Lawyer’s Super Bowl Commercial Goes Viral
While the Super Bowl may be over, talk about the advertisements is not. For the general viewer, favorites likely included Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” and Doritos’ “Cowboy Kid.”
In the legal community, viewers were buzzing about the Super Bowl commercial produced by a personal injury lawyer in Savannah, Georgia. While the ad only aired on television stations in Georgia, it has more than five million views on YouTube.
The commercial was also discussed on numerous law blogs, as well as the Huffington Post and Advertising Week. The latter awarded it an “A,” calling it a masterpiece that is both “completely nuts and completely entertaining.” Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog writes that it “looks like a trailer for a long-forgotten, straight-to-video Steven Seagal movie.”
The two-minute spot chronicles attorney Jamie Casino’s journey from criminal defense to personal injury law. “I’m attorney Jamie Casino, and I don’t represent villains anymore,” he explains. “I speak for innocent victims who cannot speak for themselves.”
As depicted in the commercial, Casino’s brother was violently killed in 2012. After detailing reports of the murder and a suspected police conspiracy, the commercial shows Casino laying flowers on his brother’s grave. As heavy metal music begins to play, Casino states, “At some point, a man must ask why God created him.” He then stomps on the flower and grabs a flaming sledgehammer. Like an action movie star rather than a lawyer, he smashes the tombstone and walks off amid flames.
According to Casino, he created the ad to “set the record straight in the Biggest Game of the Year, Super Bowl XLVIII.” Based on the response, he definitely accomplished more than many large corporations were able to do.
Attorney advertising is highly regulated. Some jurisdictions ban advertising completely. Other jurisdictions restrict what can and cannot be stated in the advertisement. It will be interesting to see if this video has any ethical repercussions for Mr. Casino.