Microsoft released two Super Bowl ads, and they are both empowering in message and form. The relationship between The Big Game and Microsoft is not long-lived, as the company started showing Super Bowl ads only last year. In their second year in the business, Microsoft decided to unveil not one, but two ads, which means that the collaboration might turn into a tight one in the future. By doing so, the software company spent a large sum of money – the average price is $4.4 million and $4.5 million per 30-second commercial. Microsoft’s 2015 ads surpass one minute each, which sums almost two minutes and a half. According to sources, the company ended up spending about $16 million.
What Microsoft intends to profess with its ads is not wealth and marketing leadership, but technology and hope, humanity and a brighter future. In both commercials, technology is not seen as simple gadget or continuous development, but as a fitting salvation for the future society. Moreover, both ads launch a challenge for every individual, by asking: ‘’What can you do?’’
1. Estella’s Brilliant Bus
The first ad (and also the second one) starts by introducing the voice of well-known rapper Common. Thus, he became the voice-symbol of Microsoft’s Super Bowl ads, and as he confessed in a Twitter post, the rapper feels ‘’honored’’ about his position. Common recites parts belonging to speeches delivered by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: “The real question that needs to be asked, as well as answered, is what is it that we can do, that is unique, that is impactful.” The answer to that quest arrives in no-time: “We are going to empower every individual and every organization to do more and achieve more.” And the real solution for the problem proposed by Windows is Estella’s Brilliant Bus, a place where unprivileged children are given internet access and the opportunity to learn about numerous subjects such as math, science and even self-esteem. “If you dream big enough and believe in your dreams, you can make it happen” – this is what Estella Pyfrom tells her students in the ad.
2. Braylon O’Neill
The second ad of Microsoft introduces the voice of Common and the same speech bits as the first one. Although the premises are similar, the stories behind the frame of the commercials are different. Whereas in the first ad, the focus is put on masses, on the second one, the focus is not only an individual, but a physically-challenged young boy – this making the ad more personal and thus, more impressive. Braylon O’Neill, the main character of the commercial, was born without the tibia and fibula bones on both legs, but with the aid of technology, he eventually succeeded in playing tennis, baseball and approached any sport he desired.