In a very, very close game, with only a few minutes remaining, the Steelers scored a touchdown to pull ahead & ultimately steal the SuperBowl Championship from the Cardinals. If you’re anything like me, though, the game couldn’t capture your attention as much as the commercials did. But just in case you missed some, here’s a breakdown of my top 5 best and worst commercials during SuperBowl XLIII:
The Good
This commercial is 30 seconds of action-packed adventure. Jason Stratham, the new go-to car chase guy, was the perfect pick to do this commercial. Stratham goes from Mercedes to BMW to Lexus, unsatisfied until he spots the Audi. It’s a subtle way of saying “we’re better than the competition” because they don’t come right out and say it, but any person who knows their cars would recognize the unmistakable logos of the other car companies.
Even in times of recession, people just can’t seem to give up their Bud. The commercial is both funny and effective because it’s able to make light of the current crisis. The ad also affirms Bud’s place in American society, commenting on how seriously people take their Bud.
This commercial is very reminiscent of the late 90s/early 00s Nike commercials that created a sentimental bond between the viewer and the brand. The melding of celebrity athletes and Average Joe’s make you realize the breadth of Gatorade’s reach as a product.
I was definitely LMAO at this spot. Web slang has, sadly, replaced a large part of our vocabulary, and it’s nice to see someone poke fun at this fact. Laughing too hard can definitely cause stomach stitches, so is it really that far-fetched that laughter could make your ass fall off? (Okay, it is still a little far fetched).
In contrast to the rest of NBC’s whopping 5 minutes of ad space, this one wasn’t too in-your-face about promoting the shows, making you actually appreciate the comedy that NBC seems to be so good at honing.
Coke’s Avatar commercial sort of tried to hit at the idea of Cola being a unifier of the changing times, but Pepsi did a much better job of it. The back & forth between the 60’s and now is a much more powerful juxtaposition of how much of what we hold dear remains the same, even if the world around us is changing.
The Bad
Oh Conan, what were you thinking? This ad first aired in Sweden, then made it’s US debut at the SuperBowl, but does anyone out there get why it’s (supposed to be) funny? Maybe the Swedes got a riot out of this, but this is clearly a case of the humor being lost in translation.
I think the idea behind this lies somewhere around “so easy a baby can do it,” but it’s a message lost amid the talking babies. It could also be a commentary on how kids are becoming tech-savvy at an increasingly younger age. However, none of this really suggests that E*Trade is a competent financial services company. In this environment, people are evaluating every financial decision seriously – especially which firms they trust to handle their money. Maybe it’s time for E*Trade to start taking themselves more seriously.
I had no idea what GoDaddy.com is or what they do. Watching Danica Patrick shower doesn’t really give me much of a clue either. All I could gather from the commercial is that maybe they house softcore porn, but then how could they advertise during the SuperBowl? After actually visiting the site, I found out they sell domain names. Who would’ve guessed?
Lizards dancing with Naomi Campbell was creepy enough. Lizards dancing with NFL players is even more (if possible) absurd. Also, you have to already know to make the association from Lizard to SoBe to drink to know what the commercial is for. The ad makes no effort to help you make the leap.
I’m not really sure how much of a difference there is between flowers in a box and flowers not in a box. Don’t most companies have a freshness guarantee either way? If the recipient isn’t there, does the delivery person just leave the flowers on the step? In that case, I would rather the flowers come in a box, to protect from whatever environmental elements may wreak havoc on them as they wait.
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