Television
The Commercials of Super Bowl XLI
Reviewed by Melissa Minners
Most people tune in to the Super Bowl to watch the most important football game of the year. Still others tune in for the spectacular performances featured in the half-time show. But have you ever heard of anyone watching the Super Bowl for the commercials? If you’re an ad exec, you may have to, but some folks actually couldn’t care less about the game – they’d much rather watch the ads.
The most coveted advertising spots are on Super Bowl Sunday, during the one game
throughout the year that millions of viewers tune in to see. Thus, companies
spend cartloads of cash for the privilege to advertise during the Super Bowl.
Millions of potential buyers viewing your product – what more could you ask
for? A snappy ad! Over the years, ad execs have learned certain tricks that
will make television viewers buy their products. If you can make the commercial
entertaining, most likely the viewer will remember the product and quite
possibly will buy it. The all-time pros at this marketing technique:
Anheuser-Busch and
Coca-Cola. Who can forget the Budweiser Frogs, the Clydesdale commercials,
the feuding Dalmatian puppies or the
streaking
lamb? I’m sure no one can forget the
Coca-Cola ad in which a young fan hands Mean Joe Greene a Coke. This year,
during Super Bowl XLI, fans were treated to some of the most creative
commercials ever. Let’s take a look at some of the most memorable ones.
Budweiser treated us to several of those
commercials, starting off with the Rock, Paper, Scissors ad in which two friends
reach for the last Bud Light. Without taking their hands off the bottle, the
friends challenge each other to the age old Rock, Paper, Scissors game. Instead
of using his hand to simulate the rock, the one friend tosses a rock at the
other, knocking his friend flat and winning the bottle of ice cold Bud Light.
Later, two friends are attending a wedding ceremony. All the guys can think of
is getting to the beer, but the ceremony promises to be a long one. However,
one friend assures them that he has everything covered. In walks the auctioneer
he hired who finishes the ceremony in record time. Another Bud Light commercial
features comedian Carlos Mencia teaching an English As A Second Language class
in which he tells his st
udents how to ask for a Bud Light in different parts of
the United States. An ad for Budweiser follows a stray dog whose bad day
culminates in getting splashed with mud by a passing vehicle. He soon comes
upon a parade. Perched upon the top of a luxury carriage pulled by a team of
Clydesdales is a Dalmatian. Catching a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror,
the stray realizes he could pass for a Dalmatian and joins the parade. There
was the Bud Light slapping commercial in which friends and co-workers
congratulate each other on good fortune by slapping each other in the face. In
one ad, two gorillas trapped in a zoo plot a way to get a hold of a case of Bud
Light, while in another ad, a motorist contemplates the wisdom of picking up a
hitchhiker carrying an axe – after all, he is carrying a case of Bud Light!
Another ad folks are talking about is the Budweiser-stealing crabs commercial.
It was cute, but, in my opinion, not up to the usual Budweiser standards. The
Budweiser Select commercial featuring Jay-Z and Don Shula – also cute, but
hardly noteworthy.
Doritos featured ads by amateurs this year.
The company sponsored a contest called Crash the Super Bowl in which a bunch of
amateurs sent in ads, the best being chosen for coveted spots during the Super
Bowl. Perhaps the fresh minds were just the thing Doritos needed to put them on
top of the advertising chain. First, a young motorist is driving his car and
eating a bag of Doritos, when he spots a hot girl also partaking in a bag of
Doritos. As the two flirt, we are treated to a definition of each individual’s
character as defined by the style of Doritos chips they’re eating. My favorite
Doritos commercial was Checkout Girl. In this ad, a man brings a bunch of
different style Doritos chips to the checkout counter. As the checkout girl
begins ringing up the purchase, she comments on what sort of man he is depending
on the chips she’s ringing up. The two go back and forth and suddenly, a very
disheveled, but pleased checkout girl is calling for a clean-up at her
checkout. Too funny!
Coca-Cola didn’t really offer up much in the
memorable category with the exception of their Grand Theft Auto commercial. We
all know that the main character in the Grand Theft Auto video game is not a
nice guy – the meaner he is, the more fun the game play. That’s why this ad
stands out. Instead of performing harsh criminal acts, the main character is
spreading love and setting things right. His new outlook on life brought on by
drinking a bottle of Coke.
Other enjoyable commercials included:
For the most part, the
rest of the commercials that aired during the Super Bowl were less than
memorable. These were the spots which afforded people bathroom breaks or time
to get up and stretch / run for more snacks. Perhaps these commercials were
interspersed throughout the Super Bowl for just those reasons. And then, maybe
the marketing team that created those commercials just didn’t get it – the
commercials that run during the Super Bowl have to be glue-‘em-to-their-seats
memorable, or else, they're just a waste of millions of dollars of air time.
Let’s see how many companies get the hint. The success of the Super Bowl
commercials of 2007 could lead to a 2008 bombardment of hit commercial spots!
We’ll be watching!
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e-mail the author at
talonkarrde@g-pop-net.