Super bowl ads, WHERE'S THE BEEF?
Andy Buss
Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Opinion
Waaaasuuuup! Mikie likes it! Great taste, less filling. Bud-weis-er. And most fitting - Where's the beef? As I sat and enjoyed possibly the greatest Super Bowl game of all time, I asked myself, where has the "beef" of Super Bowl ads gone?
Taking a look back at the last few Super Bowls, it's hard to recall a commercial that provided a catchy punchline or an insistent jingle such as, "Dude, you're getting a Dell!"
Here's the thing, many of the ads on Sunday were great - even hilarious. But nothing stuck with me. There's no annoying phrase or talking animal in my head reminding me of beer. There are no scantily clad women fighting in a water fountain over differing descriptions of Miller Light. So sad.
Doritos' "crystal ball" commercial had me out of my chair and on the floor. The dancing lizards are classic, but no one will be reciting lines from either of these commercials or greeting one another with a zingy, one-liner quote.
I could be wrong, but I feel like Super Bowl commercials have turned. Not necessarily turned for the worse or for the better, but just down a different path. Ads during the big game used to be fun, funny and, for the most part, brief. Now the majority of companies choose to go with long spots featuring special effects, an interesting story and/or intense product promotion rather than something short that will stick.
To that point, I must correct an earlier statement. I wrote "nothing stuck with me" from Sunday's ads - this is not entirely true. Go-Daddy.com left quite an impression. I'm not exactly sure what to think of it, so I'll throw out a couple of interpretations and let you decide for yourself.
My first reaction is "Wow!" The two commercials, one showing Danica Patrick and another attractive woman in the shower together and the other stopping just short of having a well-endowed lady flash the world after a discussion about "enhancement" with Patrick, left me in shock. I didn't know commercials like those are allowed in the United States. I thought those types of ads are the ones you see on one of the "Sexy Commercials From Around the World" shows. At the same time, the point of advertising is to get consumers to remember the company's name - in whatever fashion.
Taking a look back at the last few Super Bowls, it's hard to recall a commercial that provided a catchy punchline or an insistent jingle such as, "Dude, you're getting a Dell!"
Here's the thing, many of the ads on Sunday were great - even hilarious. But nothing stuck with me. There's no annoying phrase or talking animal in my head reminding me of beer. There are no scantily clad women fighting in a water fountain over differing descriptions of Miller Light. So sad.
Doritos' "crystal ball" commercial had me out of my chair and on the floor. The dancing lizards are classic, but no one will be reciting lines from either of these commercials or greeting one another with a zingy, one-liner quote.
I could be wrong, but I feel like Super Bowl commercials have turned. Not necessarily turned for the worse or for the better, but just down a different path. Ads during the big game used to be fun, funny and, for the most part, brief. Now the majority of companies choose to go with long spots featuring special effects, an interesting story and/or intense product promotion rather than something short that will stick.
To that point, I must correct an earlier statement. I wrote "nothing stuck with me" from Sunday's ads - this is not entirely true. Go-Daddy.com left quite an impression. I'm not exactly sure what to think of it, so I'll throw out a couple of interpretations and let you decide for yourself.
My first reaction is "Wow!" The two commercials, one showing Danica Patrick and another attractive woman in the shower together and the other stopping just short of having a well-endowed lady flash the world after a discussion about "enhancement" with Patrick, left me in shock. I didn't know commercials like those are allowed in the United States. I thought those types of ads are the ones you see on one of the "Sexy Commercials From Around the World" shows. At the same time, the point of advertising is to get consumers to remember the company's name - in whatever fashion.
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