Super Bowl XL – I Watched All The Ads

How’s this for a shallow life with little purpose – I’ve just watched all the ads from tonight’s Super Bowl!

I wasn’t paying total attention during the game, so I actually went online to find a Super Bowl ad site.

Of course there’s one. There are probably dozens more.

Amazingly, in order to watch the commercials on AOL, you are subjected to additional ‘interstitial’ commercials.

So, here we go with a little summary of what I liked, in no particular order.

FedEx Cavemen – Can an ad be stupid and clever at once? This one was. I especially enjoyed the CG animation at the end where the caveman kicks a prehistoric animal and is then crushed by a giant foot.

Sierra Mist – Kathy Griffin, Michael Ian Black, and some guy I recognize by can’t identify. She’s very funny, and this ad is all about her.

Sprint Crime Deterrent – one guy actually throws his cellphone at the other guy. Priceless. It’s a great payoff to an otherwise ‘laundry list’ spot.

DisneyWorld – If Oscar winners can bring a little piece of paper on-stage listing all the people they want to thank, athletes can practice saying, “I’m going to DisneyWorld.”

Budweiser Clydesdale – I find most beer commercials sophomoric. OK – I don’t drink, so maybe I just don’t get it. The little Clydesdale pushing the wagon, secretly assisted by a larger Clydesdale, was very sweet. A sweet beer commercial!

Poseidon – Does this movie really need to be remade? Where’s Gene Hackman or Shelley Winters? Anyway, as your meteorologist let me be the first to tell you, tidal waves are barely noticeable in open water. They only crest nearshore.

Sprint Ringtones – Is there a more overpriced commodity than cellphone ringtones? Still, this commercial from Sprint took it all with tongue-in-cheek, especially the homage to Benny Hill featuring (what sounded like) Ronnie Aldrich’s original Yakety Sax.

Hummer H3 – I had no idea where this spot was going. When one monster got pregnant, I was really stumped. Giving birth to a Hummer was a reasonably good payoff.

Early this evening, to help fill time, a football game was played between these commercials.

One thought on “Super Bowl XL – I Watched All The Ads”

  1. As another person that puts up with a Super Bowl football game so I can see the best that Madison avenue has to offer, I must admit, this year’s advertisements were pretty disappointing.

    One blog entry I found that sums it up fairly nicely is B.L. Ochman’s Super Bowl Ads: Wake Me When Madison Avenue Gets a Clue.

    In it she says:

    Madison Avenue, and the corporations that funded the obscenely expensive ads on the Super Bowl blew it. They wouldn’t get the value of social media if it came up and bit them on the ass.

    Every single $2.6 million 30 second ad that ran on the Super Bowl will fade from memory in under 24 hours – and every single one missed an opportunity to engage millions of people online.

    The agencies choked last night. Where is the interactivity? Where is the viral element? Where’s the integration with blog advertising

    That summed up, pretty nicely, my reaction as well.

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