February 3, 2008
SFist Watches: The Superbowl Ads
Programming note: Last week's "Project Runway" was a rerun, so there will be no Locals recap this week. But take note: This Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS is the premiere of "Survivor: Micronesia - Fans Vs. Favorites," which brings local legend Yau-Man Chan back to the game. Next Monday we'll see how both our local boys did.
We found it difficult to tear ourselves away from the "Puppy Bowl" and turn the channel to the Superbowl, but since we were going to skip through all that boring game stuff and just watch the commercials, we figured it wouldn't be too painful. Keep in mind, though, that since we've got TiVo, this is about the only time during the year we actually do watch commercials. Because of that we might not be able to tell whether these Superbowl ads were actually any better or worse than what's on TV on a nightly basis. But we'll still feel free to criticize nonetheless.
We're not sure just when in the broadcast of the million dollar spots actually starts. Pre-national anthem? Post? After the first kick-off? So we'll just start with the first commercial that was remotely funny and go on from there. Bud Light and its added fire-breathing features. That screaming cat noise gets us every time...Following that was another take on the old horse's-head-in-the-bed scene from The Godfather. In this case it had something to do with a luxury car taking revenge on another luxury car. Or something. Really, the most clever thing about the ad is the actor who plays the screaming sleeper was actually in The Godfather, as Moe Greene, the guy who gets shot in the eye while getting a massage...
Moving on. Next we have an ad for Diet Pepsi MAX. What? Is calling something EXTREME too cliche now? Anyway, it was kind of amusing, although, seriously. A Night at the Roxbury and a really old SNL sketch as reference? Is that MAX comedy?...Next: Under Armour? Who? What?
OK. Finally! Here's one that had us cracking up. Bridgestone and some screaming animals. (And much better than the screaming Richard Simmons version.)
It seems Angelina Jolie is back to looking bad-ass again, after her failed attempt to win an Oscar by acting foreign and noble. Also, who knew you could change and properly aim the trajectory of a bullet by flinging your guy around?...GoDaddy? Go away.
FedEx finally enters the realm, with an ad featuring giant pigeons. Pretty funny, but not as good as previous years' offerings. (We still like the one featuring Burt Reynolds getting kicked in the crotch by a bear.)
Ah-ha! Another funny one, this one from Tide, of all things.
Did anyone find that Budweiser Clydesdale horse spot touching? Or funny?...And we're as excited about Iron Man as any other comic book nerd, but doesn't he look kind of...fake when he's in the full-on suit?...More cars and animals: A combo that always seems to deliver. In this case it's a Toyota Corolla and some badgers...
We really hope Leatherheads is funny because George Clooney is about the only guy who could get us to watch a movie about football...Are we just too American to appreciate the ad for something called Garmin, featuring an appearance by Napoleon?
That CareerBuilder.com ad featuring a chest-bursting heart was a tad...disturbing...Naomi Campbell and dancing lizards. What. The. Hell?...Bud Light and Carlos Mencia. Again. Year after year. When will the horror end?
Prince Caspian. Could we be any more indifferent?...If that Planters Nuts ad was funnier, we might be able to look past the fact that it's kind of offensive. But actually, it's not even clever enough to be called offensive. It's just plain dull.
One thing we enjoy even more than dancing around in our underwear while listening to Justin Timberlake: Watching him get tossed around and beat the hell up.
Comcast thinks seeing a guy having dinner with his disco-music-spewing mother will convince you to get digital cable...Omigod, we're two hours into this thing, and it's only now half-time? How does anyone survive this nightmare without the ability to fast forward?? Especially when the halftime show features Tom Petty!!
OK. With that out of the way, back to the commercials. This is the second ad for Salesgenie.com, and they just seem to be getting worse...Is there a commercial featuring some kind of caveman during every Superbowl?... Carmen Electra? What the hell has she done for us lately?..Pixar uses Buzz and Woody to help sell their upcoming film Wall-E. A good or a bad sign?...Speaking of movies, we can not wait to ignore the release of Jumper!...Oh no! Another talking baby commercial! Did we learn nothing from Baby Bob?? (Although, the second one was actually kinda funny.)
What appears to be the first overtly sexual ad of the evening features the Jack in the Box head in a jacuzzi with some swingers. HOTT...Cloverfield has nothing on the terror that is the sight of a giant Stewie going on a rampage above the streets of New York....Finally, what might be the most disturbing ad of the night: Bill Frist and James Carville on a date.
Dogs are funny...and kinda gross...Will Ferrell is funny...and kinda gross...Are we through yet?? Apparently not. There's still time for one more hot woman in lingerie...Followed by, OMIGOD, a fat guy who puts jumper cable on his nipples. We are so not kidding about that! And we so wish we were!
OK. It looks like someone actually won the game because there's confetti raining down on the field, making our TiVo recording look all pixelated. Does that mean the last Superbowl commercial we got to see was of a greasy, fat guy dancing around in nipple clamps?
Yes. That does apparently seem to be the case. And we can think of no better summation of this year's batch of ads...What did you think?
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hi.
the first part of this story mentioned the projrun rerun. i am very pleased to learn the SFist pays attention to the (fucking awesome, GO CHRISTIAN SIRIANO) show.
i am relatively new to SF, and i don't have cable. i download projrun and watch it in my drab studio with the warm company of myself. i am F-ing OBSESSED with this show. are there any public gatherings for watching this show, like at a cafe or a bar or something? i had a great group to watch and dish with where i moved from, and i miss it.
anyway, go christian, go chris, F ricki, sleep with me jillina.
ronald three-thousand and eight.
So how does it work? You're at SalesGenie and you have to pay an obscene amount of money to run your ad. Do you go with something interesting and/or humorous or do you go racist and stupid, hoping it will at least generate attention?
I think they chose the later.
If I worked for that company I'd be ashamed to come to work in the morning.
The Salesgenie ads completely sucked. They're this year's GoDaddy, I guess.
BTW, the G-Men beat Tom "I Dumped My Wife For A Supermodel" Brady and the NFL's #1 cheater Bill Belichick. The game was pretty awesome actually. Rewind the TiVo and watch the football.
dudes, look at peter hartlob's blog at sfgate.com; he's got a freekin hilar breakdown.
I think this year's game was actually more interesting (at least Q1 and Q4) than the ads. ZZZZZ.
The Salesgenie ads were purposely racist. I think they did this to drum up a buzz. Sleazy tactics in my opinion.
It's kinda cracked me up that the old 1984 Apple commercial is so well known, but it seems like every year, someone makes a commercial just like it, but without the underdog otherthrowing the Big Brother-type. This year, it was Under Armour. Big, loud, intimidating guy telling a bunch of drones who they were to be and what they were to do. But no flying hammers.
i thought the game was better than the commercials this year. i can't recall that ever happening in recent history.
did anyone play the bullshit bingo game from espn where you had to mark off squares for the lame themes in the commercials?
one of the parties we went to had this going on. kinda fun!
OK, I want to know the ratio of glass Coke bottles in their television commercials to the ones that are actually available for purchase. Maybe 1 to 10,000? I guess the 2-liter bottle just isn't telegenic.
Thank you for bringing up something that I didn't realize I was wondering...when the big-time ads actually start during the telecast. Every year I find myself watching the commercial breaks during the pre-game stuff, which also draws a big audience, and scratching my head as to why we don't see the million-dollar ads until after kickoff.
The SalesGenie CEO, who wrote the ads, is actually Indian. Interesting to know, although that doesn't excuse it (actually makes it a little worse in my opinion)