Confusing the audience and wasting $3.4 million

We thought the boneheaded waste of millions for ridiculous Super Bowl ads was behind us. We thought advertisers realized the audience was asking for answers, not head scratching? We were wrong.

We admire the Silestone brand of quartz countertops, but now we question the brand for plans to spend $3.5 million to produce and run one 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl. The ad features Dennis Rodman and other washed-up athletes.



First, we have questions: Assuming not many viewers have heard of the brand or quartz counters, what do some paunchy old ridiculous guys add to education about the product? Don't most women make the decision on counters? Do they like these doofus's? What about the question we've heard many times before: Quartz? That sounds brittle?

OK, let's assume somehow the ad is good and sends viewers to the Web to search for info on buying Silestone. Here's where a millions go poof!

At the Silestone site, we clicked on our state and saw a Home Depot logo. We clicked on the logo and went to Home Depot's home page, not a page about Silestone. So, we typed "Silestone" in the search field, and what we got back said: "You must have meant TileStone. Here is our TileStone caulk." Confused, we browsed the list of brands Home Depot sells: no Silestone. Bye bye $3.4 million dollars....