I am always vaguely shocked the morning after the Super Bowl when I read about what commercials others thought were the best. There tends to be this moment when I think to myself "What is wrong with those people? That wasn't funny at all." That thought is immediately followed by another one which is infinitely worse as I think to myself "Oh man, it's me. I'm wrong. I have no idea anymore about what's funny and what isn't, what works and what doesn't." That's not always the case, I loved the Terry Tate commercial instantly, and think just about everyone loved that the moment they saw it, but it just doesn't usually work out that way.
Look at Sunday night. Okay, the VW "The Force" spot was awesome (and I think everyone out there pretty much had the same opinion on it), but it didn't impress me all that much after having seen the longer version on YouTube earlier in the week. Check it out, the longer one is far better.
Then there are the various movie spots. I know that summer blockbuster films are always heavily represented in Super Bowl ads, but I can't recall truly loving any of those commercials. Yes, they may get me excited to see a film (or, conversely, convince me that there's no way I would ever spend money on it), but I don't ever recall sitting back after watching one of the movie spots and thinking to myself that the commercial itself was brilliant. They're all just trailers, and some trailers are better made than others, but they're not the sort of clever thing I want from a Super Bowl commercial. If I had to have a top pick there though, I think it would be the one for Super 8.
You know what I did love though this year? I loved the Android getting thumbs in a back alley operation spot so he can play videogames on the new Sony Ericsson. Who wouldn't want opposable thumbs so that they can play games on their phone. Isn't that why we have thumbs?
.jpg?t=20130517094513)
Article comments
1 - Costello
That Dorito commercial was horrible. Didn't make their product appealing at all
2 - Josh Lasser
Costello, that's unquestionably true, but I'd argue that the point of a Super Bowl commercial isn't to necessarily make your product appealing (save for the movie trailers) but rather to make your presence memorable.
3 - El Bicho
If the product is unappealing, who's going to want to remember it?
My faves were chimps parking at work (Admittedly, I am a sucker for chimps) and the different beings trying to get a hold of the car.