Tom Merrick, Partner and Creative Director at Eric Mower and Associates, shared some of his thoughts on yesterday's Super Bowl commercials with us. Merrick has more than 20 years experience creating attention-getting, result-generating, award-winning work for both consumer and business-to-business clients, so he knows whereof he speaks when it comes to ads. His take on the spots follows:
Well, another Super Bowl is in the history books, and with it, millions and millions of dollars in CBS's pockets. Thirty seconds on last night's broadcast went for almost three million bucks a pop, and in this ad guy's opinion, some of them actually got their money's worth. If you watched the game, here are the spots that are worth a second or third look. If you didn't, here's your chance to do your God-given duty as a consumer and watch commercials. Go to youtube.com and search:
"Snickers Betty White." According to Snickers, when you're hungry, you're not yourself. You're either Betty White or Abe Vigoda.
"Doritos Slap." Every Doritos spot on the Super Bowl was made by consumers. This was probably the funniest of the bunch, with a spunky little kid who's got two rules: Keep your hands off his momma. And his Doritos.
"Coke Simpsons." Two iconic American brands coming together perfectly. Pepsi decided to sit out the Super Bowl this year, and Coke seized the opportunity to steal the show with this spot. As Nelson might say, "Ha, Ha!"
"Budweiser Human Bridge." Probably the best of the bunch from Anheuser-Busch (although that's not saying much.) Their commercials included a forgettable Clydesdale spot and some Bud Light spots that delivered a weak smile at best.
"Career Builder Casual Fridays." Here, dress-down day is taken a little too far, with everyone coming to work in their tidy whities. One of those spots that gets better with repeated viewings.
"Dodge Charger Man's Last Stand." A manifesto for men that finally explains why we go to chick flicks and watch vampire shows with our ladies.
"TruTV Groundhog Day." To quote my pre-teens: "LOLZ." A laugh out loud funny spot where a mini Troy Polamalu sees his shadow and predicts six more weeks of football.
"Motorola Megan Fox." Here we see what might happen if Megan Fox uploaded a picture of herself in a bathtub. Hint: It's mass chaos. This is sexy done right - something the doofuses (doofusi?) at godaddy.com might want to take a lesson from.
"Denny's Chicken." A series of spots that tout Denny's FREE Grand Slam Breakfast Day - a day that's a "Good Day to be an American. But a Bad Day to Be a Chicken." Hey, if you had to lay that many eggs, you'd scream too.
"E*Trade Milkaholic." Call me a sucker, but these talking baby spots never get old. Not because the babies are cute and the special effects are so good, but because they're written and voiced so well. After "Milkaholic," check out the one with the babies on the plane.
"Census.Gov." A 30-second Christopher Guest film. Just the ticket, if you're into Christoper Guest films.
"Google Paris." 99% of the spots in the Super Bowl are humorous, big budget productions. This one features words being typed into Google's search bar. Can typing be moving and memorable? Spoiler alert: Yes it can.
"Kia Joyride." It is impossible NOT to like this spot - with a bunch of human-sized toys out joyriding in a new KIA Sorento. There's a robot, a Sock Monkey, Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba, and more. It's lots of fun, and it does something far more important than just introduce you to the new Sorento - it turns KIA into a cool brand. (Billy Fucillo not withstanding.)
"Audi Green Police." Now THIS is a Super Bowl Spot. Big budget, big production, and most importantly, BIG IDEA. It gently pokes fun at the world's growing obsession with all things green, while showing us there's a cool way to go green - the Audi TDI clean diesel engine. Oh, and using Cheap Trick for the music bed doesn't hurt either.
"Crankdaddy Jetta." Okay, so this wasn't a Super Bowl spot. It's my band's music video. But I wouldn't be an ad man if I wasn't promoting something, right?
Image: Still from Doritos ad.
were there any budweiser or bud light commercials? i can't recall if they were 800 of them or not.