My team wasn't playing in the Super Bowl, but I have no problem having it on to watch the commercials. Of course, that isn't anything special anymore. There are plenty of people who tune in mainly for the commercials. The game was interesting, but I'm more concerned with what you thought of the commercials. Let me tell you what I though...
Pepsi
Maybe it's because I don't like Pepsi in the first place, but the Pepsi commercials were incredibly uninspired. They attempted to be interesting and different with their Elton John spot, but it failed to inspire. Later on in the evening, they showed a commercial starring a Coke employee trying to buy a Pepsi Max. Of course, he wins a sweepstakes because he is the umpteenth customer to buy one. Unfortunately, this is the umpteenth time this type of commercial has been done. They bring nothing new to it, hence doing nothing to imbed the brand in your head.
Audi
I know vampires are the hot thing right now, but the premise of the Audi vampire commercial didn't make sense. LED lights do not release UV rays, which are often cited as the component that vaporizes vampires. Before you start in on me, I know vampires are not real. Different pieces of literature treat vampires differently. That doesn't make the commercial any less silly. Audi was essentially trying to sell their extremely expensive car based on the headlights. What probably happened was that someone at the advertising firm decided vampires were "hot" and attempted to come up to a way to tie it to a car for Audi.
Hyundai
It is pretty commonplace to have fast animals race cars that are supposed to be fast. It's not too often that the car company lets the cheetah attempt to eat the handler. I was all set to see a typical car commercial and was pleasantly surprised to see them turn things on their head.
M&Ms
Naked M&Ms are funny.
Coca-Cola
I generally like Coke's advertising, including the polar bears. For some reason, putting scarves on them makes it weird. I recognzie that the scarves were to denote the teams they were rooting for, but they were just a bit too anthropomorphic. The commercials themselves were kind of cute, but making the bears that human was akin to watching a movie that tap dances on the edge of the uncanny valley. It just felt wrong.
Silverado
I grew up in a house that usually had Fords, but I have to give it to the Silverado Apocolypse commercial was great. They successfully communicated the trucks abilities in a humorous ad. Because of how the commercial played out, I even remembered that it was for the Silverado. When you consider how many commercials for cars play during the Super Bowl, that's quite a feat.
Go Daddy
These ads are uninspired. They have been uninspired and continue to re-use the same promise of sex and nudity to sell their product. There are ways to sell a product utilizing sex, and I don't have a problem with that. What I find offensive is how lazy Go Daddy is. It's time to actually attempt to be creative.
Battleship
Who approved this movie??
Budweiser
Bud had a hit and a miss for me. The ad that focused on the end of prohibition wasn't spectacular. We all know that prohibition happened, and I'm not surprised that Bud was around then. What I did like was their commercial that showed their presence throughout multiple eras. It did a much better job establishing history and establishing a sense of familiarity, and I don't even drink beer.
John Carter
A preview that primarily takes place within the text of the title minimizes exposure to the film. A trailer that featured scenes from the film without weird framing would have been much more effective. Heck, showing one of the trailers that has been running would have been a better choice.
VW
I liked the Star Wars kid commercial last year, and I liked this commercial as well. I liked it before it turned to Star Wars, but I appreciated how they attempted to tie the two seperate ideas together. I also appreciated that we weren't treated to a ton of terrible CGI in the Star Wars part. Apparently, George Lucas didn't get his paws on it. Ha...paws. Anyway, the Star Wars tie-in was based solely on last year's commercial, which is risky. It's also a bit cheap. Fortunately for them, the commercial is funny.
Doritos
The Doritos commercials are pretty much the same every year. They might elicit a chuckle, but their advertising is becoming stale. I was more concerned that they have to warn people not to sling-shot their baby. I know they always put those warnings up, but it's a shame people need that warning.
Bridgestone
I don't really have a tire preference, but Bridgestone made a mark with their commercials. They were smart enough to have them sports related since a good deal of the audience obviously enjoys sports. The fact that they were clever was a great touch. The tie between tires and sports isn't obvious, and thinking outside the box has given Bridgestone two great commercials. I only wish I could buy the silent basketball and the curvy football.
NFL
While the NFL doesn't really need to run a commercial during the Super Bowl, I appreciate that they chose to run a good one. Them running a promo during the Super Bowl is kind of like a theater running a promo for themselves when you are already in the theater. The NFL at least ran a well done, well edited commercial.
Honda
Maybe it's just because I spend a lot of time on film sites, but it seemed that the Honda/Broderick ad was hyped. I know it was available online almost a week ago, but I didn't watch it until tonight. I can appreciate a movie homage, but I could take the ad or leave it. It was well done and definitely evocative of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but all the hype may have hurt it.
All in all, the commercials weren't too bad, but a lot of the regular advertisers have grown stale. If the advertisers hope to keep drawing people in year after year, they had better re-evaluate what they're doing and improve. I only mentioned commercials that either excited me or annoyed me. There were a lot of advertisers that were just middle of the road, and that is definately not the reaction you want when you spend that kind of money for ad time.
Also, the half-time show was pretty good.
(Moved from FB - February 5, 2012)
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