Wendy's "Cold Storage" (2017) :30 (USA)

Wendy's has entered the Super Bowl for the first time with this commercial that asks you never to settle for frozen beef. We take a long trip into fictionalized competitor brand "Othr Guyz" and their long post-industrial cold storage facility. Cut the opening strains of Foreigner's "Cold as Ice" and you can see the joke coming from a football field length away. We come upon a geeky guy with a pink hairdryer waiting for the exact moment Lou Gramm starts to sing before turning on the heat. Production value aside, from the concept, to the casting, to the Othr Guyz parody website, it feels incredibly pedestrian and dated. They might as well have used Feels like the first time, another Foreigner hit for a follow up. Perhaps it's a bit unfair because unlike what passes for a lot of advertising these days, this spot actually has a concept and strategy involved. People think Wendy's serves frozen beef. It doesn't. So let's get them to understand that.

All well and good for an average day but when it's your very first spot ever in the Super Bowl?

Agency: VML
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John Godsey: Chief Creative Offcier, North America
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Production: UNHEARD/OF
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Edit/VFX
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