Abe Vigoda, the ideal Super bowl commercial spokesperson / actor for a country in search of change and hope.

In 1975, Barney Miller premiered on ABC television as a television sit com cop show. The cop show without action or violence but snappy dialogue had a very successful 8 year run on ABC. All the characters were memorable and perhaps Abe "Fish" Vigoda made the most lasting impression on me.

Abe played an elderly police detective named Fish who acted even older than he looked. Abe was 55 at the time his character named Fish looked like he was 70 going on 90. Barney Miller ended its successful ABC run around 1983. By the early 90's, I recall reading or hearing someone say that Abe was no longer alive. By the late 90's, anyone too lazy to look up on the internet what had become of Abe Vigoda might have assumed Abe Vigoda had most assuredly passed by then.

In the early 2000's, I recall reading a story, possibly in one of the tabloid newspapers that Abe Vigoda was actually still alive, and it surprised me. I think in the article Abe actually mentioned that many people genuinely were surprised that he was still alive as they just assumed he had passed on.

In the 2010 Super Bowl snickers commercial starring Betty White, an unheralded Abe Vigoda delivers a memorable closing line of..."That hurt"! In the local news coverage that I have seen so far, NOBODY has mentioned that it was Abe Vigoda!

The media reported on the "Betty White" super bowl snickers commercial as being one of the funniest from the 2010 Super Bowl but the media seems to have missed the significance of ABE VIGODA ON THE GROUND, IN THE MUD, ALIVE and delivering a very funny ending to a funny commercial.

How can Abe Vigoda not be a rediscovered star 20 years after people thought he was dead is beyond me. Abe could probably star in a series of commercials for all kinds of products, each product would start with the same tag line....

"Hi, I'm Abe Vigoda, people thought I was dead 20 years ago, but they were wrong. What do I owe my longevity to....?

...then insert product name here..., then come back to Abe Vigoda making some rueful comment about his agent encouraging him to play an aging detective on Barney Miller that basically prematurely ended his career after Barney Miller went off the air.

On my Super Bowl Commercials Consulting website, I list dozens upon dozens of commercials and I offer critiques for them as well.

The combination of Abe Vigoda on the ground at the end of the Snickers commercial, and his "That hurts" comment lives up to the kind of consulting advice I would endeavor to bring to anyone who hires me as a commercials consultant.

Whomever came up with that ending can be credited with a master stroke ending that memorable commercials always end with, and I commend whomever it was that made it happen.

It would be worthy of a short youtube video on the making of that ending just to see how it came to be. Was it the editor who threw it in, did Abe Vigoda ad lib it? Was it a forgotten moment suddenly remembered? I would like to know. When a commercial ends on an up note, the entire commercial suddenly gets elevated in popularity, and the Betty White / Abe Vigoda commercial lives up to the challenge of being a memorable commercial specifically because of Abe's final "That hurt" comment.

(Edit update) After I wrote this article I decided to google Abe Vigoda and the first thing I found was the photo at the top of this article located at Abe Vigoda dot com.

Lol, then I also found this article from 2009 as well.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more

commercial critiques

by Alessandro Machi at

Super Bowl Consulting

Super Bowl Consulting Services offered by Alex LOGIC.

Isn't it interesting that when we watch super bowl commercials, there will inevitably be some commercials that either just miss the mark, or, if they had just done something a little differently, would have become a classic.

Although the ability to improve a commercial has become intuitive for me, my mindset starts with the idea that any commercial I review is going to be good. I actually prefer to appreciate good work that needs no improving, (hence my appreciation of Seinfeld,) so I don't automatically assume a commercial needs fixing. I tend to watch commercials for what they were intended to be, a short story that if executed properly will be remembered later on in a favorable light.

I also believe for a commercial to be good, it has to be truthful.

If your commercial fell short in the super bowl this year, or you are going to make one for next year, it may be wise to hedge your bet by getting outside of the box feedback. I recognize nowadays that we have millions of people who would love to do this kind of work, or believe they can do this work. What I have going for myself is years of actual client interaction discussing, strategizing, then implementing their vision, reviewing the result as it developed, and then moving forward.

I spent over 15 years problem solving video editing clients projects and it turned out to be an incredibly unique and valuable experience.

You can view samples of commercials in which I share how I would have improved them by clicking here. Once again, improving a commercial does not mean it was bad to begin with, just that it could have been even better.

I also have a technical awareness involving color correction, the pacing of the editing, and soundtrack mix levels that also has come from being solely responsible for the release of video projects by my clients. A project is never really done until it is released for others to view, and I have received valuable feedback over this final step as well.

The thumbnails on the left and right side of this article are just a sampling of the work I have been involved in. I will keep adding on thumbnails and writing articles about each one.

No matter how competent your marketing team is, the team needs to work together, so nagging doubts have to be let go, even if the doubts are valid. However, if someone outside of your sphere notices the same issues, having a consultant view your commercial could become a valuable outside the box evaluation tool.

Companies that can afford to create an ad campaign for the super bowl and beyond already have a competent team in play. There are at least two distinct routes my consulting services can travel. If your marketing team "does not care what I think" at all, they still may be curious to see if I think they took their pre-existing plan and executed that message in the finished commercial. Rather than a consultant trying to reinvent your wheel, helping to determine if you at least executed your plan is critical.

The second reason is..."Did we miss something in our commercial that could suddenly make it memorable?". I have come up with ideas that I would have loved to have bounced off of a commercial's ad agency or marketing company, it is just a natural talent I have. Keep in mind that what I am saying is I am excellent collaborator. Collaboration means I am acknowledging your wealth of talent and vision and that I may be able to offer that one unique idea to enhance your commercial.

Where I supply that input becomes another thing to consider. If my input is applied after the commercial is edited, should that idea cause a reshoot, or not? Or, should a suggestion be implemented during the animatic stage of the commercial? Or what about when the idea is a storyboard only? That is your call to make, I'll be ready no matter at what step you want my consulting services.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more

commercial critiques

by Alessandro Machi at

Super Bowl Consulting