A “Super” twist to an old joke
For this year’s Super Bowl, companies are paying $4-million dollars for a 30-second commercial.
Not a bad investment when you consider some studies estimate at least half the people watching the game are watching just for the commercials.
A Colorado company, Viaero Wireless, is paying chicken scratch compared to that to air an ad in western Nebraska but they believe it could still have a huge impact.
“It’s TV’s biggest stage. It could be the right investment,” said Lisa Murray, VP of communications for Viaero Wireless.
The rural wireless carrier figured the Super Bowl was the only way to promote their biggest promotion ever.
“If you have a Verizon phone we will pay you $600 to switch and try Viaero,” Murray said. “The biggest audience on TV is with the Super Bowl so we felt like it was a natural fit.”
Using the formula for past viral ads, the company hired a chicken from a talent agency in Denver to be their star. It’s their take on the old question, why did the chicken cross the road?
“How do we get people to cross over from Verizon to give Viero a shot? It just kind of evolved out of that,” Murray said.
But a chicken only crosses the road when it wants to. Unfortunately, the hired chicken didn’t want to.
“We were kneeling in the snow and the wind for an hour and a half and we just couldn’t get that chicken to cross the road,” Murray said.
You can watch the struggles in out takes the company has posted online.
The solution and now star of the commercial is actually Murray’s own chicken named Ruby.
“She promptly walked across the road. She preened. She posed. I guess the understudy always has less attitude, right?” Murray said.
The company has put all their eggs into this commercial, hoping Ruby will be a feathered formula for success like so many other animal stars that have aired during the Super Bowl.
The Viaero Wireless ad has already posted the video online to try and capitalize on the Super Bowl buzz. The ad will hit the airwaves in our area sometime after the game.
