Vizio and Beyonce Super Bowl Ad Receives Backlash

There were plenty of commercials during the Super Bowl last night with musical guest appearances including KISS, T-Pain, Will.I.Am., and even Stevie Wonder (in the previously mentioned Volkswagon/Grizzly Bear ad). Most of them were well-received based on levels of humor or cleverness. However, not all of them were accepted by viewers and critics. Vizio, who had a one minute spot for its new VIA TV and started their ad with Beyoncé singing “Sweet Dreams,” was a severe hit or miss.

Advertising their new TV which plays specific Internet app content (it does not let you surf the web), they chose to go from Beyoncé to “David After the Dentist” to the overweight guy lip syncing to “Numa Numa” to “Chocolate Rain” with service logos such as Flickr, Twitter and Facebook tucked into a few corners. It’s a lot of material to take in all at once. Although Vizio tried tito it all together with a giant mechanical hand which pulled and dropped the “content” into a pool of information, many felt that it was too much in such a short period of time and their fear of not utilizing the 60 seconds they paid for was interfering with the audience’s enjoyment. With that many internet references, it was obvious a lot of the ad’s message would be lost on those who are not familiar with pop culture or new technology.

According to The Gadgetress, the backlash to Vizio’s concept was especially harsh from internet critics. The Wall Street Jounal‘s Peter Kafka titled his review: How to Cram Most of the Web Into One Super Bowl Ad–And Not Sell TVs and Entertainment Weekly called the add too “obscure.”

On the other end of the spectrum, USA Today Ad meter placed the ad at 39 out of 63., Examiner.com singled it out as one their favorite ads, and Television Without Pity loved how all the internet clips included can easily relate to whatever reality TV show she is watching at the moment.

As for us, we applaud their efforts for not missing a single Internet app within those 60 seconds. However, because there were so many different elements, the ad seemed a bit too choppy. They may have pulled in Beyoncé for the pop factor, but after she was grabbed and thrown into a contraption, the entire commercial was a bit unclear even when they showed the image of the TV toward the end.

Perhaps, they should have hired a band to re-record a song for them to get the message across because lyrics sometimes speak louder than vague concepts – especially for the folks who aren’t up to date on technology.

You can watch the ad for yourself below.

[via Gadgetress via Hulu]

What did you think of the Vizio commercial? Did it get the message through to you?