Who Really Won the Super Bowl?

BartlebyScrivener writes "In the latest development of the new field known as 'neuro marketing,' Marco Iacoboni and his group of researchers at the UCLA Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses in a group of subjects while they were watching this year's Super Bowl ads. The findings are reported at Edge: The Third Culture."

Comments

Re:Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[TubeSteak]

If you RTFA, you'd realize the answer they're trying to find is actually Which advertisers won during the Super Bowl

SPOILER ALERT

Who won the Super Bowl ads competition? If a good indicator of a successful ad is activity in brain areas concerned with reward and empathy, two winners seem to be the 'I am going to Disney' ad and the Bud 'office' ad. In contrast, two big floppers seem to be the Bud 'secret fridge' ad and the Aleve ad.

Here's the Google Video link to all the ads so you can decide for yourself.

Personally, I thought the 'secret fridge' commercial was funny.

Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[TheFlyingGoat]

The Steelers?

Do I get a prize if I guessed correctly?

As for measuring "neural response", that doesn't necessarily translate into revenue for advertisers. I'm sure I had a strong neural response when really crappy ads came on. I'm sure I also had a strong neural response to certain beer ads, but that's not going to get them any money since I drink beer only once or twice a year when tailgating.

There's far better ways for advertisers to measure the success of ad campaigns.

how about

[dotpavan]

.. I would like to see the neural response of slashdotters while reading this article, and see if the UCLA team really got their message through :)

Why not both?

[fuchsiawonder]

There is a big jump in amygdala activity when the dinosaur crushes the caveman, as shown below. The scene looks funny and has been described as funny by lots of people, but your amygdala still perceives it as threatening, another example of disconnect between verbal reports on ads and brain activity while viewing the ads.

See, I don't see how there's necessarily a disconnect. So what if there's a threatening image that resonates with a part of the brain? That doesn't mean it can't be funny. Part of being human is having multiple reactions to the same stimulus. Ever ridden a roller coaster? Thrilling and scary at the same time, at least to me. I don't see this as being a disconnect; it's different portions of my self reacting in different ways.

That being said, the Burger King ad was awful.

Re:Why not both?

[Yunzil]

There is a big jump in amygdala activity when the dinosaur crushes the caveman, as shown below. The scene looks funny and has been described as funny by lots of people, but your amygdala still perceives it as threatening, another example of disconnect between verbal reports on ads and brain activity while viewing the ads.

I had a big jump in brain activity when I saw that, but it's because I was thinking, "Dinosaurs and humans lived millions of years apart, you idiots. >:("

Re:Why not both?

[kfg]

See, I don't see how there's necessarily a disconnect. So what if there's a threatening image that resonates with a part of the brain? That doesn't mean it can't be funny.

In fact, they are intimately connected. Remember Mel Brooks' famous explanation of the difference between tragedy and comedy:

If I stub my toe; that's tragedy.

If you fall down a manhole and die; that's comedy.

Perhaps the best joke expression of this the one that ends with the punchline:

I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.

Comedy is a threatening situation that gets the other guy, not you, because he's a putz, and you're not, so you experience the vicarious superiority of having survived the threat. No threat, no sense of superiority, no comedy.

KFG

Re:Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[HTTP Error 403 403.9]

For me, ALL the advertisers have lost.
In the two weeks since the SuperBowl, I have not purchased a Hummer, a Cadillac, a web doman from GoDaddy, ate at the Outback Steakhouse or flown on United Airlines.

Pop quiz

[NiteShaed]

The winner of the 2006 SuperBowl was:
a) The Pittsburg Steelers
b) The Seattle Seahawks
c) Bud Light
d) CowboyNeal

Re:Who Really Won the SuperBowl...

[aztektum]

Wait wait, how did he win? The Super Bowl was broadcast on ABC this year. Shouldn't that be "Disney Corp"?

Re:Who Really Won the SuperBowl...

[Trigun]

I thought that it was the referee's family from the vegas payoffs.

Re:Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[Karma Farmer]

In the two weeks since the SuperBowl, I have not purchased a Hummer

I turned into a giant robot and had sex with godzilla.

Also, I used my company's FedEx account to send human body parts cross country.

Re:Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[StikyPad]

As long as you didn't purchase a Land Rover, a Mercedes, a web domain from RegistryFly, eaten at Applebee's, or flown on American Airlines, then they haven't lost; they just didn't win. Yet.

Re:Who Really Won The SuperBowl?

[dpreston]

The fact that you just named all those BRAND names off the top of your head just told me they did a great job. They're not trying to sell their product to you, they're trying to brand their name/product/etc.