Superbowl - The Commercials

This year, I didn't think there were any real stand-out commercials...but there were definitely a lot.

Though not always the case, a hurdle that the Superbowl commercials have is linking to their websites if necessary. Internet also comes into play as it offers viewers to see all of the commercials again, a perk that myspace took advantage of as it sponsored a page that was advertised during the game, which showed all of the commercials. Personally, I'm not convinced to do that, so I'm reviewing these commercials from the standpoint of one view during the game...

• Pepsi Max - They played on the nod-off of people without caffeine running through their blood, using the SNL sketch-turned-movie theme. What made the commercial was the ticked-off Chris Kattan at the end of the clip.




• Audi - Ok, if you're going to use The Godfather as inspiration for your commercial, make it good! This one was dumb...the car looked cool but the lameness of the ad ruined that.




• Bridgestone - The screaming animals...let's face it, screaming animals are funny. The other one, as we discussed at lunch today...should have made the car steer into Richard Simmons...that would be funny.




• Godaddy.com - The extreme example of linking to your website...the company name is a dot-com (like Amazon, Expedia, etc.) so it's easier off the bat. They were smart though...they offered something exclusively on their website (again, didn't make me get up and check it out, but still smart). And what better to make some beer-drinking male football fans get up and go to your site? A hot chick. Probably wouldn't appeal to any Giants fans, but still...




• FedEx - The carrier pigeons. Pretty funny...good message.




• Tide-to-go - Loved this one...speaking jibberish against someone else talking is funny stuff...a stain doing it? even funnier...they did a good job of making the message clear too..."Silence the stain"




• Budweiser - Good because they've established repetition with the clydesdales so that people associate them with their brand...they seem to be working in the dalmation now too




• Toyota Corolla - Demonstrated the sound-proof ability of the car by locking the guy in the car with badgers and firing cannons, etc. outside the car...I know it's an exaggeration but how soundproof do you want to be? You want to atleast be able to hear sirens.




• Garmin - Napoleon...short and sweet...not bad.




• Careerbuilder - These ones were weird...especially the heart one...except it was memorable and had a solid message..."Follow your heart"




• Sobe Life Water - Another very, very weird one (lizards dancing to MJ)...but again, weirdness is memorable...it's just a question of whether the weirdness peaks interest and curiosity (not the case with me)




• Anti-Drug Ad - I usually think anti-drug ads are dumb because they focus too much on marijuana (instead of cocaine, heroin, etc.)...for once, they had a good message...that kids are using things like household products and OTC meds to get high, which seems to be a real problem.




• Planters - The one with the unfortunate-looking woman who for some reason peaked every guy's attention (and you find out she's rubbing peanuts on herself)...it was good...it definitely sucked you in to watch the entire commercial.




• Fave 5 - Now, I think this is T-mobile...but that's the problem...they focus too much on "Fave 5" rather than their brand name.




• Pepsi - The one of J-Timb getting sucked away to the girl with the winning soda cap...another example of "sucking" you in to find out what the commercial is about...plus J-Timb is dreamy.




• Doritos - Odd humor...I loved it. The guy set up the mousetrap and waited with a bag of Doritos...and then a huge guy in a mouse costume busted through and tackled him. Good use of "the unexpected."




• Kia Sportage - This one annoyed me (the car drives away from the running gas attendants). Yes, 25 mpg is decent for an SUV...but we live in a world where hybrids, electrics, etc. are way more fuel-efficient...if it were advertising one of those, I'd love it. Besides, who wants to buy a Kia?




• Cars.com - The beginning of both of these commercials did not capture your attention enough...I was grasped when he said "oh because I was going to do..." and the ring-fighter came out (the voodoo guy in the other one). I thought the voodoo one was weak...but the ring fighter in the other one was awesome - made me think of the movie Bloodsport. But...a brand name with the "dot-com" in it...so a good link to their online business.




• Vitamin Water - I like these ads...this one was not as good as their previous ones though...I mean, if Shaq drinks Vitamin Water, he'll be able to ride a horse faster? C'monnnnn...they should have showed Shaq drink vitamin water and sink a series of foul shots. Ayooo!!




• E-trade - This one was funny...made me think of the Geico slogan though...so easy a caveman can do it...this one was pretty much, so easy a baby can do it.




• Coke - How come the Coke ads ran so close to each other? There was the float one where Charlie Brown outsmarts Stewie and Underdog? I don't know about that match-up. Then the other one played to the older crowd, who used the "jinx...you owe me a Coke" back in the old days, using political figures (Carville and Frist)...I admit I had to look up the spelling of the former (but I know him from Old School of course)




• Taco Bell - Apparently the mariachi guy was from Allentown, a fact pointed out to me during the commercial, so I couldn't really judge this one.




• Gatorade - Am I dumb? I didn't get this one...the dog is drinking water, then Gatorade appears with "Man's Best Friend." Can anyone enlighten me?




• Victoria's Secret - Of course this grabbed my attention (although Adriana is not my favorite V.S. model...call me crazy)...good message though..."guys, you might be making your significant other watch the game right now...buy her something for Valentine's Day...from Victoria's Secret of course."




• Mountain Dew Amp - Another one of my favorites...odd humor but hilarious...the guy clamped his nipples with the cables to jumpstart the car (only after drinking the Dew of course)...I wish I had sat in on that brainstorming session. Ok, After posting this, I go to collegehumor.com and the first thing I see is "Amp's Donkey Lips"...I think Dave suggested it was him (Donkey Lips from Salute Your Shorts) this morning but after watching it again, it definitely is...which makes this one my absolute favorite.
  

You may be thinking...Kev, you forgot the Bud Light ads...well I left them for last since I was looking forward to them the most, since they're usually the funniest...well, I thought they were decent collectively...

• Fire-Breathing capabilities - They started this campaign before with the "ability to talk to animals" which was a good concept...the dog kept barking and every single word was "sausage"...but it was kind of a weird voice and then whatever the squirrel said ("mind yo' business" or something like that) ruined it. The fire-breathing one was better but I'd say only mildly funny.




• Cheese Run - Bud Light uses the "guys finding ways to sneak beer into lame events that they're dragged to by girlfriends, wives, whomever" theme a lot (like the guy who brought bottles to the opera which crack once the high note is hit...best part of which is the end...the guy in front of them turning around tapping a can saying "first time to the opera boys?")...this one was good too...beer hidden in the huge cheese, in the baguette, tv hidden in the box of wine...and of course the best part at the end, when the guy says to his girlfriend, "gotta go on a cheese run" as he walks out the door.




• Foreign Accents - This one was doomed from the start with me...I hate Carlos Mencia. He has no talent...he steals jokes and he's not even funny when he delivers them. That aside, the concept was good but was poorly delivered.




• Cavemen with Wheel - The cavemen "discover" the wheel but it was funny because they don't know how to use it...this was one of the better ones.




• Ability to Fly - Started off good...again I just thought they could have done a better job with the concept...I like this campaign though because it gives a little description of the beer (which they never really did before...they just dove right into the humor) and there are a number of things you can do with the format of this commercial.




• Will Ferrell - This was probably the best because Will Ferrell is pretty damn funny...especially when he's wearing an old-school basketball uniform (which he plays in a new movie coming out, although they didn't shamelessly plug it in the ad)...I liked the line that went something like "Bud Light is refreshing because a lot of sweat goes into it...not literally, that'd be gross"

So that's my (long) commentary on the Superbowl Ads...I think I'm entitled to a percentage of the millions spent on all of these since I'm giving them more exposure (to the 5 people that read this blog), don't you think?