The Super Bowl ads are sometimes more anticipated each year than the game itself. These commercials usually leave us laughing hard and wanting more. Honestly, it’s the only time I can say that Americans actually stay put for commercials and enjoy watching them. Some viewers would rather get up during the game. This year, however, I felt a bit jaded.
Most of the ads left me with a blank stare as I sat on the couch pondering, “so,was that it?” Those commercials included the “One Second” ad which belonged to the Miller Brewing Company. The GoDaddy.com commercials are another fine example especially where they showed Danica Patrick in a shower, then at court in a separate video in a cleavage war. Don’t get me wrong, sex is great, but to sell a domain name, I just don’t get it.
Some of the ads I couldn’t wait to get off the screen, like the ones from Career Builder.com. These were awful, especially that mounted moose in the CEO’s room and across the wall, the guy had to work with the rest of the moose on his desk just inches from a brown mud facial. Then, there was the one where everyone was screaming, and that koala got punched in the face, over and over again. I wanted to find the fast forward button.
On the moderately amusing side, the flowers from FTD put a smile on my face, yet it was still a little boring. This lady in an office opens a box of flowers, that to her dismay, are wilted and brown with a nasty temper. They start insulting her looks, her intelligence, and then ends the commercial with “no one wants to see you naked.” I was hoping they would have something else because that was horrible, and to my surprise, they did. The commercial comes back with an office nerd standing next to the insulted woman and he says, ”I’d like to see you naked” and she shows him the hand. This part saved the commercial for me.
The biggest blunder came from the much awaited 3D commercial. It was probably one of the most expensive commercials made that night. It was funny with Matt Light of the New England Patriots dancing in a white onesie on a color free stage. The graphics and animation were fabulous. So, where’s the blunder? It came outside the box, no pun intended. The commercial was fine; it’s the marketing department that made the faux pas. After the client spent millions on the making of this commercial for a great 3D experience for the viewers, do you remember receiving any 3D glasses? I looked in Sunday’s paper and there were no glasses there. I went to the super market a few times this week, but never once did I see a display for glasses. The marketing department for the commercial forgot one small detail. They forgot to give out the glasses after they finished the commercial. I don’t know about you, but usually when something like this is coming, there are usually glasses for free in the newspaper or at a store. I would say that would be especially true in Tampa, where the Super Bowl was. Alas, no glasses were found and a potentially great commercial was reduced to just ordinary. After all, I always have a pair of 3D glasses sitting in my drawer for just such an occasion (that was sarcastic, by the way). If I were the company who paid for the commercial, there would be a lawsuit pending and I would be at my lawyer’s at 8:00 A.M on Monday morning.
The best commercials to me were from Pepsi, eTrade, Budweiser and Doritos. They were light and funny, but these veterans have been doing this for years. Pepsi had the “I’m Good” commercial where people were getting brutally hurt yet they stood up and took it like men, smoking from the electric shock and all. Great commercial.
Budweiser had good commercials as they always do. They really weren’t funny but had some great twists, such as the horse fetching the tree. It was a great ad. Budweiser has always been known to have memorable commercials that are clean and breathtaking, with some bits of fun in them to keep you on your toes.
Doritos was by far the best of the night. The commercial featured the magic snow globe that the man says is real. “Will the office have free Doritos today?” He then throws the globe through the machine. “I’d say that’s a yes!” His co-worker grabs the globe and asks a question. “Will I be getting a promotion today?” He then throws the globe at the door as his boss comes walking through, nailing him below the belt. This was hilarious.
In all, I give the commercials a B-. Most of them were terrible, but some of them came through. I have seen far better commercials in Super Bowl nights past, therefore, I was somewhat disappointed with last night’s line up. Thank you to Pepsi, Budweiser and Doritos for saving the night.
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