Buffalo Wild Wings has been running an extremely silly ad campaign that makes me feel like the Incredulous Hulk. They’ve got these people saying: “We didn’t always watch the game at Buffalo Wild Wings”, and then we see some silly scenario that makes me wonder why they don’t just watch the game at home. (As if watching the game at someone else’s house is the only option anyone ever has to watch football!)
The only way these ads would really work is if they approached this idea from another angle. Let’s say the people in the ad used to have other people over, rather than visiting other people’s houses: Then we could see them at their own home, and watch their friends and their friends’ family members trash their house, and see how much trouble it is to cook and clean up. So then they decide to just meet their friends at Buffalo Wild Wings, and they all get to have a great time, but without anyone having their house trashed. Now, seriously, wouldn’t this work better and more believably?
Also, in twist on my above scenario, a couple could have people over to watch the game, but they spend so much time cooking, serving, picking up plates, passing out coasters, etc., they never even get to see any of the game: they just get to hear their guests cheer; and to top it all off, they never even get invited over to see the game at anyone else’s house in return. So this might indicate why you might want to go to Buffalo Wild Wings more than what we’ve been seeing in their ads too.
Also, in twist on my above scenario, a couple could have people over to watch the game, but they spend so much time cooking, serving, picking up plates, passing out coasters, etc., they never even get to see any of the game: they just get to hear their guests cheer; and to top it all off, they never even get invited over to see the game at anyone else’s house in return. So this might indicate why you might want to go to Buffalo Wild Wings more than what we’ve been seeing in their ads too.
Okay, here’s another possibility: Let’s say that our stalwart hero couple want to watch the game on a big, beautiful HD TV, but they don’t have one. And their TV is awful and tiny, or they don’t have cable, etc. So then we see them watching the game through the window of someone else’s house where there is a huge HD television set, and these people see them peering through their windows, and they call the cops, and the couple gets arrested for stalking and peeping. So then we see them at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the game on a beautiful widescreen TV with a big screen, and with lots of other people enjoying the game with them. Now wouldn’t this work better than what they’ve been doing too?
The problem with their ads is that they don’t make much sense. I know they’re meant to be silly and stuff, but if your ads are not believable, then there is no reason for anyone to want to buy your products or services. There has to be more than a silly joke, in my opinion, for an ad to actually work as anything other than a time-waster. Ads have to sell people on their product, and the ads for Buffalo Wild Wings don’t work on me at all, because they’re just not believable. Even with the one where there are crying children, the couple could still watch the game at home. Just because you have one bad experience going to someone else’s house, it’s no reason to go to Buffalo Wild Wings forever after: See what I mean?
So for me, there are really three reasons to go to Buffalo Wild Wings, and none of their ads really drives them home: 1.) You don’t have a nice enough TV to see the game well enough to enjoy it at home, and 2.) You want to have fun watching the game with other people, and 3.) You want to eat good food while watching the game, but you don't want to have to cook or clean up. And I think my suggestions work better for all three of these issues than any of the ones I’ve seen on TV.
Here’s an example of these ads:
