SUPER Bowl XLVII was orchestrated as a contest between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, however that contest was not the only showdown taking place. The global advertising war games were simultaneously staged during the championship event. Interest in the tradition of Super Bowl commercials has grown to such an extent that it almost overshadows interest in the game. For some global brands, the Bahamas included, Super Bowl is hallowed ground.
The Bahamas joined the advertising war games once again, unveiling its 2013 marketing campaign “Behold” with a 60-second advertising spot. This year, however, the Bahamas was not the only Caribbean country using the Super Bowl to vie for increased market share in the Caribbean travel market. Its largest English speaking competitor – Jamaica – was also on stage, literally.
The brand Jamaica ambush was led by pre-Super Bowl viral chatter about the Volkswagen “Get Happy” commercial featuring reggae music by Jamaican recording artist Jimmy Cliff and dialogue in imitation Jamaican patois. The brand Jamaica hype was sustained by the Halftime Show performance of international recording artist Beyonce. Her highly anticipated show included a performance of “Baby Boy”, Beyonce’s dutty wining dancehall duet with Jamaican recording artist Sean Paul.
All of this action gave rise to a lot of chatter in the social sphere about culture.