibson, **with the recommendation that she **was cool **enough to help create the messaging for Brainzooming. It was true. Emma challenged me on what I wanted to say and helped us get to a structured way to communicate what The Brainzooming Group offers.** Based on her branding experience** and her ability to focus and pare down all the things I wanted to say about Brainzooming, **Emma is exactly the right person** **to weigh in on this year's **seemingly** disappointing crop of Super Bowl ads**,** and ask** the question**,"How does this happen?"**:*

[****](https://www.brainzooming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/EmmaAlvarezGibson.jpg)**It’s easy to make the case that the best ad is the one that sells the most product**; the purpose of advertising, after all, is to persuade consumers to part with their dollars. Of course, **artistry lies in that sweet spot between sending lemmings over the cliff and elevating the consumer along with the brand**. **That artistry** – well, artistry, full stop – **was absent from the majority of last Sunday’s Super Bowl ads**.

Oh, it’s just TV, I can hear you say, and that’s true: it’s just TV. But **it’s** also **a reflection of who we are as a culture**. It’s a bit of anthropology, if you like. And I don’t know about you, but **I very much resent being shown a bunch of spots that seemed to have been created by bored, cocksure interns with no knowledge of what’s gone on in this vast American life over the last 20 years**, under the guise of great advertising.

From the offensive [(hello, Groupon!)](https://www.brainzooming.com/?p=6442) to the wildly unoriginal (Pepsi Free? Pepsi Light? Clear Pepsi? [What was that “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” spot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztojQhQofwQ&feature=player_embedded) for, anyway?), from the stunningly mediocre ([“Get a Chevy that will read you what your date said on Facebook, because you’re a lousy excuse for a real man!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHDFafqykI&feature=player_embedded)) to the blatantly ripped-off ([1984? In a spot featuring a non-Apple product?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BPFODsob1I&feature=player_embedded)),** Sunday’s offerings ran the gamut in all but the one arena that matters: artistry**.

Yes, of course, **there were a few bright spots**: the[ love letter to Detroit, gorgeously crafted](https://www.brainzooming.com/?p=6423). The joltingly adorable [little Darth Vader](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&feature=player_embedded). The quiet, simple, sweet [Coke ad featuring two border patrol guards on opposite sides of the line](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-STkFCCrus&feature=player_embedded). There were other more-light-than-dim spots, too.** But where was the boom-boom-pow**, to use the parlance of our halftime entertainment? **What became of the minds that gave us so many gems just 12 months ago?**

Look,** it’s easy to beat up on someone’s work from my comfy** spot on the **couch**. You win some, you lose some, as the Steelers can attest. Everyone has an off day, an off season. But **there’s a difference between missing the mark and joining the ranks of the lowest common denominator**.

**We can do better, guys**. Let’s **raise the bar. We can do** so much **better**. - [Emma Alvarez Gibson](http://twitter.com/#!/ealvarezgibson)

[View full post](https://www.brainzooming.com/blog/super-bowl-ads-dividing-by-zero-guest-post-by-emma-alvarez-gibson)

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