Super Bowl ads, second half
Posted: Sunday, February 04, 2007 5:10 PM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
TV commercials
That first post was getting a little long, so I'm moving the Super Bowl TV commercial discussion over to a whole new post. You can still read and post about the first-half commercials, though.
Short version: Budweiser's stray dog turned Dalmatian is very cute. He's about the only ad that's received resoundingly positive comments, and we haven't even seen a Clydesdale-starring ad yet.
Just a note: If anyone sees a regional ad that they think is worth commenting on, feel free to describe it in the comments, since we all see different ones at certain times. Here in Seattle we just saw a Washington Mutual ad that I am guessing is regional. It involved a bunch of old naked bankers who were thrilled because they can bank online without getting dressed. Yeah, that's about it. I had to TiVo it and watch it again to see if I was missing the point, but...no. Uh, those were some pale and scrawny naked legs, there.
My colleague Sunny Wu continues to refuse to swap blogs with me. Thanks a lot, pal. Obviously, he knows a good thing when he sees it, and he has the far more interesting subject matter this year.
ETRADE: BANK ROBBERY
Yes, we do feel our banks rob us.
COKE: RUBE GOLDBERG-ESQUE MACHINE
Cute. This feels more like a real Super Bowl ad to me. It looks like it took some time to prepare, and it reminds me of the old "Mousetrap" game. Someone has commented that the Coke ads have all been shown in movie theaters. Remember when there were no commercials in movie theaters? Seems like 100 years ago.
BUD LIGHT: MONKEYING AROUND
I'm a sucker for the animals. I liked this one. Wait, what'd ya say?
SHERYL CROW COLORS HER HAIR
Sheryl Crow colors her hair: Film at 11! Tom in Manhattan wants to know if I'm happy now, what with my earlier ranting about how the ads are all aimed at beer-swilling "Animal House" types. Happy? Not until she pours a pitcher of water on her shirt! Oh, OK, just kidding. I give you this: That ad was definitely not aimed at "Animal House" types.
OFFICE TYPES GO 'GLADIATOR' FOR CAREER BUILDER
Heh, I liked this one more than their other ad. Thumbs-up for the Post-It-Note suit and the three-ring binder-heads.
TACO BELL LIONS
It's no Budweiser muddy puppy, but it's fun anyway. They've saved the better ads for the second half, I guess -- or at least the funny animal ads.
VAN HEUSEN SHIRTS
No one can say this one didn't appeal to the women, what with the shirtless stud doffing his VanHeusen shirt.
TUNDRA: TRUCK STOPS ON A RAMP
If I want a truck that I can drive in "Fear Factor," this is it.
EMERALD NUTS: ROBERT GOULET MESSES WITH YOUR STUFF
Robert Goulet channels Michael Scott from "The Office." I am pretty sure I have never heard of this snack brand.
SIR CHARLES AND DWYANE WADE: T-MOBILE
"Is this your dad?" Is this an old ad, or just similar to one I've seen before? It reminds me of seeing an interview with Sacha Baron Cohen in character as Borat, where he says he was thrilled to see "Ashton Kutcher and his mom Demi Moore" at his movie premiere, or some such.
DON'T JUDGE BY OUR NAME: FED EX GROUND
This reminded me of those jokes we loved in grade school: What do you call a guy in the ocean with no arms and legs? Bob! Ha ha...ha?
K-FED FOR NATIONWIDE
The most talked-about ad before the game: K-Fed working the fryer. If only it were true, but instead K-Fed is turning down $25 million as not enough to support his lifestyle.
HITCHHIKER WITH AN AXE: BUD LIGHT
At first I thought that was the Geico caveman, but it was just a crazy simulation. But I liked this one for its broad humor and the shock in the voice of Axe Man as he spots Leatherface's chainsaw-toting kin. Also, I just watched the original "Hitcher," so I am not offering a ride to anyone.
ACURA: HELPING PEOPLE ADVANCE
We were supposed to have hovercraft! They promised us hovercraft!
JACK IN THE BOX: JACK'S KID WANTS TO BE A VEGETARIAN
Is this national or regional? We didn't have Jack in the Box fast fooderies in Minnesota where I used to live, but even if this isn't national, it's pretty funny. The son of the Jack in the Box clown gives a school speech saying he wants to be a vegetarian, but it turns out he means "veterinarian." Reminds me of the 1980s song "Cause I'm a Blonde," where Julie Brown sing-says "I just want to say that being chosen as this month's Miss August is like, a compliment I'll remember for as long as I can. Right now I'm a freshman in my fourth year at UCLA, but my goal is to become a veterinarian, 'cause I love children."
CRABS BOW DOWN TO BUDWEISER
Animal ads. Hard to lose with animal ads, I'm tellin' ya. My pal Sunny makes the joke that had to be made: "The beach ... crabs ... Budweiser -- sounds like a bad spring break I had during college."
PRUDENTIAL: ROCKS HAVE MANY PURPOSES
Reminds me of a project in a class I took where we had to create an ad campaign for a regular ol' rock. I marketed mine as a pesticide-free insect repellent. However, readers have a more-modern interpretation, as several comments refer to the fact that "a rock" sounded to them like "Iraq."
ELVIS HAS BURNING LOVE FOR THE CR-V
The car ads are just all running together for me, but I like the song.
AMERICAN CHOPPER GUYS FOR HP
This just reminds me I used to really like "American Chopper." And now I don't even know if it's still on.
IZOD SNOW GLOBE/BEACH
Izod is still around? Do they still have the little alligators and the popped collars? They pretty much owned every high school hallway in the 1980s, even for those of us who were as far from preppy as you could be.
JAY-Z AND DON SHULA: FUTURISTIC FOOTBALL-CHESS FOR BUD
Bud is just flooding the zone with ads. I'm not sure where they were going with this one, except to make people say "Huh, Jay-Z and Don Shula, wouldn't have pegged them for chess players."
FLOMAX
That was great of "Saturday Night Live" to let them slip in a parody ad there, considering "SNL" runs on a different network and all. Wait, what? It's not?
ONE FINGER IS VERY POWERFUL: ETRADE
They forgot one powerful use of a single finger: If you are a Mooninite, you can shut down Boston. I liked this ad, though: Save Holland! And as someone in the comments noted, it sure did look like the Geico caveman was the accused murderer.
CAREER BUILDER GUYS STILL RE-ENACTING 'SURVIVOR'
Those binder clips on the guy's chest looked pretty darn painful. I wouldn't have expected this ad campaign to be a series, but I think the ads are improving as the game goes on. Or maybe I'm just getting woozy.
HONDA CARS SWERVE AROUND TRAFFIC CONES
See what I mean? The car ads are just all running together. That could have been any car model out there, and unless I'm going to be driving around traffic cones in the desert, the visuals don't make me want to buy a car.
GO DADDY MARKETING RERUN
Hey, why not start rerunning them? We might have missed the subtle nuances the first time around.
GREEN TEA SNAPPLE: WHAT IS EGCG?
Still don't know what EGCG is, still don't really care.
NFL: RECOVERING FROM FOOTBALL
Oh yeah, you're laughing, but this is a pretty apt depiction of how many football fans are about to feel in about a half-hour. Liked the jazz funeral music. Hey, Brett Favre. There's a guy who needs a new agent -- he can just never seem to get any publicity. You never hear or read about what he might be doing.
AND...GAME!
What, no Clydesdales?
Thanks for following along with me, and for your comments, inevitably wittier than mine.
Couple notes:
--If you want to read a really interesting story about the big game, check out this NY Times piece on the shirts that are made proclaiming each team the big winner. (Note: I'm having trouble with the Times link at the moment, but am leaving the mention up in hopes it will get fixed.) The losers' shirts are quietly shipped off to be worn thousands of miles away, by people who don't care who won or lost, but are happy to have a shirt. And the story also discusses how Reebok workers have to carefully stalk the sidelines with the shirts, ready to get them into the stars' hands as soon as the clock runs out. I found it fascinating. If you need a NY Times login, try BugMeNot.
--Our business section is asking you to vote on your favorite ad, in an NCAA-tournament style bracket. Please check it out.
Thanks again!
