CareerBuilder.com -- Super Bowl Ads

Following in the footsteps of Monster.com, CareerBuilder gets in on the Super Bowl action with two memorable spots. They deliver a very clear, easy to follow message--even though each message is different. The overall tagline "start building" is okay, but doesn't really inspire me the way Monster's "your calling is calling" does. I guess at the end of the day, CareerBuilder will always be Monster's little brother. And they didn't do anything here to tell me why CareerBuilder is different or better than Monster. In fact, if you weren't paying attention, it's possible you might have thought that these were ads for Monster.



Follow Your Heart -- B+

The Mouth:
This was the better of the two. I love seeing that little heart plop down onto the keyboard. You know exactly what's going on and it's still fun to watch. For some reason it felt sort of flat at the end, but it still worked for me.

The Hawk:
Watching this ad, I had no clue what it was for. A new horror flick? A heartburn medication? Oh, maybe a job board. After it all comes together, the message is clear... if you can stomach it. This is gross, crude and makes me cringe. They made the food the boss is eating look like the cooked organs of his other employees It also seems like they should have used a man for the employee, as right when the heart is coming out, I'm thinking something is up with her boobs. Weird and bad. F.



Spider Eats Firefly -- C+

The Mouth:
I would have liked to see them develop the heart as its own character. There's thousands of ways that you can follow your heart regarding your career. Instead, they deliver a different message, that "wishing won't get you a better job." True. But this commercial won't convince me to use your site.

The Hawk:
Let's face it, they wanted to use "Wish Upon A Star", Disney wouldn't let them, so they came up with a lame, but cheap substitute. Weak. The song is bad and I'm happy when the spider eats that stupid bug. Like The Mouth said, when you think Super Bowl advertising and job boards, you think Monster, so they would be better served to get their name out there right away. There is no evidence of the service being advertised until I've stopped caring. F.