Thankfully we were able to watch an exciting football game this year – because the commercials were a bore (once again). The first half especially! I actually noted the best spot of the first half was when the screen went black and we had 30 seconds of silence. Pretty. Darn. Pathetic.
Second half offered more entertainment value. NFL took up where they left off last year with very funny spots featuring the NY Giants. The “Time of My Life” spot where Eli hoisted Odell into the Dirty Dancing overhead lift was laugh out loud funny. And I appreciate that Eli is improving his acting skills and showing a sense of humor. His brother Payton has really mastered the post-football-career commercial endorsements role. Hopefully Eli will get there by the time of his retirement.
I know everyone is talking about the Tide Ads. I give them credit for putting in a great effort with the “clean” ads and tying back to old commercials, but maybe they should have gone with a Don’t Eat Tide Pods PSA – would have been more memorable. And speaking of PSAs…more companies showed up this year to take credit for all the important causes they support. Stella Artois giving water to third world countries, Budweiser providing water to hurricane-struck communities, Hyundai fighting pediatric cancer, Coke and T-Mobile promoting individualism and equality, Verizon saluting first responders… all good work and important issues but a tad self aggrandizing if you ask me.
I am glad Doritos and Mountain Dew came back strong this year. They certainly spent money producing the spots. And they did have interesting product positioning with the ice/fire (drink/chip) analogy. They were entertaining and catered to their younger audience whom appreciates rap (and celebrity lip singers I guess). But I am not all about the hype and costly production. I like the entertaining and simple humor of the Super Bowl commercials of old. Maybe I am just getting old!
If you ask me which of the spots were most entertaining and left a memorable impact, I have to give credit to the NBC (and Toyota) produced Olympic spots. They were beautifully edited, had great music beds and got me most excited about their product - the upcoming Olympics. True they have a great product to sell – but they did a great job selling it. (Unlike others)
Honorable mentions go to:
Febreze – “Bleep Don’t Stink” spot. Perfect product endorsement and very funny.
The Voice – Judges singing a country song. Especially Kelly Clarkson in her really, really, really, really long fabric-train.
Kia’s - Steve Tyler going back in time with “Dream On” ad. Two years in a row for Steve Tyler making an impact in the ads (and staying relevant).
E-Trade – Had seniors still working and singing, “I’m 85 and I want to go home” – also very funny and memorable.
And I give a nod to RAM Vikings ad – nice tie in to this year’s venue but then they blew it by using a MLK voice over in another ad to sell their trucks.
Thank you for the great football game – lets keep working on some great commercials for next year!