Top Five Super Bowl Ads and Your Financial Plan

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Welcome to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. This is your host, Mike Milligan, and we are just a couple days away from the Super Bowl. Recently on the One of a Kind Financial Show, over 2 separate segments, Carrie and I talked about Super Bowl ads, 5 specifically, and how they relate to financial planning. You're gonna love these because it's gonna take you all the way back to 1984, some that are a little more recent, but We're gonna dip back in time and show how some of these classics can be used today in modern times, in modern financial planning, so you can build a one-of-a-kind financial plan.

Welcome back to the One of a Kind Financial Show. I'm Gary Nolney, your consumer advocate. With me is Mike Milligan. Mike is with One Oak Financial. With Super Bowl coming up, we all know you're making plans to get together with family, friends, neighbors, or maybe even some work associates to watch the commercials. You know, the ones that make you laugh, make you cry, The ones you remember 20 years later, like Apple's 1984, Coca-Cola's Mean Joe Greene, Budweiser's What's Up? These weren't just commercials, they were cultural moments. Mike, is there anything that sticks with you about these Super Bowl ads?

Well, here's what sticks with me is the best Super Bowl ads never really talked about their product.

Never mind.

The product was around, right?

Right.

Apple didn't list the computer specs for, you know, for the Mac. Coca-Cola didn't claim their soda tasted better. Budweiser didn't explain the brewing process. Instead, they told stories, stories about freedom, about kindness, about friendship, stories that made us feel something. And that got me thinking about financial planning. Most financial marketing sounds like a bad Super Bowl commercial, just features. Well, comprehensive planning, investment management, tax strategy, estate planning, but no story, no connection.

And that's not what we do here. You don't have to live a cookie-cutter life, so you don't want a cookie-cutter financial plan. Today we're gonna share 5 legendary Super Bowl commercials and what they teach us about building the one-of-a-kind financial plan. Here's the first one, 1984 Apple.

Do you remember this commercial?

I do, yes, absolutely, yes.

Yeah, it aired during the 1984 Super Bowl, which became the most talked-about commercial in history. The ad showed A dystopian future where mindless drones stared at Big Brother on massive screens. Holy cow. Am I talking about the future now, Gary?

Yeah, exactly.

Then a woman runs in with a sledgehammer and smashes the screen. The message, 1984 won't be like 1984, the book, because Macintosh is here. Apple never mentioned megabytes or processing speed. They positioned themselves against conformity itself, against the idea that everyone should use the same technology the same way. Here's the financial planning connection. The industry wants you to believe everyone with your income should follow the same path. Follow the green line. You ever heard that commercial before?

Sure. Yes.

Same asset allocation, same retirement age, same strategy. You're a demographic segment, a person whose story gets lost in a system where profit means more than your personal story. But guys, you're a person. One Oak Financial rejects this. Your financial plan should rebel against cookie-cutter advice. Maybe you want to retire at 55 to care for aging parents. Maybe you want to fund your daughter's business instead of saving for your own retirement. Maybe your retirement looks like starting a nonprofit, not playing golf. The best financial plan isn't the one that follows the template. It's the one that reflects your one-of-a-kind life. That 1984 moment, that sledgehammer moment, refusing to let the industry make you conform. That's why that commercial was so good.

This is an absolute classic. I remember this vividly. Coca-Cola's Mean Mean Joe Greene.

Hey kid, catch!

Yep.

If you're old enough, you remember this. Mean Joe Greene, right? That intimidating Pittsburgh Steelers from the Iron Curtain back in the '70s. That defensive tackle limping through a tunnel. A young boy nervously offers help. Greene brushes him off, and the kid says, I think you're the best ever, and offers his Coke. Greene drinks it, and as the boy walks away dejected, Greene calls out, Hey kid, catch, and tosses him his jersey.

Wow. That's right.

30 seconds. I mean, think about the making of this commercial. 30 seconds, one location, minimal dialogue, but it made a 270-pound linebacker who was menacing on the football field approach, show his vulnerability to the next generation. And that's what Coke sold on that commercial. Here's what that means for your financial plan. Most people come to a financial advisor feeling vulnerable, Maybe you're behind on retirement savings or you're embarrassed about where you are financially. Maybe you inherited money and don't want anyone to know about it. Maybe you're terrified you'll run out of money in retirement. You need an advisor who understands that fear, not one who sits in judgment. Someone who'll say, let me help, not you should have started earlier. We start every relationship by asking about you, your vision, Your vision for retirement. Why is money important to you? Who is important to you? We don't ask about your account balances when we start. Now, we do get there after we learn who you are, because remember, every financial— because financial planning isn't about the numbers on your statement. It's about the life you're trying to build. That's the, hey kid, coach moment, showing we're human too, and we want to help you.

The show is the one-of-a-kind financial show. I'm Gary Nolan, your consumer advocate. Let's get you on the calendar, all set up with that comprehensive plan. 757-403-5078. That's Mike's personal cell phone number. Get on the calendar this week. 757-403-5078. I'm gonna call an audible here. If we don't get to these 5 commercials, we're gonna continue into the next segment.

Let's do that.

This is so good.

'Cause this is really important. This is fun stuff. This one was great. Budweiser.

What's up?

What's up?

This one became a cultural phenomenon. 4 guys checking in on each other while watching the game, drinking a Budweiser. What's up? Nothing. Watching the game, having a Bud. That's it. Real friends.

That was it.

Real conversation, real life. It worked because it was authentic. There weren't actors with a script. There weren't actual friends talking about how friends actually talk. People saw themselves in it. Real people living real life. Here's the financial planning lesson. Most advisory marketing prioritizes image over substance. Stock photography staged to resemble clients, carefully lit offices designed to signal success, polished corporate language that a few people actually use in conversation, Like, we provide comprehensive wealth management solutions to high net worth individuals in the pre-retirement phase. That's not— nobody talks like that, folks.

No, that's true.

I mean, I just made fun of the whole industry right there. Your life is more like, I'm freaking out about retirement. My parents might need help soon. My son still lives at home and he's 35. I'm not sure I'm saving enough. I can't sleep at night because I'm worried about money. That's what life really is. That's the real conversation. That's where we start. We don't start with the jargon about who we are or a presentation that we gave in the 3 previous meetings that day. This is about your actual life, your actual words, your actual concern. The what's up lesson. Financial planning works when it's built on authenticity, when your advisor knows you well enough to text you after your daughter's college decision Or when the market drops, just to say, you're fine, don't worry. That's the relationship you deserve. That's the relationship you get at One Oak Financial.

Yeah. Tell us a little bit about the One of a Kind Financial Plan, Mike. We got about a minute left.

Yeah, folks, we're going to come back and do a couple more commercials after the break, so stay with us. The One of a Kind Financial Plan is designed for you. I hope it's about your story. Just like these ad— the Super Bowl ads make us feel a certain way, When you walk into our office or we meet on Zoom or we meet in your home, it's all about you. It's all about bringing clarity to your situation, those freakout moments that you may have about money. We're going to build a financial plan that addresses taxes, retirement income, investments, long-term care, and legacy. But we're also going to address the things that are most important to you and we're going to solve them. And when we solve them, you'll feel better about where you were. We are not corporate slogan, but we do believe this. You are one of a kind and you deserve a one-of-a-kind financial plan.

That phone number is 757-403-5078. 757-403-5078. Call right now.

Well, did you enjoy those first 3? Let's jump back into the One of a Kind Financial Show with me and Gary and finish The top— these top 5 ads and how they respond or how they, um, how they relate to your financial plan.

Take a stand.

Welcome back to the One of a Kind Financial Show. I'm your consumer advocate, Gary Nolan. Here to help you take charge of your money is Mike Milligan. Mike has helped hundreds of clients achieve their financial retirement goals. Been doing it for quite a while, over 25 years experience in retirement planning business. And Mike isn't with fiduciary, Mike is with One Oak Financial. We're talking about famous Super Bowl commercials. You know, the ones that, that, uh, that's not on here, Mike, is the, uh, the Budweiser Bulls. Remember the, the frogs, the bullfrogs?

Oh yeah, Bud.

Why?

Bud.

Why?

That's exactly right, man.

Remember that one too? Well, there's so many great ones. We're going to talk about one now called, uh, The Force. This is one of my favorites. It's the Volkswagen The Force, Mike.

Yeah, it's, it's one of my personal favorites. Um, A kid dressed as Darth Vader tries to use the Force on everything in the house. Nothing worked. Finally, he approaches his dad's Volkswagen Passat. And by the way, this was Volkswagen's coming out party. Because remember Volkswagen, the Beetle?

Yes.

Everybody liked those, '70s, '80s. But then when they brought the Passat and the Jetta back out, this is kind of their coming out party again.

It really was.

Yeah. With the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. Well, this kid on the Passat, he reaches out his hands and the car starts.

I remember this.

His face lights up with amazement. We see his dad inside the house secretly using the remote start, smiling. The ad demonstrated the car's remote start feature, but that's not what it was about. It was about a childhood wonder, about parent-child connection. about making your kid feel like Darth Vader.

Yeah.

The financial planning connection is we don't lead with service. We lead with outcomes. Let me say that one more time, folks. We don't lead with service. We lead with outcomes. What is meaning for you to make your life better? We don't say, here's your retirement income distribution strategy, tax harvesting approach, or Monte Carlo simulation. We say, hey, Sarah, when you came to us 3 years ago, you were uncertain about whether retirement was realistic, not because you were far behind, but because every calculator gave you a different result and no one had clearly walked through the trade-offs with you. We helped you build a plan that addressed your core questions. How Different retirement dates can affect your income, what level of flexibility you had to withdraw for those one-of-a-kind vacations that you've now taken 4 of. And we walked you through how various market scenarios like we've had have impacted your plan. With those clear expectations and you've seen the pathway that we've gone on there, do you now see that you're going to be taken care of for the rest of retirement? That's like, That's like that dad standing in the background starting the remote and that little young kid starting that Passat, right? That force approach, embedding what we do inside of the story of what makes your life better, is what makes One Oak Financial different than other companies.

All right. Remember when everybody was going around and saying, where's the beef? The Wendy's commercial, remember that?

Oh, yeah. Clara, 81-year-old.

81 years old, yep.

Staring at a competitor's burger with a huge bun and a tiny patty, asking the question that defined 1984. 1984 was good for commercials.

It really was.

The Apple commercial and this one.

Yeah.

And she looked at that competitor's burger and just said, where's the beef?

That was it.

It became a cultural catchphrase because it wasn't really about hamburgers, It was a philosophical statement about substance versus appearance, about being promised something impressive and getting something empty. This is the financial planning industry in a nutshell. Impressive presentations, beautiful PowerPoints, some good marketing, and maybe a fancy suit. That sophisticated sounding strategy, but when you dig in, the question's often, where's the beef? Where's the personalization they promised? It's the same asset allocation model they give everyone, the same retirement projection software, the same generic advice. Where's the beef should be your question when interviewing advisors. Don't be impressed by the presentation. Ask, how will this plan account for my situation? And then tell them what your situation is. How will it address my aging parents, my daughter's business, my second marriage, my sabbatical dream, my complicated inheritance, and my actual fears? If they hand you a template with your name on it, that's not beef. That's just a big bun disguising something that's Less than average. A one-of-a-kind financial plan for your one-of-a-kind life. That's the beef. That's the substance. That's what you deserve.

Yeah, thanks for sharing those 5 commercials with us. As we prepare to see what's coming up during the breaks during the Super Bowl, can you share with us what you should be looking forward to for commercials about during this game, Mike?

Yeah, the financial services industry often presents planning as a process driven by spreadsheets, allocations, and projections. In practice, it's about more than that. It's about the moment you realize you can retire early to spend time with your grandkids before they're grown. It's about sleeping through the night during a market downturn because you know your plan accounts for it. It's about saying yes to your daughter's business dream because your advisor helped you figure out how to fund it without jeopardizing your future. Guys, imagine this one. It's about navigating your mother's long-term care costs without guilt or panic because someone planned for that possibility. One of our listeners that called into the show, I'm talking directly to you now because this is coming up. It's about living that sabbatical, taking that cruise, that river cruise in Middle America. For others, the client who came in this week listening to the show, starting that nonprofit, Helping the people you love, not someday, not if everything goes perfect, but actually doing it because your plan was built for your actual life. Folks, you don't live a template life. You shouldn't. You live a life full of complicated relationships, unexpected challenges, impossible dreams, and hopes you're almost afraid to say out loud because you're scared to be ridiculed. Come to One Oak Financial and say those ridiculous things to us because we want you to live a life shaped by love, your values, and the legacy you want to live. That life, your life, deserves a financial plan that actually reflects it. Not a demographic segment strategy, not a risk tolerance questionnaire recommendation, not a robo-algorithm allocation. A one-of-a-kind financial plan built for this one-of-a-kind life you're actually living. The best Super Bowl commercials make you feel something, make you remember, make you believe in something bigger than the product. That's what financial planning should do.

Yeah, that's a great, uh, great segment, Mike. That was a lot of fun. Gonna take a quick break now. We'll be back with more of the One of a Kind Financial Show with Mike Milligan. But first, the phone number: 757-403-5078. 757-403-5078. That's the number to call. Get on the calendar. You deserve a one-of-a-kind financial plan that Mike was just talking about. Mike is with One Oak Financial. Again, that phone number is his direct phone number to his cell phone. This weekend, get ahold of Mike and the team. 757-403-5078. You deserve a more confident plan to retire. Want to be stress-free? Peace of mind starts by picking up the phone and dialing that number.

Thank you for joining today. As a reminder, Mike is an investment advisory rep with Advisory Alpha LLC.

Ideas by Mike.

Doing business as One Oak Financial is an unaffiliated entity of Advisory Alpha LLC. All information in today's podcast is the opinion solely of Mike Milligan and does not reflect a solicitation to buy. It's for educational content only. If you have specific questions, please consult a licensed financial professional. To reach Mike, you can go to www.oneoakfinancial.com. That's the number. oneoakfinancial.com or mikemilligan.com. That's mikemilligan.com.

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