Super Bowl XLVI - A Review

Super Bowl XLVI came and went once again, and it is time for me to give my review. First the game. It was good. Not the best Super Bowl, but likely in the top ten. It was a close match up and went down to the last play of the game, so there was excitement there. I was not disappointed.

Next, the half time show. Super Bowl half time shows are hard to do. Everyone is always overly critical of them and they almost always let down a big percentage of viewers. My take on Madanna? Eh, she was fine. I thought the show started off slow, but picked up pace as it went along. Moments before LMFAO appeared with the Material Girl, my wife and I were talking and agreed that these half time shows are always better when they mix several different artists into the performance - especially new & old performers. While Madanna was by herself, it was just so-so. Once others got into the game, it improved. Not that I am much of a LMFAO or Cee Lo Green fan, and I can't stand MIA or Nicki Manaj, but somehow their presence still made the show a little better. Best half time show ever? No. I doubt it even falls into the top 10. But it was decent. Madonna at 53 years old was still surprisingly lively. Not the best, but not the worst I've seen.

Now to the commercials. While there were a few really good commercials, overall I was let down this year. Here is my list of what was HOT, what was NOT, and what was just sorta LUKE WARM.

HOT
Hyundai, Rocky Theme - Not really the most creative, but sometimes simpler is better. A fine spot for any Rocky fan to enjoy.
VW, Fat puppy - A very solid spot. The only downside was the end with the whole Star Wars thing. If I were judging that part separately, it would have been much lower on the list, as that was a pretty lame ending. Maybe if they had used the little kid dressed up like Vadar like last year they could've made it cute, but that part let me down. Even still, the first 50 seconds of that spot were solid, so it stays in the "HOT" position.
Doritos, Missing cat - This one was solid. I really enjoyed the creative humor with it. I felt like this commercial was the way Super Bowl spots used to be. Oh, and come to find out, a Joe-Nobody made that spot for a contest Doritos put on. Even more impressive! It was, by far, one of the best of the night.
Acura, Seinfeld - This one to me was awesome, but then again, I am a die hard Seinfeld fan. I think it was good for any Seinfeld fans, but for those who might not enjoy that show & sense of humor (I think they're called 'aliens') they might not have "gotten" it. But who cares about those people? This is what I like best!
Honda, Bueller - If you were born anytime before 1985, there is no way possible you could not find this spot to be awesome. Those youngsters born AB (after Bueller) should 1) have still seen the movie at least 6 times by now, and 2) still have loved that commercial. If you didn't, you are probably a terrorist.


LUKE WARM
M&M's, Gettin' Naked - Eh, it was so-so. I think I let out a single, "Ha" towards the end. Just enough to keep it on this list.
Coke, Polar Bears, The Catch - Eh, out off all the bad Coke commercials this year, this one was probably the best, but still not great.
Audi, So long vampires - Pretty funny in the end. I started off rolling my eyes at the idea, but once the vamps started getting killed off, it got better. Still, the vampire thing is so over played, I can't give it better than a 'Luke Warm' rating.
Bridgestone, football passing - It was cute, pretty creative and sorta funny. But just not good enough to be one of those great commercials everyone talks about the next day around the water cooler.
Tax Act.com, Kid has to pee - Pretty good for what it was. The kid has to pee, and long story short, pees in the pool. Don't really remember what that had to do with taxes, but whatever. I'm sure it had some sort of 'be prepared' message behind it, or 'don't piss your pants, it's tax season'. Yeah, that second one was probably it.
Sketchers, Mr quigly - This one was sorta cute and somewhat funny. Maybe if it had been really cute and hilarious I would have ranked it better.
Fiat, Seduction - It was just so-so. I know sex sells and all, but we have all seen attractive women (that lady was nothing special BTW). Super Bowl ads need more than sex. They need smart writing, creativity, shock value, something more than what this commercial delievered.
Chevy, Sonic Stunts - I dunno, kinda cool I guess, especially since they were all real stunts, but still. Something just didn't do it for me.
Chevy, Comaro Freak Out - To me, a person freaking out like that just isn't funny. If anything it's kind of annoying. The idea was there though, had they just taken it a slightly different direction.
Oikos Yogurt, John Stamos - gets gets his ass kicked. That and that alone made that spot pretty excellent.
Chevy, Apocalypse - It was decent & a bit creative. Combining mass destruction with "Looks Like We Made It" was a nice move. Plus, they called out Ford. Ha! Oh, and the guy eating Twinkies was the cherry on top.
Budweiser, Here We Go - A pretty decent commercial! Finally! Bud got back to normal with their funny light hearted 'Here We Go' ad after a fist full of let downs. Did anyone else notice too that Budweiser didn't put up nearly the number of ads this Super Bowl as they have in the past? Guess the car companies took all the air time.


NOT
Pepsi, Elton John's Kingdom - Lame. Enough said.
Hyundai, Cheeta - Not funny, not creative, just bad.
Bud Light, Platinum spots - Lame as shit - all of them. Yes, you are introducing a new beer. Do it with your normal Budweiser humor. You guys are usually so good! What happened?
Go Daddy, Sexy Commercials - Stupid as usual. Go Daddy has never been good and never will be if they don't change the formula.
Budweiser, Prohibition - Good build up with big let down. Disappointment.
Coke, The Yell - Polar bear gets out of the cave, yells (cause he is frustrated with his team) and goes back into the cave. Oh, and then he drinks a Coke. If I pitched that idea to a client they would probably take their business elsewhere. Lame.
Coke, Straw - This is the one where the two polar bears are watching the game, seemingly cheering on opposite sides (indicated by their red & blue scarves) and one polar bear gives the other a coke and then puts a straw in it. I dunno, I just didn't get it. Thought it was pretty stupid all around.
Cars.com, Double head - A little disturbing and not funny at all. Someone should get fired over that spot.
Doritos, baby sling shot - Eh, sorta cute, but not funny. Nice try though.
Etrade, speed dating - Not funny, not good. Again, enough said.
Careerbuilder, Monkeys - The monkeys were not funny several years ago when they started using them, still not funny today. Find a new gimmick.

Super Bowl Ads

Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43 for all you non-Roman numeral speaking folks) came and went Sunday, and back at work most of you are probably spending 10 seconds talking about the game, which was very good by the way, and the rest of your time discussing the infamous Super Bowl advertisements...not so good.

Overall, I was extremely disappointed with this years' ads. There were a few good ones here and there, but even the best of super ads '09 were second fiddle to those of years past.

A few of my favorites include:

Miller High Life 1-second ad.

This was really pure genius. Reminds me of Ollie Williams doing the weather.

As the shortest ad ever to air on Super Bowl Sunday, it caused plenty of buzz. The media covered it so much prior to the Super Bowl that this meager 1 second turned into the most talked about Super Bowl ad of the year. Sometimes less really IS more.

Cash 4 Gold was one of the funnier ads, starting off looking like any other C4G commercial, only sadder because Ed McMann was leading the way. It quickly turned to laughs as M.C. Hammer backed up old Ed with some of his own gold for sale.

Teleflora, for me, was one of the better ads. I just loved watching the flowers talk crap to the woman. There has probably been someone in all our lives at one time or another whom we would have loved to tell off with some shit talking flowers. Million dollar idea right there.

ETrade babies are usually funny and on this particular Sunday evening they did not disappoint, flexin' the golden pipes for our pleasure (that sounded dirty).

Movie Trailers - I do not remember ever seeing so many previews for upcoming films, but it was a nice glance at what was to come.


THE SO-SO




For all you SNL fans out there Pepsi's "Pepsuber" ad offered a couple of chuckles, however the Pepsi Max 'I'm Good' commercial kinda took the wind out of their sails and threw the company into the so-so category.

Godaddy.com has never been the best of the super ads, but they always stay true to the 'sex sells' theory. I respect that.

Doritos did an alright job with their ads, but nothing I would write home to mom about. I am always a fan of breaking things so the snow globe through the vending machine was a nice moment for me, however, it is not deserving all the hype received from other critics.
Who actually writes home these days? Don't these people have cell phones?

Careerbuilder was not bad, but I felt like I was (or should have been) on drugs.

Audi, not bad, but I will forget it in a week.

Cheetos, also not bad, but I will forget it tomorrow.

Coke, just did not do it for me this year. Their ads were average at best.

This Priceline.com ad was no different than any other Priceline commercial. It was fine for your average commercial spot, but does not come close as a standout among the giants of Super Ad Sunday. Gotta step up your game, Shatner.


The bad

Sobe's ads went the route of a high budget film that spends the majority of their time and money on special effects. Sobe did the 3D thing which probably would have been a lot cooler if I actually had some 3D glasses. The dancing lizards and NFL stars were not as funny as the Sobe people thought when they were putting this thing together. I am not going to even count the Monsters vs. Aliens as a commercial since it was more like a short children's film.

I don't really expect much out of a business like GE, and that Scarecrow commercial confirmed what I already knew...television commercials are not their strong point.
Spend that money on clean, renewable energy or something!

I can't believe such a titan of the Super Bowl ads has made it to this part of my list, but alas, it is true...the Budweiser Clydesdales were really overkill this year. Enough of the damn horse. If I see them one more time I am gonna drive up to St. Louis and turn every one of those damn mascots into glue. The main reason Budweiser gets thrown into this category is because they are held to such a high standard. There were maybe one or two of their spots that made me grin, but overall their ads smelled like horse shit...more specifically, Clydesdale shit.

I don't expect much out of Taco Bell, and that is pretty much what I got.
Not impressed.

Monster.com, I have forgotten you already.

Overstock.com just bored me.

Anyone else I did not list on here I either forgot about or just did not feel like taking the time and finger energy to list. Basically, if they are not on the list, there is a good chance the ad falls into the BAD category.