Super Bowl Sunday has become a picture of people waiting in eager anticipation of not only the game itself but also of - shocking as it would seem under normal circumstances - the advertisements shown during the broadcast.
Most of us can frequently be found sitting down to enjoy our favourite pre-recorded programs, gripping the remote control, thanking the technology gods for commercial-skip features on our DVRs. Contrary to the normal avoid-commercials-at-all-costs mindset to which most of us faithfully adhere, the promise of inspired, smart, funny and, sometimes, shocking Super Bowl ads has earned a special place in consumers' hearts. Any removal of self from couch is met with looming fear of missing a spot that will be Monday's hot watercooler topic.
This year, some ads hit the mark and some missed by a mile. Here's a summary of our thoughts on the matter:
Several companies stole the show with their clever use of American cultural icons - Macy's Thankgiving Day parade balloons, Democrat versus Republican politics - brought together by witty humour. Others, in spite of their best attempts, fell completely flat. E-Trade's talking baby ad felt totally done-already. Sobe's dancing model/lizards spot just lead to scratching one's head wondering how a model and a group of animated lizards - both re-enacting the dance sequence from Michael Jackson's Thriller - had anything to do with one another. Oh, wait, isn't the Sobe logo a lizard? Total disconnect. Just the lizards would've made more sense. Let's not even go there with the Salesgenie.com's animated racial stereotyping ads. Someone's gonna have picketers outside their corporate headquarters.
Coca-Cola ran several ads which were right on the money and spoke to what their brand promises it can do - bring people together and inspire passion. One spot features a pair of Macy's parade balloons chasing a Coca-Cola bottle-shaped balloon through the air high above the streets of New York. The spot ends with a third character - Charlie Brown - popping up and claiming the prize which is clearly, according to the ad's story - worth fighting for. Another Coke ad shows James Carville verbally sparring with Bill Frist and then the two crossing party lines to share a touristy trip through Washington DC after pausing for a bit of Coca-Cola refreshment.
Budweiser's "Clydsdale Team" ad features a horse who doesn't "make the team" but who is then inspired to train harder by a Dalmatian "coach". The spot closes with Hank making the team a year later and giving his coach a horse/dog high-five. Classic!
Pepsi also weighed in with a couple of great ads - "Nod" which was a play on the SNL skit/movie Night at the Roxbury and "Magnetic Attraction" which found Justin Timberlake being sucked through traffic and in near-misses with various vehicles every time someone took a sip of a Pepsi through a straw. The punchline: every sip of Pepsi gets you closer to winning a chance to meet JT.
Overall, Big Beverage stole the show, while everyone else fell well short of expectation, especially on such a widely-publicized stage.
Watch all the Super Bowl Ads and judge for yourself!
