Game? What Game?
Let's talk commercials!
Admittedly, nothing really blew me away last night during those segments 'twixt the on-field action. As The Glaswegian and commenters have discussed, the Clint Eastwood/Chrysler ad was two interminable minutes of unconvincing glurge. I have to admire GoDaddy.com's unflinching commitment to offensiveness, even if it is beginning to wear a little thin. Lots of car ads, most of which were unremarkable and/or missed opportunities. The Audi vampire ad had potential but ended up falling flat. Hyundai had several that were cute and clever but otherwise unmemorable; I do appreciate that they don't seem to take themselves too seriously. I enjoyed the Fiat commercial with the hot Italian chick (although I'm not sure how that one went over with the rest of the Rico-verse!). Jerry Seinfeld needs to retire and just go away. Budweiser and Pepsi were ubiquitous as always, but I was even less impressed with their efforts than usual. One of the electronics ads, for a phone (I think) with a stylus, was promising in its veiled jabs at Apple, but I wish it had been more explicit about it.
I think my favorite spot of the night was the post-apocalyptic Chevy trucks (the guy who drove the Ford didn't make it!). Memorable, funny, a little shocking at the end, didn't shy away from mentioning the competition, Twinkies. My nominee for the night's winner.
How about you?
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Comments:
May '10
Re: Game? What Game?
I was mainly struck by the way all the commercials were designed as if the entire Superbowl audience is composed of 15 year old boys obsessed with being cool and having cool stuff.
Embarrassing.
Mar '11
Re: Game? What Game?
I mostly paused/fast-forwarded through the commercials to shield my children. (The 16-yr-old Me would be devastated that the Grown-Up Me missed the Go Daddy spots!)
But I thought the Honda-Broderick spot was great. Releasing the concept sans product prior to the game allowed me to enjoy the commercial but also suckered me into noticing the car. Nice move on their part.
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
Well, katievs, there were two rather incongruous political ads too, for the non-15-year-old-boy-wanting-cool-stuff demographic:
The mayors talking about illegal guns and the anti-union mechanics.
But other than that, yeah.
Edited on February 6, 2012 at 3:22pmApr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
Casey: I mostly paused/fast-forwarded through the commercials to shield my children. (The 16-yr-old Me would be devastated that the Grown-Up Me missed the Go Daddy spots!)
But I thought the Honda-Broderick spot was great. Releasing the concept sans product prior to the game allowed me to enjoy the commercial but also suckered me into noticing the car. Nice move on their part.
Casey, I was about to mention the Matthew Broderick one. Do you really think it worked? That movie was made 26 years ago; it seemed so presumptuous that a wide audience would get the references. And how depressing that Matthew Broderick hasn't done anything memorable or noteworthy since then. But you're right that they got some buzz, which is really the whole point.
Sep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Fiat should be sued for using a woman that tall to advertise a car that small. Its certainly not something worth working yourself into a lather over.
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
You're right, there's no way those endless legs of hers could fit inside a Fiat. Good thing it was all just a fantasy.
Jul '10
Re: Game? What Game?
I thought the Bridgestone commercial with the football made of tire rubber was pretty funny, though the commercial with the tire rubber basketball was a miss. And I think the Honda Broderick commercial worked because the target demographic for the CR-V (parents in their mid to late 30s with three or fewer youngish children) have fond memories of Broderick as Bueller.
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
I suppose that's true about the target demo for the CR-V. But I still thought it was a little depressing (maybe because I am in that target demo!).
Edited on February 6, 2012 at 3:59pmSep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Charlotte
You're right, there's no way those endless legs of hers could fit inside a Fiat. Good thing it was all just a fantasy. · 30 minutes ago
I was making a verbal play on the pornification of the foam, rather than criticizing your reaction. If you would like my straight opinion on leggy Italian woman: all I can recall is the upraised arms, the shouting, the face slap. I'm glad most Starbuck's baristas are more professional.
Sep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
katievs: I was mainly struck by the way all the commercials were designed as if the entire Superbowl audience is composed of 15 year old boys obsessed with being cool and having cool stuff.
Embarrassing. · 56 minutes ago
If someone can explain to me the demographic calculations involved in Madonna pitching her wares during the Superbowl, I'd love to hear it.
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
Pseudodionysius
Charlotte
You're right, there's no way those endless legs of hers could fit inside a Fiat. Good thing it was all just a fantasy. · 30 minutes ago
I was making a verbal play on the pornification of the foam, rather than criticizing your reaction. If you would like my straight opinion on leggy Italian woman: all I can recall is the upraised arms, the shouting, the face slap. I'm glad most Starbuck's baristas are more professional. · 1 minute ago
Oh, Pseudo, I got that. I should've included a :-) at the end of my comment.
:-)
Jun '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Charlotte
Casey: [...] But I thought the Honda-Broderick spot was great. Releasing the concept sans product prior to the game allowed me to enjoy the commercial but also suckered me into noticing the car. Nice move on their part.
Casey, I was about to mention the Matthew Broderick one. Do you really think it worked? That movie was made 26 years ago; it seemed so presumptuous that a wide audience would get the references. And how depressing that Matthew Broderick hasn't done anything memorable or noteworthy since then. But you're right that they got some buzz, which is really the whole point. · 35 minutes ago
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is one of those movies, that somehow, everybody has seen. It's kind of like "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." That's over twenty years old too, but nearly everybody has seen it.
Sep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Pseudodionysius
Charlotte
You're right, there's no way those endless legs of hers could fit inside a Fiat. Good thing it was all just a fantasy. · 30 minutes ago
I was making a verbal play on the pornification of the foam, rather than criticizing your reaction. If you would like my straight opinion on leggy Italian woman: all I can recall is the upraised arms, the shouting, the face slap. I'm glad most Starbuck's baristas are more professional. · 2 minutes ago
And the comments on the Youtube video are hilarious: likely the company would prefer you don't read them as they don't reflect too well on the vehicle.
Sep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Gotta go with the monkeys in the commercial for the jobs website. Don't remember the name of the website, but those monkeys are always hilarious.
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
Doesn't FIAT stand for Fix It Again, Tony?
Apr '11
Re: Game? What Game?
Good one, MBF. I forgot about the CareerBuilder.com chimps.
Aug '11
Re: Game? What Game?
The one with the guy having the greatest dream ever. I was surprised, most of the commercials fell flat or were over-the-top. Elton John selling Pepsi comes to mind.
Nov '10
Re: Game? What Game?
I read yesterday that Ford tried to get the ad pulled...claiming that "according to insurance industry data it is Ford, and not GM, that makes the safer pickup truck."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-Ford-feud-Super-Bowl-ad-rb-3842596798.html?x=0
Typical government operation. What truth in advertising? lol. But I'm glad you liked it, Charlotte since we all pretty much paid for it. Right?
Overall, I was struck with the level of violence in so many ads. For me, none of them can match last year's little boy playing Darth Vadar ad.
May '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Re: The Fiat Commercial
Obama's hand-picked Chrysler overlords do not understand the basic American male. Yes, we want the leggy Italian vixen. No, we do not want the tiny Italian car. We want to make love to her in the back seat of a big ol' SUV or in the bed of an F-150 (with or without the Bill Clinton astroturf.)
Sep '10
Re: Game? What Game?
Charlotte
Doesn't FIAT stand for Fix It Again, Tony? · 16 minutes ago
At one time we used to call FORD Found On the Road Dead