Published: February 05, 2006

FedEx "Caveman" Is No. 1 With Ad Pros

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Bud and Bud Light Commercials Also Highly Rated

The Federal Express "Caveman" television commercial that aired during Super Bowl XL Sunday night was voted Water Cooler Wonder -- The Best of the Bowl! in a survey of advertising professionals across the country. The experts also rated Bud and Bud Light commercials highly, but split their votes across the series of spots for the two beers.

The first annual ICOM Best of the Bowl poll was conducted online among the staffs of ICOM (www.icomagencies.com) agencies immediately following the game on ABC that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks. ICOM is a leading network of independent advertising and marketing communications agencies with offices from San Juan to Boston to Honolulu.

Bob Morrison, president & CEO, The Morrison Agency/ICOM, Atlanta, said the FedEx spot set the bar pretty high for all the spots that followed. The commercial showed a caveman trying to ship a stick weapon by tying it to the leg of a pterodactyl, which is eaten by a tyrannosaur before it can complete the delivery. (He should have used FedEx.) "It was funny, memorable and totally appropriate for the brand," Mr. Morrison said.

The ad pros also chose:

--  Ameriquest's (two) spots as the "Funniest Spot -- But for a Brand I
    Forgot";
--  The Bud and Bud light spots for "Best Brand Builder of the Bunch";
--  Toyota Tacoma's "Ocean" for "Gee, I Wish I Did That."

The Super Bowl is a high stakes game for advertisers since they paid an average of $2.5 million for a 30-sec. TV spot. But the payoff is big. Some analysts estimated that the game would be watched by some 90 million viewers across the country and hundreds of millions more around the world.

In this uncommon situation, the ads play more than a supporting role. The commercials themselves are often the attraction and entertainment for viewers and a big topic of discussion with colleagues at the water cooler or elsewhere the next day. Unlike consumer polls, which judge likeability, the ad pros put on their professional hats to render their opinions. The voting took place via zoomerang.com. Members of any agency with a commercial running on the Super Bowl were not allowed to vote for their own agency's commercial.

Mike Diccicco, president, Diccicco Battista/ICOM, Horsham, Pa., liked the Budweiser "streaker" spot that played off the legacy of great Anheuser-Busch spots of the past -- and then "added a surprising, funny element (the streaking goat) with great bits of visual humor -- and it didn't over do it," he said.

ICOM members are available for interviews to review the commercials in detail.

About ICOM: Rollinsville, Colo. (USA)-based ICOM is the most balanced of international advertising and marketing communications networks, with 85 member agencies in 50+ countries representing US$2 billion in billings and US$320 million in gross income annually. ICOM offers a full range of integrated marketing and media communications services and is an alternative to the huge and increasingly similar agency groups.

North American ICOM members: Arteaga & Arteaga, San Juan; Colle+McVoy, Minneapolis; Cramer-Krasselt Co., Chicago/Milwaukee/Orlando/Phoenix/New York; DiBona Bornstein & Random, Boston; Diccicco Battista Communications, Horsham, Pa.; Hart Associates, Maumee, Ohio; Lewis Communications, Mobile/Birmingham/Nashville; Loomis-ISC, Honolulu; McClain Finlon Advertising, Denver; Northlich, Cincinnati; SKM Group, Buffalo; The Morrison Agency, Atlanta; The Phelps Group, Santa Monica; The Symmetry Group, Atlanta; The Viva Partnership, Miami; The Williams Whittle Companies, Alexandria, Va.; Turtledove Clemens, Portland, Ore.; Weyforth-Haas Marketing, Overland Park, Kan.; Zimmerman, Laurent & Richardson, Des Moines.

ICOM P.O. Box 490 -- 1649 Lump Gulch Road -- Rollinsville, CO 80474 -- 1-303-258-9511