Mercedes-Benz USA, Honda and Squarespace were among brands that tried to reach Boomers during the big game. How did they do?
With its new spot, Mercedes speaks to Boomers in a familiar language. Featuring actor Peter Fonda, the song "Born to Be Wild" and reminders of "Easy Rider," a seminal film starring Fonda for their generation, Mercedes understands how to communicate luxury to Boomers, in particular, older Boomers with money.
The spot shows aging bikers hanging out in a bar, where the song plays and a movie poster hangs, doing rowdy biker things like arm wrestling and fighting. A man enters and says their bikes are all "blocked in" and when they investigate they find Fonda himself in a Mercedes convertible that costs upwards of $160,000. After a woman tells him he’s "still lookin’ good," he starts the car and his own stereo plays "Born to Be Wild" as he speeds away.
Another great example was a spot for Squarespace about registering domain names featuring John Malkovich, 63. Much to the actor’s dismay, JohnMalkovich.com is already taken by another John Malkovich who’s into fishing, and the actor is unable register the domain for his new menswear collection. He fires off a message laden with bleeped-out F-bombs—like many Boomers, he is outspoken and is not going to sit complacently on the sidelines when he is disgruntled.