Toshiba HD DVD Super Bowl Ad - Watch It Here

v1001 · 02-03-2008, 10:57 PM

I think this was just a local ad. Because it was for sure not on my TV.

There was a small spot around that time where I got a few local ads too. One was of a local car dealer. There is no way a local car dealer spent 2.7 mill for an average looking commercial. They had a block of those local ads. I think they set aside a small spot for every area to air some kind of localized commercials. Your area just happened to play the HD-DVD add. Probably part of a normal time slot add or something.

Super XP · 02-03-2008, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidnightWatche

Check out the TV Spot. Gonna be a great HD DVD exclusive title.

That movie is going to ROCK Big Time!!!!!!!

iDarren · 02-03-2008, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswoods1

Another link:

http://www.spike.com/video/2938290

Thanks

Super XP · 02-03-2008, 11:52 PM

Video: HD DVD Super Bowl Commercial
Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 12:41 AM ET
Tags: High-Def Disc Marketing, Toshiba, Video Clips (all tags)

Quote:

It didn't air nationally (nor was it new), but Toshiba's much-hyped Super Bowl ad did air in several markets, and we've got the video.

Following a full week's worth of anticipation, reaction to the ad among HD DVD fans in our forums area was somewhat muted; although it had been expected to run nationally, it appears Toshiba instead made a targeted spot buy, with those in some markets seeing the ad, while others did not.

Meanwhile, HD DVD fans who were lucky enough to see it were disappointed to see that it wasn't a new ad, but rather a re-badged version of the football-themed spot that Toshiba has been running all season long. Others defended the ad, arguing that it had met its goal of raising awareness for the format in general and for the new low price points of Toshiba's players.

macphisto · 02-03-2008, 11:56 PM

Didn't see it on TV here, so I'd guess that it was a local ad in targeted markets.

I understand what the ad is saying, that the Toshiba player will also make your SD DVDs look good, but I can see a lot of people reacting badly to it. If they are uninformed about the HD movie formats then they may not understand that line and may believe that these are nothing more than upconverting players. I think that's a problem Toshiba has had from the beginning - a failure to differentiate HD-DVD with an uneducated public. The enthusiasts understand that HD-DVD is far, far superior to DVD, but a poor choice of words may lead a lot of people to think that this is an expensive upconverter.

If many average consumers out there think that then this could hurt Toshiba more than help them if those consumers don't do their research.

Super XP · 02-04-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macphisto

Didn't see it on TV here, so I'd guess that it was a local ad in targeted markets.

I understand what the ad is saying, that the Toshiba player will also make your SD DVDs look good, but I can see a lot of people reacting badly to it. If they are uninformed about the HD movie formats then they may not understand that line and may believe that these are nothing more than upconverting players. I think that's a problem Toshiba has had from the beginning - a failure to differentiate HD-DVD with an uneducated public. The enthusiasts understand that HD-DVD is far, far superior to DVD, but a poor choice of words may lead a lot of people to think that this is an expensive upconverter.

If many average consumers out there think that then this could hurt Toshiba more than help them if those consumers don't do their research.

That I agree with 100%, though I really think the commercial clearly stated that this player can "Also" up-scale regular SD DVD's into great PQ.

**PFC5** · 02-04-2008, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by v1001

I think this was just a local ad. Because it was for sure not on my TV.

There was a small spot around that time where I got a few local ads too. One was of a local car dealer. There is no way a local car dealer spent 2.7 mill for an average looking commercial. They had a block of those local ads. I think they set aside a small spot for every area to air some kind of localized commercials. Your area just happened to play the HD-DVD add. Probably part of a normal time slot add or something.

By the same token, Toshiba would not have paid $2.7 million for just local ads either I would think. That was the price they reportedly paid for the ad. I remember reading that there were still some spots open at the end of last week and an lower cost price was offered to the BDA/Sony and they turned it down.

I don't know WHY they didn't show the ad everywhere, but if they paid for a national ad they do not seem to have gotten what they paid for.

hatt · 02-04-2008, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFC5

By the same token, Toshiba would not have paid $2.7 million for just local ads either I would think. That was the price they reportedly paid for the ad. I remember reading that there were still some spots open at the end of last week and an lower cost price was offered to the BDA/Sony and they turned it down.

I don't know WHY they didn't show the ad everywhere, but if they paid for a national ad they do not seem to have gotten what they paid for.

Does the Superbowl "oversale" ad slot like airlines do seats? It would seem a football game could have more or less slots available depending on how the game went. The ad people did see could have been additional regional slots already purchased in addition to the SB ad.

**PFC5** · 02-04-2008, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hatt

Does the Superbowl "oversale" ad slot like airlines do seats? It would seem a football game could have more or less slots available depending on how the game went. The ad people did see could have been additional regional slots already purchased in addition to the SB ad.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that they were offering it cheaper to another BD company over other companies. I am just saying that they reduced the price when the day was getting close. I assume they didn't have all slots filled is the reason they did that. They had several NFL ads that might have filled the space or maybe they ended up filling them at a reduced price. Who knows?

macphisto · 02-04-2008, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super XP

That I agree with 100%, though I really think the commercial clearly stated that this player can "Also" up-scale regular SD DVD's into great PQ.

I agree with you, they were clear about it. They basically said that it "even makes your DVDs look great." That's just highlighting something that the HD-DVD player can do besides play true HD movies on HD-DVD discs. That's clear, but I don't really trust a lot of average consumers to pick up on that. We here who follow this stuff know that HD-DVD is far superior to standard DVD and also far superior to broadcast and downloadable HD (that high bitrate makes a huge difference, rather watch an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie than an HD movie on HBO HD - it's not even close in quality to those who are paying attention).

I've noticed consumer confusion in the past due to the use of the DVD logo. The technophiles know the difference, but the average consumer doesn't always understand. I know a few people who purchased HD-DVDs believing that they would magically play in their standard DVD player, giving them pristine quality without having to buy any new hardware. I'm not sure how common these occurrences are, but I think the DVD logo can be both a blessing and a curse for the format because it is not clear to everyone that it is radically different from HD-DVD. It offers so much more in video and audio quality while offering far more immersive special features for many titles, opening up the internet portal to the player and allowing for PIP.

DVD didn't have this problem because of how radically different it was from VHS. HD discs are more likely to encounter this because of how closely they look like DVDs. Both camps have adopted the same differently sized cases as a way to differentiate themselves, but there's still a lot of confusion amongst those that will be needed for either format to become the dominant force in the market over the next view years. Blu-Ray is better differentiated due to the difference in name, but there's still confusion there as well.

It's good that Toshiba got it's pricing out there. It would have been nice to see a bit more creativity. Granted, it doesn't appear to have run nationally, but Super Bowl ads can be fondly remembered when they're funny or touching and that can help a product a lot. Toshiba would have been better helped by an ad that did a nice job differentiating the product while being humorous so it would stick in people's minds. That may have not been possible due to the short time between the ad purchase and airing. This was something that developed more recently in response to the Warner announcement so they didn't really have much time to put together some ideas and get a good Super Bowl ad together. I'd wager that it was localized in some markets because it was a late ad buy and that the national ad spaces were already all bought up.

It's a shame that Toshiba wasn't able to better showcase their product in comparison to standard DVD. I've also read that it was shown in standard def, though that may have only been due to localized limitations.

HD Goofnut · 02-04-2008, 08:41 AM

I thought the commercial was very weak and lacked much needed substance. There was nothing in the commercial that talked about why to avoid Blu Ray (profiles, prices). It wasn't much better than saying hey we're stilling selling players.

Stew4HD · 02-04-2008, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I thought the commercial was very weak and lacked much needed substance. There was nothing in the commercial that talked about why to avoid Blu Ray (profiles, prices). It wasn't much better than saying hey we're stilling selling players.

Tosh isn't ablut mudslinging. They want their product to stand on thier own merit. Mudslinging has a way of backfiring, just by mentioning your opponents name in their ad... my

**bruceames** · 02-04-2008, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hatt

Am I the only person who finds this line retarded?

Yeah, but fortunately only people like us would have even noticed that. They should have said:

"Up to six times the details of DVD. Even your current DVD collection looks great"

But like I said, how many really noticed? I'll bet they all noticed the price though.

macphisto · 02-04-2008, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

But like I said, how many really noticed? I'll bet they all noticed the price though.

Not necessarily a good thing if they misinterpreted the commercial and ended up thinking it was only an upconverting player. Enthusiasts know better but those unfamiliar with the HD formats might not have understood.

Stew4HD · 02-04-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

Yeah, but fortunately only people like us would have even noticed that. They should have said:

"Up to six times the details of DVD. Even your current DVD collection looks great"

But like I said, how many really noticed? I'll bet they all noticed the price though.

Only people looking to find fault would point out something like that. I seriously doubt anyone else looking at that ad and hearing that line would spin it the way hatt did... then to be so cool as to add it to his sig... ummm, .. ummm, yeah

02-04-2008, 08:41 AM	#26
HD Goofnut The Official HDF Reviewer Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mississippi, U.S.A. Your resident Dune, Star Wars, and war film expert Age: 27 Posts: 6,852	I thought the commercial was very weak and lacked much needed substance. There was nothing in the commercial that talked about why to avoid Blu Ray (profiles, prices). It wasn't much better than saying hey we're stilling selling players. __________________ My Review Setup Sanyo DP46848 46" 1080p LCD Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 DirecTV HR21-100 HD DVR Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 System LG BH200 Super Blu Toshiba HD-A20 Sony 40 GB PS3 (Now with Netflix streaming!) 156~206~My Movie Collection Latest Review: *Men in Black* Be sure to check out the Blu-ray Review Request Thread

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02-03-2008, 10:57 PM	#16
v1001 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 118	I think this was just a local ad. Because it was for sure not on my TV. There was a small spot around that time where I got a few local ads too. One was of a local car dealer. There is no way a local car dealer spent 2.7 mill for an average looking commercial. They had a block of those local ads. I think they set aside a small spot for every area to air some kind of localized commercials. Your area just happened to play the HD-DVD add. Probably part of a normal time slot add or something.

02-03-2008, 11:56 PM	#20
macphisto High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 215	Didn't see it on TV here, so I'd guess that it was a local ad in targeted markets. I understand what the ad is saying, that the Toshiba player will also make your SD DVDs look good, but I can see a lot of people reacting badly to it. If they are uninformed about the HD movie formats then they may not understand that line and may believe that these are nothing more than upconverting players. I think that's a problem Toshiba has had from the beginning - a failure to differentiate HD-DVD with an uneducated public. The enthusiasts understand that HD-DVD is far, far superior to DVD, but a poor choice of words may lead a lot of people to think that this is an expensive upconverter. If many average consumers out there think that then this could hurt Toshiba more than help them if those consumers don't do their research.