This past Sunday the Oscars went off without a hitch, well, besides the flooded bathroom incident (thanks TMZ). Now, in terms of the television production, the Oscars went smoothly. Unfortunately for a number of companies – their branded social media marketing during the Oscars was an absolute flop.

In the wake of the Super Bowl it was obvious that brands wanted to capitalize on real-time advertising during the Oscars. Many brands did extremely well during the Super Bowl (see my earlier blog post here), yet the Oscars was a different story – a story of trying too hard.

The Super Bowl revolves around the advertisements and products being marketed, whereas the Oscars is focused on the actors, movies, and overall presentation. A few of the worst Twitter advertisements can be credited to:

 Mr. Clean – Honestly, this has nothing to do with the Oscars. It’s a desperate attempt for the brand to be relevant, yet it doesn’t engage the Oscars audience.

 

Chili’s Bar & Grill – While the idea is clever, it doesn’t relate to the Oscars. The graphic is shameless branding and not something that an Oscar’s audience would be interested in discussing further on Twitter.

Smart Car USA – It’s obvious that the brand was trying to incorporate the viral “Wrap It Up” Oscars song, but what in the world does this car have to do with that?

 

While it’s understandable what these brands were trying to do the execution is nearly laughable. The 2013 Oscars can serve as an example to brands for the future, if the event does not revolve around advertisements – don’t push your products – because they will flop.