It’s not a secret that the Super Bowl is only partially about the game. These days, the winner of the game doesn’t come from the NFC or the AFC, but from the bottom line of the companies willing to air commercials at advertising’s Mecca.
Thirty-second commercial spots during this year’s game went for $2.7 million each, according to CNNMoney.com, but with so many Fox promotions during the game — the time when ads are supposed to be best — this year’s Super Bowl commercials left me wondering if it’s really worth all the hype and expense.
I was planning to write about my 10 favorite ads, but I don’t think I can manage it without straining, because, let’s face it, there just weren’t that many good ones. So here’s my favorite six instead:
6. Microsoft Sync - doctor’s office: In a more politically incorrect version of similar ads, people find that not every appliance responds to their voices the way the Microsoft and Ford Sync voice response system does. In this edition, a doctor finds out through his patient’s squirming that the anesthesia machine doesn’t listen to commands. What’s not funny about medical malpractice?
5. Coke - Parade floats: Inflatable balloons of Stewie and Underdog pursue an inflatable Coke bottle. I like “Family Guy.” I like Underdog. I like pop. It was pretty effective and played on some childhood sentimentalism.
4. Vitamin Water - Shaq the jockey: Shaq, fueled by the nutrients in Vitamin Water spurs a racehorse to a very unlikely victory. As if that premise isn’t amusing enough, the producers throw in a shot of a little kid picking his nose.
3. The Audi R8 “Godfather” parody”: An old man wakes up with the front of a car in his bed. Outside is the menacing profile of the new Audi R8. I instantly want that car.
2. Budweiser - Clydesdale montage: A horse can’t make it for pulling the Bud wagon, so he trains with a dalmatian to make the team the next year. At the end, the horse and dog share a knowing wink and a computer animated high five.
1. Bud Light - fire power/wheel (tie): OK, it’s cheap to have a tie, but I can’t decide between these two. In fire, a man with fire breathing abilities gained from drinking Bud Light sets his date’s apartment on fire when his allergies kick in. In the wheel commercial, cavemen discover that early use of the wheel was heavy and didn’t actually speed things up. It’s made funnier at the end when you find out how ineffective early can openers were, too.
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