When watching sporting events, I tend to watch the action play out and go to the bathroom during the commercial breaks. The Super Bowl, however, poses a unique challenge. Not only is a football game on that you want to watch, but the commercials are also required viewing. The next day, as you stand around the proverbial water cooler, people will not only be gabbing about the football game. No, sir, they will be talking about that hilarious beer commercial with that dude who did that thing while that attractive woman stood there disapprovingly. As such, I have decided to go through the ads and choose the most remarkable or remarkably bad for you to view and judge along with me. BEGIN!
Volkswagon
This seems to be the consensus pick for the best ad of the night, and indeed it is adorably awesome in every way. Forget the fact that the father becomes the enabler. This is just about the perfect Super Bowl commercial. It's funny while remaining wholesome.
Doritos
Doritos was back with a vengeance again, as always. This year they produced three ads, and looking through them again, the first two are quite effective. Because: 1) who doesn't want to market their product as magical? and 2) who doesn't love some great physical comedy involving dogs? The third one, however, features one of the most terrifyingly creepy people in the history of the advertising medium.
Best Buy
Curse you, Justin Bieber. You continue to win me over day after day. Strictly speaking, I strongly dislike your music. However, time after time you always seem fully aware of the ridiculousness of your fame. You were quite good in your Saturday Night Live appearance this past weekend (particularly the Roommate bit with Andy Samberg), and now here you are in a pretty solid Best Buy ad alongside Ozzy Osbourne. I may not like you, Justin Bieber. But darn it all do I respect you.
Budweiser/Bud Light
Predictably, there are several of these:
Now, none of these exactly reinvent the wheel. The good news is that none of them are unusually misogynistic, particularly after the ads last year were pretty mean-spirited. The bad news, these are also wholly unspectacular. The lone standout is the "wild west" ad featuring Peter Stormare. I'll also give the product placement one a little bit of credit as well.
CarMax
This one's quite good. It's clever, looks good and doesn't offend anyone.
Coca-Cola
Darn it all, Coca-Cola. You just make some of the more heart-warming ads out there year after year. Also, it's done with minimal use of dialogue, if any at all. Hats off to you. You were able to stay respectable last night, unlike a certain other soda company...
Pepsi Max
As you watch these three ads from Pepsi Max, you grow more depressed by the second. The first one starts out fine enough, but then ends on an incredibly sour note. It is well known that Super Bowl commercials usually use physical comedy and attractive women to grab our attention. This ad kills both birds with one stone. The second ad is not particularly clever, nor is it appropriate for an event which is supposed to be family friendly. Finally, the third is just advertising at its least imaginative. A cooler that shoots Pepsi Max? Wha? Also, groin shots. All this for a beverage which tastes like a chemistry experiment gone bad. Nobody wins here. I will give Pepsi credit for one thing: it was not responsible for the most horrifying depiction of a first date. That award goes to...
Chevrolet
Real time Facebook status updates! For the creep in us all! I mean, really?! Plus, this commercial has a very strange vibe to it. My guess is this guy's bedroom wall has his date's picture all over it. When he gets home tonight, he will stare at this wall with a satisfied grin on his face. Phase one complete.
Bridgestone
Two very strong ads from our friends at Bridgestone. The first one is better, but I give the second bonus points for taking a joke that's been done to death (reply all) and still making it relatively hilarious. One thing: why is the thumbnail so creepy?
Chrysler
Admittedly, I've never been to Detroit. But this is pretty cool.
Groupon
Hey, Tibet! Timothy Hutton says screw you! Just give him your curry and go away already! (And people call America materialistic...)
Mini Countryman
No. Just no.
NFL
This is a really cool ad. Not only is it impressive technologically, but apparently Kramer from Seinfeld was a Buffalo Bills fan. I'm not alone, everyone!
...AND WE END WITH MOVIE ADS.
There were many movie ads last night as well. Most of them were unremarkable, featuring footage you can see in various trailers that have already been released. However, there were two trailers I want to highlight, one for good reasons and one for bad reasons.
I'll start with the bad:
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
I'll be the first to admit that the early teaser that came out for Transformers: Dark of the Moon was actually pretty well done. It provided a new angle that actually tried to promote the movie as something different than what came before. Sadly, the Super Bowl ad from last night did no such thing. Based on these 30 seconds, the film will be close to the exact same thing as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was an endless, soulless, oppressively awful experience. However, one can not form an opinion on this movie based on a few out-of-context clips. It's just that Michael Bay isn't helping his own cause.
And now the good. And by good I mean freaking awesome:
Super 8
Words cannot describe how much I love these 30 seconds. J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg have kept the details of Super 8 under wraps for a long time, and this teaser doesn't tell us much more. Everything it does show, however, looks nothing less than breathtaking. It appears to be similar to something Spielberg would have made in the '70s or '80s, and that is as good a thing as I can think to say. This ad is intended merely to whet our appetites. Well, it's done that and more. I'm drooling uncontrollably.
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Well, that's that then. I've omitted a handful of ads either because they are unspectacular, or because I don't want to give them any additional press. (I'm looking at you, GoDaddy.com.)
If you have anything else to add in the comments, feel free. Otherwise, have a good year full of groin shots, magical Doritos and Facebook stalking from your car!
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