Monday, January 29, 2007

K-Fed's Super Bowl Ad: A Smart Choice for Nationwide

One of the great attractions that get millions of people to watch the Super Bowl every year is its commercials. Besides die hard fans bragging about whose team won the next day, the water cooler conversations at work usually evolve around the commercials that viewers saw and had not forgotten. Nationwide Insurance recently announced that they will be airing a commercial during the Super Bowl featuring Britney Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline. The theme of the commercial and Nationwide's campaign slogan Life Comes at You Fast puts a sense of humor on how quickly life can change for the worse. It shows Federline in his own glorified rap video which, quickly cuts to him singing into a camera at a fast food restaurant where he was interrupted by his boss to hurry up with the fries. Nationwide's decision to use K-Fed as its spokesperson was a smart choice on their part because of the amount of publicity they are currently receiving.

The ad received complaints from individuals working in the restaurant business saying the ad was demeaning and offensive towards people who work at fast food venues. According to an MSNBC article, the National Restaurant Association's chief executive, Steven Anderson commented, "An ad such as this would be a strong and a direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry." Anderson continued with, "Developing creative concepts that accomplish the marketing strategies for a product should not require denigrating another industry." Although he does have a point, Nationwide would not have received this much attention if the ad did not come across as somewhat controversial. The insurance company probably had a good idea that its ad would receive some negative feedback. Nationwide's spokesman, Eric Hardgrove defended the ad by saying, "The intent of the ad isn't to offend or insult the many fine individuals who work in the restaurant industry. The focus of the ad is the element of surprise, not the setting of a fast food restaurant." This ad controversy has become one of the top stories for a couple networks which include MSNBC and E! Online. Nationwide's strategic plan to promote its company definitely worked. They were able to make the general public more aware of their insurance company and also generate good and bad publicity.

The strategic part of their plan comes in when viewers become more interested in what the actual commercial entails. By sparking this interest, people would most likely browse Nationwide's website to personally view the ad which, leads to more exposure of their company. The controversy around the ad was an indirect way to catch the attention of the public. Using K-Fed's celebrity name already brought interest to the commercial itself. People who have paid any attention to the roller coaster ride of Mr. Federline's life know that it has been tough and sadly at times pathetic. He was known as that one back up dancer who married Britney Spears, while trying to use her celebrity to make a name for himslef. His reputation in Hollywood's Tinsel town is diminishing, but thanks to Nationwide's ad with its new star, things could be looking up for K-Fed. Well, instead of people associating K-Fed's name with a wanna be rapper or Britney Spear's estranged husband, it could possibly be "K-Fed, the Nationwide Insurance guy." Any publicity is good publicity right?