Super Bowl Ads Put the Spotlight on Careers
My friends and I acted like unofficial advertising experts on [Super Bowl Sunday], immediately commenting in between bites of chips and salsa about which Super Bowl ads were funny (Betty White in the Snickers ad), poignant (Google’s Parisian romance ad) or a waste of time (the ad that seemed to be for the U.S. Census Bureau).
Did you do that, too?
And we shared our immediate like or dislike for the ads by those and other companies like Coca-Cola, Denny’s, Intel, Anheuser-Busch, Dodge, Doritos, Dr. Pepper, CareerBuilder.com and others, I realized that I was happily judging the work of professionals in the advertising industry. It probably took months to brainstorm and create the ad, and maybe even some sleepless nights. Even one ad, for Doritos, wasn’t done by a professional, but two unemployed and wishful filmmakers who won a $1 million prize for creating the ad for less than $2,000.
Whether you thought certain ads were well done or just dumb, you’ve got to admit that just being involved in the biggest advertising night on TV is cool.
You may think an advertising degree is the only degree you can pursue to do this type of work, but that’s not the case. Yes, some schools offer advertising degrees, but if not, don’t be disappointed because there’s an array of degrees you can pursue.
For example, a degree in arts and sciences or business management is what some advertising executives who created the Super Bowl ads earned as undergraduate students from public and private schools. Those programs give graduates the education to understand what clients want and how to do the research and build a team to create an interesting ad.
But for a little more of a focus, art schools and design schools are definitely worth considering. You’ll get the skills and training to learn how to create the ads for not just TV, but other media like the Internet, radio, print publications and even cell phones.
A degree in the media arts not only strengthens your natural creative talent but also teaches you about everything from the latest software programs to visual and special effects. Folks with ad firms on both coasts hold degrees in media arts, so that shows you it’s a wise choice if you desire to be involved in the artistic aspect of creating ads.
Or many folks in the advertising profession boast degrees in communications, or even more specifically marketing and public relations, which teaches them how to create an ad campaign for a client or a company, from the research to an eye-catching slogan or ad concept.
And definitely a degree in animation can be crucial, as the cast of “The Simpsons” appeared in an ad for Coca-Cola.
Of course, the Super Bowl ads are so great because it’s a way for us to see actors in unexpected ways, like having Oprah, Letterman and Leno watching the game together or seeing Betty White tackled or Kiss’ Gene Simmons talking about Cherry Dr. Pepper. So of course going to acting school could be the start of a career, too.
Are you ready to get into the advertising game? Go career exploring.
Article by, Lori Johnston and courtesy of CollegeSurfing Insider.
