WEST LAFAYETTE -
Those Super Bowl Commercials - for some they're as much fun as the game.
"Oh, I love the ads," says Purdue student Sam Grote, including the 2011 commercial showing a pint-sized Darth Vader taking on all comers.
"Well most of the time I watch it (the Super Bowl) for the commercials," Nick Largen told us.
Last year, a company paid $3 million to run that Darth Vader spot just once - 30 seconds - during the Super Bowl. But do we remember what the product was?
"Well, you know I can't really remember what the product was. I remember Star Wars and Darth Vader and that," says Nick Largen.
"I know it was for a car," says viewer Doug Shepherd, but I don't remember the brand. And Sam Grote, she says, "I remember things like what happened in it but I don't remember the product."
It was a Volkswagen commercial by the way. (Hey, this reporter thought it was Honda.)
Purdue Professor Richard Feinberg studies consumer habits. He says "people talk about it but there's just no evidence that they really increase sales."
Feinberg says this year companies will pay a record $3.5 million for that 30-second window flashed round the world.
"Most of the Super Bowl commercials are so focused on begin creative, different, interesting," says Feinberg, "but the marketers and creators are not focusing on what the reason for a commercial is."
Humor is great, he says, but commercials that stick are the ones that tell you why a product solves your problem or why it will make you feel or look better.
Still, we'll tune in for those amazing ads.
"We used to get on YouTube and watch them over and over and over," says Sam Grote.
"Most of the time, I find them pretty hilarious," says viewer Doug Shepherd. "So it is always entertaining to watch."
And professor Feinberg can't wait to see this year's latest VW ad... I think it was VW... and see the whole 2012 commercial crop. It's work and fun for him.
"Where else do I get two whole lectures. Usually I have to work hours to get two lectures. The kids love it."
