February 06, 2011

Native commercial on Super Bowl Sunday

Sacred Power Will Air Sci-Fi Superbowl CommercialDuring commercial breaks between the Steelers and Packers vying for the Super Bowl XLV title at the Cowboys Stadium on February 6, two Albuquerque, New Mexico-based businesses: Sacred Power and halflife* digital, will run their commercial collaboration that promotes renewable energy.

Aired 12 times on Super Bowl Sunday, including once during game time, the commercial will show “photons, staged in the sun, undertaking a heroic journey of self-sacrifice to bring power and life to the earth,” states the Sacred Power news release.

Sacred Power Co-owner and President/CEO David Melton, Laguna Pueblo, approached the full service production and post company halflife* digital two months ago with a proposal to develop a unique commercial.

“For ten years, Sacred Power has been in the renewable energy business and as we look to grow our business and take it to the next level, it just made sense to take our product to where consumers are, and what better venue than Super Bowl Sunday?” Melton said in the company press release.
Sacred Power Corporation--Using the Strengths of the Father to Protect the Gifts of the MotherComment:  The commercial gives us worker drones who apparently represent photons of light. They travel from the sun to the earth and strike various targets. One hits a solar panel and ends up powering the Super Bowl broadcast.

You can see a few Native touches. The most obvious is the Zia-like Sacred Power logo in the corner. One "photon" zooms over a neighborhood with Pueblo-style architecture. Two of the four people watching the game at the end look like Indians. And there's a bit of Indian chanting and drumming over the final image.

I guess the slogan is a reference to Native lore--perhaps the lore of Melton's Laguna Pueblo. The sun would be the father and the land, water, plants, animals, etc. would be the gifts of the mother (earth).

The commercial is reasonably creative and entertaining. I don't know how effective it is. I did a quick search and didn't see anyone talking about it. Maybe it aired on "Super Bowl Sunday" but not during the game.

For more on enterprising Native businesses, see Top 10 Native Entrepreneurs and First Native Company on Stock Exchange.

2 comments:

Stephen Bridenstine said...

There was one slight Indian reference I caught during the 2 minute long Chrysler commercial featuring Eminem called "Imported from Detroit". At 33 seconds in the voice over says:

"add hard work and conviction and the know how that runs generations deep in every last one of us"

During that second part, the car drives by Detroit's Penobscot Building with its Indian motifs as native-esque chanting is heard in the background.

Here's the commercial:

Imported from Detroit

and here's my post about the actual building and its Indian inspired designs:

The Penobscot Building

Anonymous said...

Cute with the anthropomorphic photons.

My only problem with it is that they have one photon land on the flower; plants store energy collected in the leaves, of course. But hey, I understand. It's an acceptable break from reality. Like when anime characters have green hair.