my favorite superbowl ads

Posted in advertising, branding, commercials

So apparently there was a football game on last night. Did anyone else see it? I was too busy watching the commercials to notice.

What I DID notice was there was definitely a lack of stellar ads this year. No more is it Bud vs Miller or Coke vs Pepsi. The majority of spots that I noticed were for the automobile industry and Doritos. Also, dogs replaced last year’s men in underwear. (If you recall last year just about every commercial had to do with guys in their boxers or briefs… this year it was all about man’s best friend. Doritos, Bud Light and Audi all used spot in their spots.)

The biggest disappointment I had was the lack of social media integration. No one invited me to “join in the conversation” on their Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter. The Ford Focus Rally was the closest thing during the pregame show… but really, no one engaged their audience outside of their 15-30 second spot. Shame, shame.

I thought the best ads came from Volkswagen and Bridgestone.

“The Force” by Volkswagen

“Black Beetle” by Volkswagen

“Carma” by Bridgestone

“Reply All” by Bridgestone

Most Controversial: Groupon

This caused a lot of chatter on Twitter last night. One group, @GlobalGiving tweeted this: “Didn’t love @Groupon‘s #superbowl ad? We have lots of ways you can help Tibet: http://bit.ly/dSFReg “. Ouch.

Most Awkward: “The Best Part” by Doritos

Poorest Choice for Spokesman: Brisk Tea & Chrysler

I understand that Eminem is from Detroit and all… but the image of Chrysler? Hmm, I dunno.

So what were your favorites. Which ones left you thinking or discussing?

Sneak Peek at SuperBowl 2009 Advertisers

Posted in advertising, Uncategorized

Despite a deep recession, advertisers are paying more than ever for 30 seconds of time during the biggest game of the year. The entry price for a 2009 Super Bowl 30-second ad will be $3 million. Here’s a sneak peek at the big spendahs.

CareerBuilder.com

If you hate going to work, nobody respects you, wish you were somewhere else, and daydream of punching small animals, check out this commercial for CareerBuilder.

Cars.com

David Abernathy can do a lot of things, but he can’t haggle with a car salesmen. Cars.com offers hope for him, and you.

Coca-Cola Avatar

Coca-Cola brings your internet self into the real world with much less disturbing results than how it would actually turn out if they did that.

Coca-Cola Heist

Coke takes the insect world and Ocean’s 11, and makes them have a baby. Here’s that baby.

Pedagree-Crazy Pets

Pedigree knows what a jungle it is out there for some pet owners.

Pepsi Max- “I’m Good”

Pepsi knows that a man’s manliness is almost as important as a palatable diet soda.  Almost.

Be sure to watch all the commercials live on NBC Sunday!