Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of my all-time favorite movies. I can still remember my friend Tom and I going to see it multiple times in the theater.

So… as you might imagine… I was pretty excited when I saw the teaser that hit the internet last week. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. As of writing this, the 10-second video has been viewed on YouTube more than 4.6-million times.

Everyone quickly learned this was teasing an upcoming Super Bowl commercial for Honda, so I was surprised when Honda’s marketing team released the full-length spot online a full week before the game.

Then I saw it and realized it was a smart move because the commercial is just okay.

I think they sort of set themselves up for failure. That teaser created so much buzz, if they would have waited for it to air during the game it would have been a pretty big disappointment.

Might as well release it early and get as much internet play as possible before the game… before it’s surpassed by another commercial everyone falls in love with.

Even if there hadn’t been a teaser released and they simply waited to air it during the Super Bowl, the spot would have gotten some attention on the internet afterwards… but not nearly this much.

Good move. I don’t know if all of this was the original plan, or if Honda’s marketing team changed it on the fly. Either way, it all worked out in the end… just like it always seems to for Ferris.

–Tony Gnau

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