TurboTax 2017 Super Bowl commercial ropes in Humpty Dumpty
TurboTax is one of those Super Bowl advertisers who you should be rather used to at this point in terms of them having ads that air during the big game. They almost always do so, and they’ve got one today that features one of the more iconic fairy-tale characters out there in Humpty Dumpty.
Now, does it actually work for selling their company? We’ve got our full take on that below.
What worked – The idea of Humpty Dumpty doing his takes through TurboTax while sitting on the wall — because “he can” — was such a funny concept that does actually work to tell the uniqueness of the product and its biggest asset: It really can be done anywhere! It’s a very simple concept, but it takes something that you already know about this character and finds a way to spin it. Also, you gotta give some credit to the effects artists here for creating a version of Humpty Dumpty that looked really great and not overly cartoonish.
What didn’t – Is having Humpty Dumpty getting hurt because of doing his taxes the greatest message to pass along in the world while selling your company? That’s not something that we’re altogether sure of. You can argue that maybe doing the taxes was TOO much of a distraction for poor Humpty, or that he got himself too immersed into it for his own good. Then again, isn’t Humpty just a guy who is used to falling? You know that you’ve made a good ad when we’re wasting time debating something as silly and useless as this.
Overall – It’s not the funniest ad in the world, but there is a ton to like here and there is really only so much that you can make silly about a tax service. They found the right character to deliver the message of their brand, and they presented him in a way that translated it quickly. It’s also memorable enough that it will stick with people, and it’s not something that is going to get incredibly annoying after the fact. Grade: B.
What did you think of the ad? Share now in the comments, and head over here to get some other commercials from the big game! (Photo: TurboTax.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgh6K1TXw28
