How this Super Bowl Ad Took Me from Captivated to Irritated in 3 Seconds

It was the second quarter. My wife, Kelly, and I were watching the game. Well, Kelly was watching the commercials. I was watching both.

Our one-year-old daughter, Cassidy, who was still trying to kick a nasty virus that landed her in the ER a few days before, was out cold on her mommy’s lap.

Four-year-old Caitlin, after complaining that her pajama bottoms were too big, had just changed her tune. Literally.

An aspiring writer , Caitlin began singing a song she had just made up, called “Look at My Underwear.” Instant classic.

Clearly, I’m the kind of guy Dove was targeting in their “Real Strength” ad for Dove Men+Care.

When the second child in the ad said, “Dada,” Kelly looked at me and said, “Aww, dada” because that’s what Cassidy always says to me.

I immediately forgot about my marketing nerdness and became immersed in this ad as a father.

I smiled because I could relate to the scenarios presented in the ad, especially with the little kids. Even the parts of the ad with older kids kind of helped me picture the future with my girls.

That’s powerful advertising. And I loved the message of the ad:

What makes a dad stronger? Showing that he cares.

Then it happened. Watch the ad and you’ll see what I’m talking about beginning at the 47-second mark.

How in the name of all that is reasonable can you quickly cut from kids and dads to a generic product image?

Even more disturbing was the voiceover.

How can you possibly have a voiceover completely devoid of the emotion that you’ve spent the last 47 seconds creating?

You can probably guess what my reaction was to the commercial and Dove.

Captivation? Gone.

Warm and fuzzy feeling? Gone.

Dove’s authenticity? Gone.

My mood? Irritated as hell, both as a father and a marketing nerd.

Until that point, Dove was a company that cared about dads who care.

Then they became bunch of deceptive jerks who sucked me in with kid videos so they could try to sell me their stupid products.

Dove made the classic mistake of ruining a powerful, emotional message with an old school sales pitch.

They couldn’t resist sticking a product image in the ad even though it did absolutely nothing to strengthen their message. It only contributed to wiping out the goodwill that was established until that point.

I’m not going to sit here and offer suggestions about how the ad should have ended. That’s what an ad agency was paid the big bucks to do.

But surely the voice talent could have been directed differently. Or replaced.

Surely there was a better way to seamlessly transition to the call-to-action while maintaining the emotional appeal of the rest of the ad.

Instead, I felt like the captivating part of the commercial was hacked off with a machete so I could be hit with a sales pitch out of left field.

It was that jarring. And insulting.

It boggles my mind that this ad was approved, especially when the price tag was likely in the $8-$9 million range.

I’m not naïve. I understand the ultimate goal is to sell a product whether the ad ended appropriately or not.

Would I have put Dove Men+Care products on my shopping list if the ad ended differently?

Probably not, although I can’t say for sure.

Would I have had a more positive feeling about Dove if the ad ended differently?

Absolutely.

It may have been my favorite Super Bowl ad if it ended differently. Because it hit me on such a personal level, I probably would have shared it on social media the next morning.

Instead, I shared the Budweiser ad that mocked pumpkin peach ale. Sorry, it was better than the one with the puppy.

If the ad ended differently, I would have smiled if I saw a Dove product on store shelves. Now, it’ll just make me scowl.

And I’m not going to share stories about how caring makes me stronger. Maybe I’ll use the hashtag when I share this post if I’m still in a rotten mood.

That’s the most damaging consequence of the ad – the sour taste it left in the mouths of viewers like me.

Dove created a negative perception of its brand with such a horrible, disingenuous ending to its Super Bowl ad.

It was a phenomenal ad, but it took about three seconds to completely blow it. Unfortunately for Dove, it will take much longer to change the bad feelings it created with people like me.