Monday, February 4, 2013

SuperBowl XLVII: The Commercials

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Not the most fascinating game. Not an amazing halftime show. And, no truly awesome commercials, either. Still, I wanted to go through the advertisements and give some thoughts. Below are all of the commercials I saw in the San Francisco Bay Area (because apparently not every single one was seen nationwide), not counting ads for the game itself, the NFL (they had a LOT!), and the halftime show. I was glad to see two sets of "continuing stories" with commercials, but neither were overly spectacular, in my opinion.

Some color-coding: car commercials are in green, food and drink commercials are in red, TV commercials are in blue, tech commercials are in orange, movie commercials are in aqua, fashion commercials are in purple, and miscellaneous are in black. I also included the twitter hashtags when they appeared... I was surprised at how many appeared! And, ten videos for you to view!

From the coin toss to the start of the second quarter:
Hyundai family #EpicPlayDate [for what was rumored to be the most expensive slot, I thought this was cute and different, but not funny.]
Budweiser Black Crown at a party. [the only think worth commenting on are the fancy clothes.]
M&Ms: a candy loves a celebrity. #betterwithmms
Audi that a kid takes to Prom, giving him the confidence to kiss the Prom queen. [this one got a lot of internet attention, but I didn't think it was anything special. were we supposed to be happy that he had a moment of joy on his stag night?]
Hyundai-driving mom drives around picking up her kid's friends to take on some other kids in football. #pickyourteam [the bear was funny, burning building was dumb.]
GoDaddy shows sexy and smart sides working together. #thekiss [gross kiss!]
Doritos has a goat who eats over a hundred bags of chips a day, so the owner hoards them and tries to sell the goat. #Doritos [I actually really liked this one. more than most people, who preferred the later Doritos commercial. take a look...]

Pepsi Next saves a teen's party when his parents come home and love the soda. Bonus! The first million who head to the web can try it for free. [unrealistic.]
Best Buy has Amy Pohler asking questions about all sorts of products. #infiniteanswers [kinda funny but it was annoying how she kept asking questions.]
Budweiser Black Crown at a party, this time to the theme song of 2 Broke Girls. [meh]
The Big Bang Theory gang in football uniforms. Leonard puts his pads over his clothes. [I thought it was cute, though not sure why Leonard was the only one to dress incorrectly.]
Oz from Disney. #DisneyOz [I thought it was too obvious.]
Coke shows security cameras capturing nice things happening. [I'm all for Random Acts of Kindness, but what's with the graffiti? "Peace" or not, still not "nice."] 
Oreo has guys fighting over which is better, the cookie or the cream. Bonus! Choose your side on Oreo's instagram page. [I didn't think the library was an innovative location.]
Grammys [meh]
Fast and Furious 6. #fast6[I liked "vehicular warfare" but surprised they're making ANOTHER movie in that franchise!]
Toyota Rav4 has Penny Cuoco as a genie. [kinda funny, but some flaws, like the chocolate IV and the car driving to space. still, I liked witches for wishes.] 
How I Met Your Mother promoting the Robin Sparkles IV episode. [I'd probably be more excited if I hadn't known forever that it was coming.]

From the start of the second quarter until halftime:
Doritos has a dad and his friends play "princess" with his daughter. #Doritos [I did not see the greatness in this one that others did... what part really got people talking? the wedding dress?]
Calvin Klein underwear on a hard body. #calvinklein [... this is nothing new.]
Car.com makes buying a car so drama-free that you can play with a wolf pup and face its mother to recreate the effect of buying elsewhere. #nodrama [I love animals and all but this didn't seem accurate. thoughts?]

NCIS [nothing out of the ordinary.]
Budlight has two guys making voodoo dolls for a football game. #herewego [I really liked that it continues throughout the game but also that it fit the venue: New Orleans.]
Godaddy encourages people to buy domains because you're not the only one with an "original" idea. #yourbigidea [I thought it was probably one of the more powerful sales pitches, but the idea behind the commercial isn't original in itself.]
CBS brags about their #1 show, #1 comedy, #1 new show, #1 news program, and that they're the most watched network. [loved Abby with the ASL thank you!]
Star Trek into Darkness [cool. didn't know about this one beforehand.]
Milk decides to have the Rock ignore others who need his help in order to chase down some milk for some kids. [milk is great and all, but this showed poor priorities, I thought. what did you think?] 

Hyundai driver keeps passing vehicles that carry potentially deadly hauls. [again, a lot of buzz on the internet for a weak concept.] 
Survivor. "it's one of these people" [whaaaat? booooring!]
Volkswagen: folks in an elevator hate Mondays. #GetHappy [blase.]
Golden Boy [I was hoping that they'd promote this one, even though I don't think it has a great shot at succeeding.]
Coke features a race in the desert for people to get to their soda. Bonus! go to cokechase.com to vote on the winner. [I thought this could have used more than two installments.]
Subway celebrates Jared keeping the weight off for 15 years. #15yearWinningStreak [and this did nothing but make everyone in America realize how old they are. was I seriously barely in high school when Jared did that??]
Amazing Race. [meh.]
Taco Bell shoes retirement home folks partying all night to Spanish version of "Tonight" [and I was just as baffled as everyone else. still, I won't forget this one, even if it did nothing to make me want Taco Bell. and, a sidenote: the bacon-egg burrito is nothing special. I had one on Saturday. but yeah, here's the video...]

Skechers shoes can help you run quickly enough to catch a cheetah. [FALSE.] 
Elementary [I was surprised they didn't promote this show more. It is running after the game and all...]
Lincoln MKZ [not my demo.] 

During Halftime:
Tuesday night dramas - NCIS, NCIS: LA, Vegas. [as expected.]
Grammys [again, figured they'd keep plugging this.]
Golden Boy [another ad so soon?]
Under the Dome [it almost seems like CBS couldn't quite sell enough ad time... this show is WAY off in the future. people are going to forget about it.]
Rules of Engagement [this was smart. a lot of people who tune in for this show never know when it's going to air.]
Toyota Tundra uses a stupid skier. [except it was SO bad that it was hardly even laughable.]
AT&T has a fourteen-year-old complaining about the change of internet speed over the past few years. [if I wasn't sick of the other commercial where the girl tells her younger sister about having to watch TV in the living room, I might have liked this.] 
Scientology [yeah, we actually had a Scientology commercial shown here. apparently not everyone got this. I was surprised to see it air. in fact, I couldn't tell what it was for until near the end... could you?]

CBS News [news is news to me.]
The Job [another show that I'm not sure why they aren't doing more to promote it.]
Pepsi countdown #pepsihalftime [this might technically have been part of the halftime show? regardless, I don't think it was as grand as Pepsi had hoped. that's what you get when you crowdsource?]
Jeep partners with the USO to talk about the return of soldiers. [I probably should have liked this more than I did.]
2 Broke Girls spectacular. [this made me smile. Beth Behrs looked like a natural, haha! did you like it?]

CSI, CSI:NY [I've heard that these aren't doing as well as in years past, so probably worth promoting!
CBS Sports [sports shows are sports shows.]
Mike & Molly [they should have gone with a different scene. this one got old.]
Go Pro camera [I struggled for a moment to figure out what was being advertised here.]
Xfinity internet [not the first commercial to point out that we spend our days connected to electronic devices.]
Farmers Insurance. [remember when the Superbowl was FULL of insurance commercials? why isn't that a thing anymore?]
Union Bank had Maya Angelou speak. [celeb power for the #win.]

From the start of the third quarter until the power came back:

Century 21 advertisement during a wedding ceremony. [really??]
Blackberry z10 [meh.]
E-trade baby [they need to give this up. it was great in the first couple of incarnations. after that, no.]
Blue Bloods [forgot about this show!]
Subway's Febru-any five-dollar footlongs. [a good commercial but not worth advertising... most Subways do $5 subs on Sundays and every evening anyway.]
Budlight continuation of the voodoo guys looking for luck in a chair. #Herewego [odd ending with the girl.]
CBS Mondays [just keep promoting the same stuff over and over...]

From the return of the power until the start of the fourth quarter:
Subway Febru-any five-dollar footlongs [I'm guessing they got a freebie run because of the power outage.]
Budlight continuation of the voodoo guys looking for luck in a chair. #Herewego [again, freebie rerun.]
Axe Apollo. [I thought this was a random product but it fit the occasion.]
Mio Fit is changing words to make things cool. #changestuff [not impressed. in fact, I made my best McKayla Maroney face.]
Late Show with David Letterman [not the greatest but not bad.]
Kia Forte with robot models. [...okay.]
Gildan t-shirt on a one-night stand girl. [lovely grey cat!]
Pistachios Gangnam Style #CrackinStyle [timely. that's the best word I have. it seemed to be popular, though. if you're behind the times, at least listen and laugh about the song and dance...]

A different "How Great is CBS?!?" ad. [in case you forgot what network is broadcasting the game.]
Lincoln journey. [not for me.]
Speedstick Power. #handleit [well, I just bought a stick for my husband and didn't even make the connection, so the ad had no staying power, apparently.]
Beck's Sapphire with the black fish. [I always forget Beck's is a beer...]
The annual: #Clydesdales commercial featured a guy who raised a colt who grew up to be a Budweiser Clydesdale. When the horse sees him at a parade, he runs after the guy to reunite. [it made everyone on my twitter feed cry. I liked it and thought it was heart-warming but wasn't sappy over it. Still, if you haven't seen it yet, give it a play...] 

Super Monday comedies. [AGAIN.]
#Alexandani music. [for some reason.]
Xfinity internet [same "we love electronic devices" speech.]
Jack in the Box's "hot mess burger" using the phrase "and that's how I met your mom." [was this a dig at CBS's hit show? I think so!]



Start of the fourth quarter until end of the game:
Dodge Ram commercial but reading Paul Harvey's essay about God's farmer the whole time. [different. memorable. a tiny bit confusing. see for yourself...]

Elementary ad with Watson speaking. [they should have had another with Holmes speaking.]
Kia Sorento has so many features you can avoid answering your kid's questions, like "where do babies come from?" [the space launch and cute animals were one thing. but I did not appreciate the overall message.]
Wounded Warrior Project wants you to donate money. [I was surprised it took this long for someone to just ask for money in a time slot.]
Tide can even get out a "miracle stain" that looks like Joe Montana. miracle stain #miraclestain [the best part about this commercial was that the house was essentially divided over who they were rooting for.]
Soda Stream airs their old commercial where the bottles everywhere disappear. [if it's not new, I don't want it at my Superbowl.]
CBS' comedies show off their sound effects. [too long. I think spurts would have been better.] 
Mercedes-Benz CLA comes with perks! [meh.]
Hawaii Five-O. [I always forget about this show!]
The Job [that poor woman who lied about her ability to speak Spanish will be forever shamed. Kids, don't endanger yourselves with what you put on your resumes!]
Samsung with Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen, plus Lebron James via cameo. [I thought it was funny that they made fun of themselves, plus the longer length worked for the spot.]
Person of Interest [meh.]

Post-game show:
Allstate Insurance old commercial where guy blocks a windshield and causes an accident. [not new = don't care.]
NAPA know-how with Patrick Warburton's voice. [meh.]
Coca-Cola has the groups reach the soda, and the showgirls drink it. [anti-climactic, I thought.]
Honda Civic. [meh.]
xfinity internet [in case you missed the other airings, this is the same ad for a THIRD time.]
Toyota #letsgoplaces [cool rainbow car]
Sonic foot-long hot dogs [really? Sonic puts in an ad??]
Identity Thief [many people can't wait for this movie to come out. I don't really care.]
Tech: GoDaddy repeat of sexy/smart sides that work together. #thekiss [again, gross kiss]
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