The New York Giants’ spectacular come from behind win over the New England Patriots at Super Bowl XLII will be talked about for years to come.
The commercials—not so much.
Outside of the cinematic brilliance of the Coca-Cola spot in which the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, balloons of the classic cartoon hero Underdog and the contemporary animated demon-child Stewie (from Fox’s Family Guy) tussle over a giant Coke balloon in the canyons of a breathtakingly beautiful New York City—only to have the balloon of perennial Peanuts loser Charlie Brown pop up and claim the giant soda as its own—there wasn’t a truly memorable commercial in the pack.
The stunning Coke Balloons spot was in a league of its own, especially in glorious high-definition. For me, it didn’t simply stand out amid dozens of other expensively executed commercials. It enchanted me in a way that no movie (including the movie Enchanted) has in longer than I care to remember. In fact, this is a spot I would love to see again in a movie theater and on an iPod. It is most definitely not a spot to speed through on a DVR. It commands attention. And it receives extra props for being a multi-generational treat (and because after more than half a century Charlie Brown finally wins!).
The night wasn’t a total wash. The very funny Will Ferrell stood out as Jackie Moon, the disco-singer turned basketball team owner he plays in the upcoming movie Semi-Pro, using increasingly inappropriate language while promoting Bud Light (ending with “Bud Light. Suck one!”). The spot made Moon a household name overnight. (It was the simplest and the best Bud Light spot of the night, and likely the least expensive to produce.) The come from behind story of Hank the Unwanted Clydesdale, brought to glory under the training of a helpful dog and set to the classic theme from Rocky, was heartwarming in the way that the annual Budweiser Super Bowl Clydesdale spot must always be.
Moving forward, there were a handful of good (though not great) ads—among them the one for Fed Ex in which giant carrier pigeons wreak havoc in a city, the SoBe Life Water spot in which lizards dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, two from E-Trade featuring talking babies that spew stock-buying advice (and in one case spew much more), and the one from Bridgestone in which assorted animals (and one human) scream when it appears that a squirrel is going to be crushed under the wheels of an oncoming car. (The other Bridgestone spot, in which aging exercise guru Richard Simmons almost buys the farm, was a dud.)
I also thought the ad for GoDaddy.com that directs viewers to its Web site with the promise of a sexy striptease was clever (“You won’t see it on TV. It’s on GoDaddy.com!”). It played right into the current media mindset: TV Dull. Computer Cool.
There were two that truly stood out, though I don’t think either one warrants repeated viewing and I am certain both will be forgotten (or considered an annoyance) by Valentine’s Day. The Planters Cashews spot in which a drab woman has men stumbling over themselves to be near her because of her choice in nuts was engaging, if somewhat stupid. The Pepsi spot with Justin Timberlake in which he is pulled around by women sucking Pepsi through straws was eye-catching but way too repetitive. (That said, the great cameo by Andy Samberg, Timberlake’s co-star in the Dick in a Box video, was a highlight of the night.) Overall it felt like an ad that would have been considered dynamic a few years ago.
It is worth noting that Timberlake, the man who ruined television during the Super Bowl XXXVIII half time show by tearing Janet Jackson’s clothing and revealing one of her nipples to a horrified nation, restored a tradition from that very same disgraceful Super Bowl telecast: Commercials in which men suffer blows to their testicles for the merriment of the masses. (Justin’s boys took a few hits when he was repeatedly pulled into a mailbox.)
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