Suddenly the camera switches to Roseanne Barr, standing 20 feet away from the two men. Wearing a dressy jacket and holding a smaller chainsaw, she yells, "Hey, my back hurts." A millisecond later, a huge tree log swings from stage right and hits Barr very hard, knocking her flat on the ground. Undaunted and apparently unhurt, but dirty, Barr, from a position lying on her back, says, "Now my front hurts!" The ad closes with all brown frame and the words, "You're not you when you're hungry." And then the candy bar is shown quickly, breaking in half and a voice says, "Snickers satisfies."

The ad communicates the product, but as to the benefits -- what are the benefits of eating a candy bar? Nutrition? Not really. it's a clever ploy to get people to eat one between meals. Does it differentiate the product from the competition? Snickers is the only candy bar that uses comedy and some violence to appeal to consumers -- young consumers, to be sure. It is targeting a young market because older people know a vicious blow to Roseanne Barr like that (with the full force of tons of wood) would kill her. It could be redesigned to not be so brutally violent at the end, but the ad company placed this in the Super Bowl so they must believe the appeal will be pretty much across the board. But personally I'm negative towards using violence (even make believe) to sell a candy bar. It is attention getting and that is what the sponsor is aiming for.

Writing in the Journal of Sport Management (peer-reviewed) professor Scott Kelley's research of the content of Super Bowls (1996-2002) shows that "higher levels of affect are associated with advertising goods rather than services" (Kelley, et al., 2004, p. 398). In fact Kelley's study shows that the most effective strategies for Super Bowl advertisers include: a) using "emotional appeals"; b) "avoiding straight announcements…"; and c) "not making quality claims." Snickers qualified on "b" and "c" -- and on "a" too if humor and violence are considered emotional appeals. Sam Westmorland, writing in the Bleacher Report, explains that it's a "hilarious commercial" and has the possibility of giving a "jump start" to Lewis' and Barr's careers. Conclusion: If I was to revise the commercial, I would have the massive swinging log barely miss Barr, knocking her back to avoid being slammed. She still hits it the dirt and gets messy with a shocked face. She would say, from her back, "Now it hurts even more."