So the big game is over for another year (or more, if the NFL has a labor stoppage), and so are the commercials. Fortunately. Because most of them weren't very good. I was asked by the TC Business News to gather a virtual panel of advertising professionals and get their input on the commercials last night, ostensibly from the first half. So I watched with more than my usual fervor, making this the second year in a row I've actually watched the Super Bowl.
Let's start with the slew of spots for upcoming movies. I cannot ever recall seeing so many commercials for films. They were okay, but I can't recall any one flick over another at this point. Other than the fact it looks like there's another Transformers movie. Or maybe they're just re-releasing one of the others. No one would ever be able to tell. Too, too many.
The same with promos for FOX shows (with one huge exception, noted below). They all just blended together. What I found most disappointing was the lack of any support for my two favorites, Lie to Me and Human Target. I have a feeling the latter, which is showing its season finale this week, may be scuttled. Too bad. It's fun, in an over-the-top, A-Team kind of way. Lie to Me remains tied with Castle atop my personal fave list, followed by Human Target and This Old House. Sherlock on PBS would be #1 if its season had lasted more than three episodes.
There was a surprising amount of agreement among the panel on the top spot. Course, that doesn't mean they were right. The most popular commercial was the Passat spot featuring a pint-sized Darth Vader who finally captures the Force when he magically starts the car in the driveway, thanks to some help from Dad's remote. Huh? What on earth (or in space) does that have to do with the car? Oh, that's right, nothing. Great branding. Passat, the car Darth Vader used as a youth.
Most of the panel hated the Budweiser commercial where the cowboy threatens violence when the barkeep tells him they're out of Bud. The day is saved when the stage coach being pulled by Clydesdales (of course) arrives with ice-cold beer. Then the whole saloon broke into "Tiny Dancer." I found it absurd and hilarious, especially the part where the stage coach driver drops the case onto the bar amid a shower of ice cubes. Ice cubes. From a stage coach. In the old west. Funny stuff.
Worst in show had to be the Doritos commercial featuring the guy sucking Doritos powder from another guy's fingers and then de-pantsing a fellow office worker to sniff and lick his pants. Yeah, you remember the spot, with disgust and horror. It certainly disproved the adage "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Can anyone eat Doritos without thinking of the commercial and having their stomach crawl? No matter how cute the opening Doritos spot was with the pug crashing through the door atop its tormentor (very predictably, I thought), this one negated any goodwill there might have been. Now and forever.
The slew of automobile commercials were mostly okay, as predicted by media analyst David E. Johnson of Strategic Vision, a PR and marketing firm out of Atlanta. There wasn't much visionary here, but there also weren't too many "What were they thinking?" moments, as was the case with Doritos or Groupon.com, which garnered a big "Huh?" while also riling the Chinese with its sympathetic portrayal of Tibet. Analysts are already predicting big trouble for the company, which is trying to expand in China. Great thinking.
One car commercial stood out among all others: The two-minute Chrysler spot in the second half with Eminem driving around Detroit landmarks while the narrator spoke of a city that was down but not out. Haters can vilify Detroit all they want, but how could anyone from Michigan not feel their chest swell with pride?
Best of the best was the brief spot for House. The caustic doc is approached by a young boy who tells him he's the best doc ever. House, of course, agrees. The boy offers House his churro, to which House replies, "My patient just died. You think a Spanish deep-fried snack is gonna make things better?" Then House tosses the kid his cane, which whacks him upside the head and hand. This takeoff on the classic Coke ad with Mean Joe Green was easily the funniest of the night, and by far the best branding.
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