The Unofficial 2007 Super Bowl XLI Commercial Thread

[Easy Mac]

So CBS seems to be showing the newer commercials. The Pepsi commercial was decent, the Beckham part was pretty amusing. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the Reggie Bush/Martha Stewart "Cumin" had to be a dig at Rachel Ray.

[oykib]

I liked the car commercial where the cars are driving on the buildings. More specifically I liked the disclaimer, "this is a Fantasy. Vehicles cannot really drive on buildings."

[kingfc22]

Yea, the Pepsi one with Beckham one was pretty good.

[Logan]

I would love 4 hours worth of Geico caveman commercials.

[kingfc22]

"I threw a rock" HAHA

[Eaglesfan27]

That Dorito's commercial was funny.

[KWhit]

I would love 4 hours worth of Geico caveman commercials.

Heh. Me too. That guy is awsome.

[Easy Mac]

You spent 2.5 million on an ad, you can't spring for HD salesgenie?

[Eaglesfan27]

You spent 2.5 million on an ad, you can't spring for HD salesgenie?


Exactly what I was thinking - not to mention that the rest of the ad sucked.

[Celeval]

...are the Sierra Mist ones supposed to be funny?

[Logan]

Dear Sierra Mist,

You suck.

[TazFTW]

You spent 2.5 million on an ad, you can't spring for HD salesgenie?

They used salesgenie to get the ad space for free.

[Easy Mac]

that was....... disturbing

[kingfc22]

Snickers = not funny, not funny

[st.cronin]

Ok, that snickers one got a big laugh out of me.

[Easy Mac]

Ok, that snickers one got a big laugh out of me.

notes that st. cronin is also a Tom Brady fan...:p

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

that was the..... gayest..... commercial...ever

[st.cronin]

notes that st. cronin is also a Tom Brady fan...:p

:D

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm a bit surprised it got by the censors. I thought most shows with same sex kisses (even very brief ones) were much later in the evening or on cable.

[Celeval]

Yeah, the Snickers one kinda sucked.

[GoldenEagle]

"No Speak English"

[kingfc22]

Candace Michelle used to be so much hotter.

[Easy Mac]

so how much did the cbs ad cost?

[Logan]

so how much did the cbs ad cost?

Their dignity.

[kingfc22]

WTF! Guess Garmin is going for the worst commerical angle.

[st.cronin]

That last segment was awful.

[Easy Mac]

anything with cute dogs ropes me in

[JonInMiddleGA]

The Garmin spot is in the running for worst ad so far
(I missed the 1st quarter at the @#$%^@$#% grocery store).

[Easy Mac]

The Garmin spot is in the running for worst ad so far
(I missed the 1st quarter at the @#$%^@$#% grocery store).

you better get a lot of love for that one.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I hope that the Garmin ad was meant to be a parody of something like Power Rangers. If it was, great job. If not, ugh.

[Celeval]

The Garmin one was odd, but far from the worst, imho.

[Celeval]

I hope that the Garmin ad was meant to be a parody of something like Power Rangers. If it was, great job. If not, ugh.

I read somewhere pre-game that it was supposed to be an homage to the old Godzilla-type movies, or something.

[kingfc22]

Of course the college ad winner is full of a bunch of half naked people. :D

Too bad they weren't bikini models. :( Thtat would have been #1 for sure.

[Eaglesfan27]

Some terrible commercials in that last block.

[Easy Mac]

they realize guys watch the super bowl, and at least7% of us aren't gay.

[st.cronin]

I am never buying doritos products again.

[cthomer5000]

THat last Doritos spot might have crossed the line into genuinely creepy.

[Easy Mac]

I read somewhere pre-game that it was supposed to be an homage to the old Godzilla-type movies, or something.

looked like that or the power rangers

[JonInMiddleGA]

-- Careerbuilder.com spot was okay, but the production values seemed weak compared to the concept.
-- Doritos spot was scary.
-- Chevy spot fell flat with me (but I'm probably not the target either)

[Celeval]

The first Doritos one was better.

[Easy Mac]

i concur, i don't want to think of the cashier lady having sex.

[Celeval]

There are 4? 5? different Doritos ones, similar to the Chevy one in that it's "fan-made". Doritos had apparently no control over the creative process, or in deciding which ones went on air.

[JonInMiddleGA]

looked like that or the power rangers

The map monster was pretty obviously Godzilla, but the superhero was definitely an homage to Ultraman.

[st.cronin]

Chevy has had a bunch of spots, and they've all been bleh.

[Eaglesfan27]

The first Doritos one was better.


The first one is my favorite, so far.

[Easy Mac]

bud light was amusing.

This heart one is a minute long, that had to run 5 million, right?

[kingfc22]

What is going on???

We have an ad with guys bitch slapping each other, another where they are kissing, and another full of about 50 half naked guys.

When did guys lose control of creating ads?

[Greyroofoo]

i didn't like the heart one

[JonInMiddleGA]

The Bud slapping spot is the first one I've seen that made me laugh.

The heart med spot, not all that hot IMO.

[Eaglesfan27]

That Chevy ad was the first one that didn't suck. I didn't think it was great but it was decent.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The GM robot spot was nicely executed, but I'm afraid the concept of a sympathetic piece of automation won't fly well in today's environment. Not a bad idea but the timing doesn't seem right to me.

[Easy Mac]

damn mooninites

[Easy Mac]

Wow, Travolta, Allen and Lawrence. I can wait.

[oykib]

I read somewhere pre-game that it was supposed to be an homage to the old Godzilla-type movies, or something.

Ultraman

[kingfc22]

Ultraman

Looked like Suck-O man.

[st.cronin]

So, it seems like in recent years we've had ad guys trying too hard. This year it seems like the ones that aren't working are the result of ad guys not trying at all.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wow, Travolta, Allen and Lawrence. I can wait.

Ditto.

Meanwhile, the Motorola phone spot wasn't a bad idea (although that was a lot of money to spend without pushing anything but the brand name).

The Spring "connectile disfunction" spot is one that I'm surprised made it out of the first creative brainstorming session, much less got made & bought for this much $$$.

[SackAttack]

Only ad I've really gotten a kick out of today was the 'threw a rock' ad. The others have teetered between disturbing and 'meh.'

Oh, and what the hell was with the 'car on the building' and Schick 'off the hizzy' ads that have been airing for the last month? You mean to tell me you can spend $2.5m for 30 seconds of airtime, but you can't come up with something you haven't been playing the hell out of all postseason to stick in that spot?

[Easy Mac]

Wow, Travolta, Allen and Lawrence. I can wait.

Just to jump on myself:

They better not put those ads up around Boston, or else there are going to be a lot of calls to the bomb squad.

[st.cronin]

Just to jump on myself:

They better not put those ads up around Boston, or else there are going to be a lot of calls to the bomb squad.

well done

[BrianD]

The Spring "connectile disfunction" spot is one that I'm surprised made it out of the first creative brainstorming session, much less got made & bought for this much $$$.

With all of the ED ads on in the past few years, it was time someone did a parody of them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

With all of the ED ads on in the past few years, it was time someone did a parody of them.

Fair enough ... but if you're gonna do one, the execution has to be better than that one was (for this price). Once they established the premise, they lost their grip on the tone of those ED spots, would have worked better perhaps if they had gone with the bouncy silly tone instead of the somber serious one.

[Easy Mac]

am i supposed to know the name Oliver Hudson?

[Celeval]

I did like the Coke one just now.

[Celeval]

am i supposed to know the name Oliver Hudson?

He's Kate Hudson's brother.

[BrianD]

Whatever happened to the funny Super Bowl commercials?

[Easy Mac]

He's Kate Hudson's brother.

Is that supposed to make me want to sleep with him?

[Barkeep49]

I enjoyed well enough the KFC commercial.

[st.cronin]

The March Madness spot was cool. But does that product really need a Super Bowl spot?

[Logan]

The Bud slapping spot is the first one I've seen that made me laugh.

Liked it at first, but it got old quickly. However, the boss slap at the end saved it for me.

[Easy Mac]

Mark Harmon note:

I was a bat boy at a few of his celebrity baseball games.

[samifan24]

I haven't seen a funny or entertaining ad yet. It seems I'm not alone.

[SFL Cat]

For the most part commercials have benn very bleh this year.

[oykib]

Is GAY this year SB commercial theme?

[Easy Mac]

Is GAY this year SB commercial theme?

or black. But not gay black.

[Crapshoot]

The dog who becomes a dalmatian - brilliant. Same thing with the GM robot.

[Easy Mac]

Coke seems to be running with the "more CG the better" idea.

[kingfc22]

Coke seems to be running with the "more CG the better" idea.

And it's not working.

[kingfc22]

I like where career builder is going with their commercials. They just need a couple good one-liners in it.

[Logan]

WTF is up with all the talking zoo animals?

[JonInMiddleGA]

The Taco Bell lions were pretty good, the one with the officeworkers battling for promotion was okay, but seemed like it just missed being pretty darned good.

I think perhaps the best one since I posted last was the bank workers donning masks and robbing the customers. That scored big with me.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think perhaps the best one since I posted last was the bank workers donning masks and robbing the customers. That scored big with me.


That one is my second favorite up to this point. Dorito's first commercial is still my fav.

[kingfc22]

My top two:

Rock. Paper. Scissors
Doritos first commercial

[Easy Mac]

I enjoy a good Robert Goulet

[Bearcat729]

I enjoy a good Robert Goulet

I did like that one, the Wade and Barkley one was decent too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Emerald just shot the bulk of their advertising wad for the year on that spot, so anybody who enjoyed it really ought to remember to pick up a pack of nuts or two.

Meanwhile ... OUCH for Sir Charles.

[BrianD]

I enjoy a good Robert Goulet

I rather liked that one.

[st.cronin]

There's been a couple of spots, like the dog and the Wade/Barkley one that just aired, that were ok, but were not really about the product.

[oykib]

Robert Goulet...

Hate that sonuvabitch!

[BrianD]

I did like that one, the Wade and Barkley one was decent too.

Not new, but still fun.

[st.cronin]

Yeah, Robert Goulet is always welcome.

[Easy Mac]

Finaly K-Fed

[st.cronin]

K Fed got a good laugh out of me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes, the Bud Light spot was in the works well before the release of The Hitcher re-make.

And the K-Fed controversy seems like much ado about nothing. Not a bad spot, probably the most mileage an advertiser could have gotten out of using him.

[Celeval]

The Bud Light one wasn't bad.

[Easy Mac]

Yes, the Bud Light spot was in the works well before the release of The Hitcher re-make.

And the K-Fed controversy seems like much ado about nothing. Not a bad spot, probably the most mileage an advertiser could have gotten out of using him.

Britney got 2 kids from him... so I guess the mileage is a wash

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just clicked on cbssportsline.com to see what Grossman's stats were & happened to see this in the live glog

The Kevin Federline commercial just assured that I will never, ever use Nationwide.

Hmm ... Nationwide paid CBS how much for that spot? Think the glogger will still have a job come Monday?

[st.cronin]

What's the controversy?

[Easy Mac]

i think deadspin is doing the blogging, so they don't care. they said the had free rain, non-cursing

[JonInMiddleGA]

What's the controversy?

Fast food industry organization spent much of the past couple of weeks bitching about the negative image of their workers portrayed by the spot. Something to the effect of "they made it seem like working in fast food was the worst thing that could possibly happen to a person".

[JonInMiddleGA]

i think deadspin is doing the blogging, so they don't care. they said the had free rain, non-cursing

Umm ... WTF is a "deadspin"? Person? Website? Something else?

[Easy Mac]

thankfully, seeing the idiots behind the counter when I order doesn't remind me of any of that.

[Easy Mac]

Umm ... WTF is a "deadspin"? Person? Website? Something else?

website old man :)

[st.cronin]

Fast food industry organization spent much of the past couple of weeks bitching about the negative image of their workers portrayed by the spot. Something to the effect of "they made it seem like working in fast food was the worst thing that could possibly happen to a person".

rofl

That might be the funniest thing I've ever heard!

[JonInMiddleGA]

rofl
That might be the funniest thing I've ever heard!

Here's some linkage, just so you can be amused by the more precise version.
http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/01/22/daily21.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2819984

[SFL Cat]

I want that football game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, the Shula Budweiser spot was ... odd.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I want that football game.

How the AI?

[BrianD]

How the AI?

The AI better last year.

[KWhit]

Shouldn't you HAVE to do something creative if you're going to spend the $$ on a SuperBowl ad? That should be a rule.

[Celeval]

I liked the "one finger".

[oykib]

YAY for Flowmax-- was waiting breathlessly for a peter commercial.

[Easy Mac]

I liked the "one finger".

That's what your wife said.


BURN!

[Greyroofoo]

Raider fans looked sad in that commercial

[KWhit]

So that Favre spot... When do you guys think that was filmed??

[Easy Mac]

CBS has promoted the Pro Bowl, and the NFL runs an ad asking if you'll miss football. Then the CSI Miami ad says no more football. Its called synergy, guys.

[st.cronin]

I like the Go Daddy ads, but not a single ad tonight has made me remotely curious about the product.

[oykib]

Overall, today's spots have sucked.

Really Disappointing...

[st.cronin]

So this new David Spade sitcom ... if the jokes they're running in the ads are the best they've got, that show is going to be unwatchable.

[KWhit]

It's David Spade. Of course it's unwatchable!

[BrianD]

So this new David Spade sitcom ... if the jokes they're running in the ads are the best they've got, that show is going to be unwatchable.

At least they aren't trying to copy the How I Met Your Mother formula.

[Bad-example]

I muted every single commercial break in the expectation that Chevrolet would inflict John Mellencamp upon us yet again.

[Toddzilla]

The only commercial that made me LOL was the Charles Barkley one - is this your dad? HAW HAW!

The rest pretty much sucked ass. Why any company wastes money on SB commercials anymore is redonkulous.

[cuervo72]

GOULET FTW!

[Pyser]

chevy robot was my favorite of the night.

we are a long way of from the commercial heydays of the....late 90s? (wazzup and the frogs, for instance)

[Easy Mac]

the dot com bust got rid of all the clever people, which was forcing all the big guys to think more.

[Wolfpack]

The only commercial that made me LOL was the Charles Barkley one - is this your dad? HAW HAW!

The rest pretty much sucked ass. Why any company wastes money on SB commercials anymore is redonkulous.

I somehow missed the first commercials while giving attention to my daughter, so I never saw the Doritos commercial everyone seems to like, but otherwise I do think this remark is spot-on. I thought most of the ads tonight blew chunks and the Wade-Barkley-T-Mobile ad was the only one that got me to laugh.

[Peregrine]

Wow that was a pretty lame crop of ads overall but I enjoyed the first "home made" Doritos ad simply because the guy is from where I live and I recognize where they filmed it.

[Peregrine]

The only commercial that made me LOL was the Charles Barkley one - is this your dad? HAW HAW!


That ad is pretty funny but it's been on the air for quite a while before the Super Bowl.

[SFL Cat]

grade for this year's commercials = D. Not a classic in the bunch.

[Julio Riddols]

That Snickers commercial was great. You all (who object to the homosexual undertones) are a bunch of homophobes.

I also dug Goulet, The Sierra Mist beard combover ad, the Doritos ad, The Coke ad with the dude walking around doing all sorts of stuff to and for people, the slapping, and the Bud Light axe/chainsaw ad off the top of my head.

Also thought the halftime show was outstanding compared to recent ones.

[Ksyrup]

OK, this may make me a total 80s metal geek, but I could SWEAR the fat dude who sang the Garmin Power Rangers theme song looked and sounded an awful lot llike the ugly, fat dude from Grim Reaper. Steve Grimmett, I think his name is.

If so, that commercial wins "least likely to positively influence consumers." Who was the target audience? 15 year olds for the PR reference, or 25 year olds for the nostlagic PR reference, or 30-somethings who remember a really fat, really ugly metal singer from a terrible band, best known for a 30 second clip on Beavis & Butthead where they got ripped to shreds?

[DanGarion]

Plain and simple the GoDaddy girl is NASTY! She's got such a gross face...

[JonInMiddleGA]

OK, this may make me a total 80s metal geek, but I could SWEAR the fat dude who sang the Garmin Power Rangers theme song looked and sounded an awful lot llike the ugly, fat dude from Grim Reaper. Steve Grimmett, I think his name is.

I'm just about as impressed right now as I've ever been with anything on FOFC.

Incredible f'n eye to catch that, much less be able to come up with his name.
http://www.stevegrimmett.co.uk/

[ISiddiqui]

In case you missed any:

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/postseason/superads

My favs this year:

1st Q:
- Blockbuster - Mouse
- Bud: Rock, Paper, Scissors
- Coke: GTA gone good

2nd Q:
- Chevy fired Robot
- Connection Disfunction

3rd Q:
- Nationwide: K-Fed
- Emerald Nuts: Robert Goulet
- Taco Bell: Lions
- Bud: Hitchhickers

4th Q:
- Careerbuilder: torturous performance review
- Bud: Crab God
and I thought the Bud futuristic video game was cool to my inner geek

[SFL Cat]

Plain and simple the GoDaddy girl is NASTY! She's got such a gross face...

She had a face???? :confused:

[Ryche]

Plain and simple the GoDaddy girl is NASTY! She's got such a gross face...

I think she broke her nose fairly recently wrestling, her face definitely is looking worse now than it used to.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe the spot they didn't run was better than the one they did.
http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/superbowl07/view_ioy.asp

[LloydLungs]

Wasn't there supposed to be a wedding proposal via Super Bowl ad this year? Where the guy raised $75,000 via online donation, and then got a sponsor to pick up the rest? I was hoping that the girlfriend would have to go to the bathroom or something while the spot aired, but it didn't seem to happen at all. Maybe she got wind of the whole thing, realized she was being proposed to by a shameless attention whore, and backed out. Who knows.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wasn't there supposed to be a wedding proposal via Super Bowl ad this year?

Sponsor backed out.
http://mysuperproposal.com/

[SackAttack]

Wasn't there supposed to be a wedding proposal via Super Bowl ad this year? Where the guy raised $75,000 via online donation, and then got a sponsor to pick up the rest? I was hoping that the girlfriend would have to go to the bathroom or something while the spot aired, but it didn't seem to happen at all. Maybe she got wind of the whole thing, realized she was being proposed to by a shameless attention whore, and backed out. Who knows.

Doing a search, I came up with this:

I believe that the original idea was to raise the $2.5 million needed for a 30 second commercial spot during the game but seeing that every commercial slot is already sold out, the idea now is to generate enough buzz about the project in order to get one of the advertiser's attention to sponsor JP's idea. Possibly the advertiser could incorporate it into their commercial? It would definitely make for a memorable spot which is what they are trying to do anyway.

I'd imagine what happened is that whoever it was that was going to sponsor the whole thing didn't get a 30-second spot, either.

[Easy Mac]

I think she broke her nose fairly recently wrestling, her face definitely is looking worse now than it used to.

but her mouth is ok?

[DanGarion]

Emerald just shot the bulk of their advertising wad for the year on that spot, so anybody who enjoyed it really ought to remember to pick up a pack of nuts or two.

Meanwhile ... OUCH for Sir Charles.
It's not the first time they've done this, though...

[DanGarion]

but her mouth is ok?

Exactly, her WHOLE face is nasty. I'm sorry but I can't just go for a body.

[tucker rocky]

No mention of the Blockbuster rabbit and other rodent(a gerbil or something)

"Are you sure clicking this thing will get us online?"

.....

"try dragging it...faster."

.....

"here's the problem....we forgot to plug it in."
"don't even think about it."

This gave me a good chuckle.

[Easy Mac]

yeah, that was probably my favorite

[Ragone]

No mention of the Blockbuster rabbit and other rodent(a gerbil or something)

"Are you sure clicking this thing will get us online?"

.....

"try dragging it...faster."

.....

"here's the problem....we forgot to plug it in."
"don't even think about it."

This gave me a good chuckle.

yea, what was my favorite too..

[Antmeister]

My favorite spots were the ones from CareerBuilder.com. The Promotion Pit and the Escape from Training Seminars are hilarious. The 3rd one that dealt with the interview was okay. But overall CareerBuilder for the win!

http://www.careerbuilder.com/tv/default.aspx?sc_cmp1=JS_HP_TV_Banner

[ISiddiqui]

No mention of the Blockbuster rabbit and other rodent(a gerbil or something)

"Are you sure clicking this thing will get us online?"

.....

"try dragging it...faster."

.....

"here's the problem....we forgot to plug it in."
"don't even think about it."

This gave me a good chuckle.

I had to edit my list to add it in. My favorite one :). Can't believe I forgot it.

[kcchief19]

Sad when the best commercial of the night is a network promo ... I'll take the Letterman/Oprah promo over any other ad in the bunch.

[Cringer]

I loved the Blockbuster commercial. Letterman was funny too.

[Ksyrup]

I'm just about as impressed right now as I've ever been with anything on FOFC.

Incredible f'n eye to catch that, much less be able to come up with his name.
http://www.stevegrimmett.co.uk/

Ha! I knew it! You can thank Beavis & Butthead, because there's no way I'd ever listen to that band willingly.

[wade moore]

Well, overall I thought there were some commercials that in regular TV viewing would be pretty good, but were just ok for the Super Bowl. Overall I think that this is a Super Bowl where a week or two from now I won't even remember what my favorite commercial was.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just in case you missed any, here's a bracket poll for the ads that includes embedded video for each
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16566275/

[Raiders Army]

Can't remember the exact one, but I liked the one with "Harry, Eileen, etc. Mr. Turkey Neck."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Can't remember the exact one, but I liked the one with "Harry, Eileen, etc. Mr. Turkey Neck."

That was for Fed-Ex Ground.

[Raiders Army]

Ah, thanx.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Until reading this thread, I hadn't realized that that was Candice Michelle in that GoDaddy ad. I supposed that I should've guessed it, but she really did look horrible. I don't really watch wrestling, so I haven't seen her outside of the GoDaddy ads. Was this really the same hot woman whose strap kept popping off two years ago? Really?

Please say no. :(

[Maple Leafs]

Until reading this thread, I hadn't realized that that was Candice Michelle in that GoDaddy ad. I supposed that I should've guessed it, but she really did look horrible. I don't really watch wrestling, so I haven't seen her outside of the GoDaddy ads. Was this really the same hot woman whose strap kept popping off two years ago? Really?

Please say no. :(
Yes.

Let's just say that women like that don't tend to age well.

[flere-imsaho]

Was that Jonathan Pryce in the Kevin Federline commercial (as the manager)?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Yes.

Let's just say that women like that don't tend to age well.
Two years, man. It's only been two years. http://www.smileyhut.com/sad/bawl.gif

[molson]

Until reading this thread, I hadn't realized that that was Candice Michelle in that GoDaddy ad. I supposed that I should've guessed it, but she really did look horrible. I don't really watch wrestling, so I haven't seen her outside of the GoDaddy ads. Was this really the same hot woman whose strap kept popping off two years ago? Really?

Please say no. :(

There's a couple of factors at play there. She's actually taking wrestling seriously, which means she's gotten a little more muscular - maybe even dabbled in the roids. She's also had some work done on her face recently. She alledegedly had a broken nose in the ring not too long ago, and she came back looking totally different.

[LloydLungs]

I'm surprised there hasn't really been a societal backlash yet on Super Bowl commercials, and that there are still so many "i'm watching for the commercials as much as the game" people out there. They haven't really been that good for several years now. It seems to me we've more or less reached a limit on what you can do with them comedically, due to not wanting to risk offending any potential demographic. Like, it seems like the natural ending to the hitchhiker spot would have been the girlfriend getting ax-murdered while the boyfriend happily and obliviously drinks some beer. Of course, I'm a sick bastard.

[Pumpy Tudors]

There's a couple of factors at play there. She's actually taking wrestling seriously, which means she's gotten a little more muscular - maybe even dabbled in the roids. She's also had some work done on her face recently. She alledegedly had a broken nose in the ring not too long ago, and she came back looking totally different.
Pardon my Walloon, but her face is basically "fucked up" now. The muscles and all don't bother me, and if she had to have her nose fixed up a bit, it's OK. Unfortunately, the woman is only 28 years old, and her face looks 50 in that commercial. It's horrifying. At this rate, she'll look like Ric Flair by Memorial Day.

[molson]

I'm surprised there hasn't really been a societal backlash yet on Super Bowl commercials, and that there are still so many "i'm watching for the commercials as much as the game" people out there. They haven't really been that good for several years now. It seems to me we've more or less reached a limit on what you can do with them comedically, due to not wanting to risk offending any potential demographic. Like, it seems like the natural ending to the hitchhiker spot would have been the girlfriend getting ax-murdered while the boyfriend happily and obliviously drinks some beer. Of course, I'm a sick bastard.

I think the medium has peaked (in a creative sense). We've already seen everything. It's very difficult to be funny in a 15-30 segment when you also need to sell a product.

[kcchief19]

Yes.

Let's just say that women like that don't tend to age well.
After-market parts always seem to wear out and break down much faster than factory originals.

[Ksyrup]

The GM robot spot was nicely executed, but I'm afraid the concept of a sympathetic piece of automation won't fly well in today's environment. Not a bad idea but the timing doesn't seem right to me.

I went back and watched a couple of the commercials I missed, including this one, and was surprised no one had the same reaction to it I did. On the heels of a terrible last several years in Detroit - in which numerous automotive workers have lost their jobs - you have a US car company doing an ad that features a worker losing his job and sinking into suicidal depression.

That struck me as being in bad taste, almost as bad as that story from a couple of years ago about the company that gave its laid-off employees a list of ways to save money, which included something about not being ashamed of rummaging through the garbage.

Maybe the fact that I have family in Michigan that was and continues to be hard-hit by the auto industry's issues put a slant on this commercial, but I've got to figure I'm not the only one for whom that commercial was a bit sour. Someone had a large pair of cohones to green light this one.

[Ksyrup]

Grim Reaper on Beavis & Butthead:

hxxp://youtube.com/watch?v=iYi_KBD6KZM

hxxp://youtube.com/watch?v=ng_mI80aoeY

[Easy Mac]

Looks like the fast food industry took its revenge on K-Fed
http://www.boomspeed.com/allhailme/blog/020507_kfedslashed.jpg

[Bad-example]

A commercial for Snickers candy bars launched in the Super Bowl broadcast was benched after its maker got complaints that it was homophobic.

The ad showed two auto mechanics accidentally kissing while eating the same candy bar and then ripping out some chest hair to do something "manly." One of the alternate endings on the Snickers Web site showed the men attacking each other.

The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation complained to the maker of Snickers, Hackettstown-based Masterfoods USA, a division of Mars Inc., which also makes M&M's and other candies.

The Web site also featured video of players from the Super Bowl teams reacting to the kiss.

"This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country," Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

GLAAD spokesman Marc McCarthy said Tuesday the group believed "this kind of prejudice was inexcusable."

Masterfoods spokeswoman Alice Nathanson issued a statement in which she said the company would stop running the ad on television and the Web site.

"As with all of our Snickers advertising, our goal was to capture the attention of our core Snickers consumer," Nathanson wrote.

"Feedback from our target consumers has been positive. In addition, many media and website commentators of this year's Super Bowl commercial line-up ranked the commercial among this year's top ten best. USA Today ranked it 9 of its top ten picks," she continued.

"We know that humor is highly subjective and understand that some people may have found the ad offensive. Clearly that was not our intent," she wrote.

Masterfoods brands include Uncle Ben's rice, Pedigree dog food and Whiskas cat food. It is part of Mars Inc., a family-owned company.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/06/financial/f130429S10.DTL

[miami_fan]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/06/financial/f130429S10.DTL

Does it really matter now?

[Pyser]

lady and the tramp bothered me when they did it first.

made me think of bestiality.

ban disney children classics!

[JeeberD]

Until reading this thread, I hadn't realized that that was Candice Michelle in that GoDaddy ad. I supposed that I should've guessed it, but she really did look horrible. I don't really watch wrestling, so I haven't seen her outside of the GoDaddy ads. Was this really the same hot woman whose strap kept popping off two years ago? Really?

Please say no. :(

My wife spotted Trishell from MTV in that ad as well. I didn't believe her, but a quick rewind proved she was right. I wonder how much she got to be in that add for about half a second?

[Maple Leafs]

"As with all of our Snickers advertising, our goal was to capture the attention of our core Snickers consumer," Nathanson wrote. "Feedback from our target consumers has been positive..."
Translation: "Snickers eaters ain't no homos!"

[Vinatieri for Prez]

My wife spotted Trishell from MTV in that ad as well. I didn't believe her, but a quick rewind proved she was right. I wonder how much she got to be in that add for about half a second?

Most didn't notice, but Danica Patrick was in the GoDaddy ad too.

There also was an extended version of the ad in which both Trishell and Danica's parts were bigger.

[Ksyrup]

I found this interesting, particularly about the GM ad I mentioned above:


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" summary=print_version border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>February 05, 2007

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=14>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=14></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Super Bowl ads fumble, brain scans show

</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=14>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=14></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=14>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=14></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>By Debra Sherman
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Super Bowl ads, which cost $85,000 per second during this year's game, fumbled overall as they failed to connect with viewers or just scared them, according to researchers who tracked people's brain activity.

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles scanned the brains of five men and five women between the ages of 18 and 34 as they watched Super Bowl ads to measure the emotional impact. Participants viewed the commercials through goggles as they lay inside a donut-shaped machine called a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine.

The fMRI images show increased blood flow to specific areas of the brain that are activated by outside stimuli. Dr. Josh Freedman, one of the researchers who conducted the brain scans, said he saw a lot of activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anxiety and fear.

"We saw huge activity going on in the amygdala -- the threat detector -- so much so that we had to go back and double check our software," Freedman said in a telephone interview.

Among the top anxiety-producing ads, he said, was one for General Motors aimed at drawing attention to the automaker's 100,000 mile warranty. The ad features a robot working on the line at an assembly plant until he drops a screw forcing the line to shut down. Angry workers kick the robot off the line, rendering the robot jobless. "It's got everyone at GM obsessed with quality," the ad concluded.

"That one got people's attention. But they did not feel good about the message. It produced big spikes of anxiety and perhaps ... feelings of economic insecurity," Freedman said.

A controversial ad for Nationwide Insurance featuring Britney Spears' estranged husband, Kevin Federline, as a failed rap star working in a fast-food eatery also generated anxiety and feelings of insecurity, he said.

The most ineffective ad was from Honda, which showed participants were less engaged during the ad than they were when they looked at a blank screen.
Even ads for Budweiser beer, traditionally known for good-humored advertising, generated negative emotions, fMRI scans showed.

The commercials that produced the most positive feelings were those by Coke and Doritos, Freedman said. But compared with last year's lot of commercials, this year's Super Bowl ads fumbled.

HOW CAN THEY TELL?

Each area of the brain has specific functions. Some areas generate emotions, like hope, trust or fear, while others process information. When an area of the brain becomes active, the vascular systems shunts additional blood to that area and the fMRI measures the increase.

So when the amygdala, the region of the brain that controls "fight or flight," is engaged there is an increase of blood to that area and is detected by the scan, showing in real time what is happening inside the brain.

This technique enables scientists to watch the brain while it processes information.

Such scans can provide valuable information to advertisers. Businesses probably will use these tools first, said UCLA's Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who also conducted fMRI scans during the football game.

"Politics will come next. I'm pretty sure some (politician) will do something with this in the next presidential election," he said.

"You can't trust people to say what they really think and there are a lot of reasons for this. There's social pressure. They try to say things so they'll look smart. In focus-group situations, people tend to imitate each other. And people are not very in touch with understanding why they make the decisions they make," Iacoboni said.

Kate Sirkin, global research director for Chicago-based Starcom MediaVest group, said she does not doubt the credibility of information revealed by fMRI scans.

"I think they tell the truth, but we've found we get similar findings with paper and pen research," she said. "And the technology is too expensive to be practical."
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[wade moore]

The most ineffective ad was from Honda, which showed participants were less engaged during the ad than they were when they looked at a blank screen.

I'm not sure if you could come up with a more insulting thing to say to someone that has made a commercial ;).

[JonInMiddleGA]

I can't help but wonder if there's some connection between this:

Participants viewed the commercials through goggles as they lay inside a donut-shaped machine

and this
he saw a lot of activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anxiety and fear.

That's not to say that a good portion of the ads weren't the suck on their own but that's not exactly a normal environment to be watching them in either.

[Vince]

And doesn't 10 people seem like a pretty damned small sample size?

[Ksyrup]

How many of those machines do you think they've got?

[Passacaglia]

I love it...stick people in an MRI machine, and it's the commercials scaring them!

[Ksyrup]

You really think that's a huge deal? First, these people volunteered. Second, even if they were apprehensive at first, once they were in there for a while, I tend to think most of that would go away.

What I'm wondering is when they watched these, because if it was after the SB and they saw some media coverage of the commercials, that could effect the way they perceived the commercials. Surely they knew about the KFed thing in advance and probably think very little of him.

[Passacaglia]

You really think that's a huge deal? First, these people volunteered. Second, even if they were apprehensive at first, once they were in there for a while, I tend to think most of that would go away.

What I'm wondering is when they watched these, because if it was after the SB and they saw some media coverage of the commercials, that could effect the way they perceived the commercials. Surely they knew about the KFed thing in advance and probably think very little of him.

From everyone I've talked to who's been in an MRI machine, yes, it's that big of a deal. I don't know what an fMRI machine is, but if it's similar, it won't just go away.

[Ksyrup]

But don't you think they'd be able to deal with that issue in who they pick? This isn't a medical procedure where the person has to go through with it - they know what they're getting into, its elective, and the company can choose to not take someone if they think the person is overly bothered by the machine.

[BrianD]

That's not to say that a good portion of the ads weren't the suck on their own but that's not exactly a normal environment to be watching them in either.

This is in no way scientific, but I seem to remember feel the same general feelings while watching the commercials. Not fear and anxiety necessarily, but distaste and confusion where definitely there. Super Bowl ads generally fall on the continuum between neutral and positive. This year they went from uncomfortable to neutral. The best thing advertisers can hope for his year is that nobody remembers their products in association with these ads.

[st.cronin]

Most didn't notice, but Danica Patrick was in the GoDaddy ad too.

There also was an extended version of the ad in which both Trishell and Danica's parts were bigger.

I had to think about what this meant for a minute. I assume you mean that they were onscreen longer?

[JonInMiddleGA]

This is in no way scientific, but I seem to remember feel the same general feelings while watching the commercials. Not fear and anxiety necessarily, but distaste and confusion where definitely there. Super Bowl ads generally fall on the continuum between neutral and positive. This year they went from uncomfortable to neutral.

But with the increased scrutiny of the ads in recent years, a certain amount of change in attitude toward them seems fairly predictable. This year in particular, while I thought the overall coverage of the SB ad market was down a bit from last year (I heard less about prices but more about content) it felt like I actually saw more coverage of the ads in the two weeks leading up to the game than I did about the game itself. Granted, I'm not a representative sample because of what I do for a living, but when I try to narrow it down to sources outside the industry, there was definitely not a shortage of discussion about what we would see.

With all that comes increased expectations, making it harder for them to satisfy.

The best thing advertisers can hope for his year is that nobody remembers their products in association with these ads.

Eh, I'd have to disagree. While none of the ads really stood out to me as brilliant (such as "Herding Cats"), the majority would fall in the "not bad" category IMO.

Budweiser struck me as steady, Careerbuilder.com was darned good creative albeit a little weak in identity (wonder how many people will think that was a Monster.com spot), the Coke spots were what Coke spots generally are but being one of the broadest brands in the world makes it tough to do "edgy".
I thought the E-Trade bank robber spot was one of the best pieces of work I've seen in quite a while, but it seems to have been lost amidst the pile, and probably suffered a lot from not having a strong enough identity (I loved the spot but had to really think hard just now to remember who it was for), it could have easily been tweaked into something for a low-fee/no-fee bank instead. The K-Fed spot was okay at worst, ditto the FedEx Ground spot ("Mr. Turkeyneck"). I'm pretty sure that Blockbuster accomplished their goals with the "Mouse" spot. Throw in the movie trailers which are limited by the quality/lack of quality of the movies they're for & we're getting close to half the spots being at least okay or better. And those are just the ones I can rattle off the top of my head without prompting.

[ISiddiqui]

But don't you think they'd be able to deal with that issue in who they pick? This isn't a medical procedure where the person has to go through with it - they know what they're getting into, its elective, and the company can choose to not take someone if they think the person is overly bothered by the machine.

And they probably have a baseline, where the people are in the devices and not watching anything, which is used to determine what effects the commericals have.

[gottimd]

Not sure if this link was posted already, but for those popping in and out of thread and not remembering the commercials that are being discussed...

hxxp://www.ifilm.com/superbowl

There are classic ones on there too and the most popular of all the superbowls.

[Ksyrup]

I thought the E-Trade bank robber spot was one of the best pieces of work I've seen in quite a while, but it seems to have been lost amidst the pile, and probably suffered a lot from not having a strong enough identity (I loved the spot but had to really think hard just now to remember who it was for), it could have easily been tweaked into something for a low-fee/no-fee bank instead.

I'll echo that thought and also say that not only did I forget who it was for, but I also thought it might have been a TV/movie ad. It reminded me of Point Break and that TV show from early this year (The Nines maybe?), to the point where I wasn't even sure if it was a product ad.

[BrianD]

Eh, I'd have to disagree. While none of the ads really stood out to me as brilliant (such as "Herding Cats"), the majority would fall in the "not bad" category IMO.

Budweiser struck me as steady, Careerbuilder.com was darned good creative albeit a little weak in identity (wonder how many people will think that was a Monster.com spot), the Coke spots were what Coke spots generally are but being one of the broadest brands in the world makes it tough to do "edgy".
I thought the E-Trade bank robber spot was one of the best pieces of work I've seen in quite a while, but it seems to have been lost amidst the pile, and probably suffered a lot from not having a strong enough identity (I loved the spot but had to really think hard just now to remember who it was for), it could have easily been tweaked into something for a low-fee/no-fee bank instead. The K-Fed spot was okay at worst, ditto the FedEx Ground spot ("Mr. Turkeyneck"). I'm pretty sure that Blockbuster accomplished their goals with the "Mouse" spot. Throw in the movie trailers which are limited by the quality/lack of quality of the movies they're for & we're getting close to half the spots being at least okay or better. And those are just the ones I can rattle off the top of my head without prompting.

I would agree that the later ads got better...or were at least less annoying. The first few commercial breaks were pretty bad though. The Snickers commercial, the commercial for whatever it was that had all the guys tearing off their clothes to touch the car, the Ultraman commercial, the unemployed robot ad (which started a little cute and got fairly disturbing), the Doritos commercial with the crazy checkout lady.

Not all of the ads were bad. I did laugh at a few of them (the K-Fed ad), but more of the ads seemed to be of the disturbing/shocking variety (when they weren't just stupid like the Sierra Mist ads), and those don't seem the type of emotions one should want to have associated with the product.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I had to think about what this meant for a minute. I assume you mean that they were onscreen longer?

You are correct, but the double entendre was intended.:)

[stevew]

I can't believe they advertised for sierra mist. That is one of the worst tasting sodas...for the most part I would prefer store brand Lemon Lime instead of it.

[Masked]

From everyone I've talked to who's been in an MRI machine, yes, it's that big of a deal. I don't know what an fMRI machine is, but if it's similar, it won't just go away.

fMRI uses an MRI machine - the sequences of magnetic pulses is just different. In a well done fMRI study, the researchers look for changes in activity in the test condition (watching commercials) versus a baseline (presumably watching a neutral stimulus). Since the anxiety of being in the machine is the same in both conditions, any effects are easily removed leaving just the activity associated with the difference between the two conditions.

[Ksyrup]

GM Decides to Back Off 'Suicide' Ad

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=10 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=10 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.brandweek.com/brandweek/photos/2007/02/suicide.jpg</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>February 12, 2007

By Steve Miller

DETROIT -- Caving in to pressure, General Motors will amend its broadcast ad in which a despondent robot commits suicide after losing his assembly line job, abruptly reversing a decision it had made last week to defy criticism from a suicide prevention group.

The New York-based American Foundation for Suicide Prevention had publicly protested the 60-second spot which ran in front of 93 million viewers during the Super Bowl and had continued to run through the week, despite its objections that it was insensitive to those touched by suicide.

“We’ve had some constructive dialogue with the foundation and we felt we needed to address their concerns,” said GM rep John McDonald. “I think we’ve done the right thing, and we are in the process of pulling the ad off of YouTube and our Web site. And the ad will be changed as well.”

McDonald did not give a time frame for the newly edited spot to come back and also declined to say if the foundation would have a final sign-off on the revised spot.

“GM contacted us and we had some conversations [Friday],” said Robert Gebbia, executive director of the foundation. “They told us that they had already made the decision to remove any portrayal of suicide in the ad.” He said he has had no contact with the agency, and was assured by GM that the situation would be remedied.

The agency declined to comment.

“Robot,” via Deutsch, Los Angeles, opens with a robot dropping a bolt while working on a GM assembly line, and finds himself fired. After working a couple of jobs, holding up a “Condo for Sale” sign and serving as a speaker holder at a fast-food place, all done while watching longingly at GM product in passing traffic, the robot jumps off a bridge in a suicide bid. The machine wakes up after hitting the water at his spot in the darkened factory to find it was all a dream. The tagline is “GM’s 100,000 mile warranty; It’s got everyone at GM obsessed with quality.”

Deutsch LA was handed the account for promoting the new warranty program in September, with an estimated ad spend of $60 million.

The spot drew plenty of attention on the Web, prompting discussions of GM quality but little about the protest of the suicide prevention group.

“The ads were funny, innovative and clever,” said Wes Brown, and analyst with Iceology, a Los Angeles-based consultancy. “I think its unfortunate that some people have too much time on their hands in creating a fuss about this.”

The fact that the robot in the spot was sensitized enough to look human speaks to the success of the concept, he noted.