Superbowl Ads: Best and Worst

Superbowl XLIV was a great game. The Saints are champs after Peyton Manning, who may be the greatest QB ever, made the critical mistake, a 4th-quarter interception that sealed the game for the underdogs from Orleans. Who Dat Nation now sits atop the NFL Mountain. Savor the flavor, boys, because this time next year the Lombardi trophy will belong to Tom Coughlin and the NY Giants.

For those who didn’t have a dog in the fight, it was the commercials that kept us coming back. For volume, Doritos and Bud Light ruled the day. The auto makers had some nice spots, and upstarts like Godaddy.com, Telaflora.com, and Career Builder made it to the main stage, at about 3 million per 30 seconds. The commercial most people were talking about this morning was the Leno-Letterman-Oprah spot. As for me, I’ve made a list of the best and worst commercials. So, for what it’s worth, here's what I have.

The Best:

Hyundai Sonota “10 Years Strong” featuring Brett Favre as the NFL MVP of 2020. It was a funny take on the fact that Brett Favre will never retire. And the commercial made its point about the staying power of the Sonota.

Career Builder’s casual Friday. As someone who thinks casual Friday is ridiculous, you can imagine how I’d feel about working in an office with 50 people without pants. I have never understood why people want to wear jeans to a place of business, but the concept was funny, and it made me want to check out Career Builder’s site.

The Dodge Charger! Man’s Last Stand. Whatever you need me to do, I will do, just give me my damn Dodge Charger. I am actually going to run a price check on the Charger today. I might look into buying one. Mission accomplished, Dodge.

The Bud Bridge. Clever and funny. Man’s quest to get his beer at any cost. Plus a complete defiance of physics: three-quarter-ton delivery truck driving over suspended bodies. What’s not to love?

Cars.com. The guy who’s so confident he gave birth to a baby tiger with his bare hands and saved a cheerleading team from a high-powered tornado. But when it comes to buying cars, he’s clueless, confused, lost. What can I say? My life story condensed to a 30-second spot.

This one was my favorite! Budweiser’s Nothing Comes Between Friends, Especially Fences. The story of a calf who becomes friends with a Clydesdale. Then the calf grows up to a bull, but the friendship with the Budweiser Clydesdale doesn’t end. And there’s a Dalmatian dog. It’s great.

The Worst:

Every single Doritos commercial was dumb. First off, how does Doritos have enough money to run a spot in virtually every commercial break during the Superbowl? Who in their right mind eats Doritos past the age of ten? I think Doritos even sponsored Manning’s 4th-Quarter interception. The worst of the worst: The one with the guy in the coffin filled with Doritos, faking his own death to watch football and eat crappy chips. Talk about a quick vision of Hell.

Bud Light: Sign of a Good Time. Enough already with the cliché beer commercials about everyone having a super-good time in some crazy location because a six-pack of Bud Light showed up. I don’t know about you, but I have no interest in attending a party with 20-plus people, with only two six-packs of light beer to go around. Can’t these beer companies think up some other, interesting way to sell ordinary alcohol?

Telaflora.com. Flowers in a box vs. flowers not in a box? The woman who played the commercial’s lead was completely unlikeable and I can’t think of a smaller concern in life than whether flowers come in a brown box or not a brown box.

Dr. Pepper. A Little KISS of Cherry. Everything and anything with the band KISS is annoying, and dumb, and stinks of has-been energy. What’s wrong guys? Couldn’t get Pepsi or Cola to bite on this silly charade? The only thing worse than KISS is midgets dressed as KISS.

The E-Trade Baby. Ahh!!!!! Enough. It wasn’t funny three years ago! It’s not funny now! It will never be funny! How come that baby never ages? On second thought: Who cares!!!

The Worst Commercial of the Night. Leno-Letterman-Oprah at a lousy Superbowl party, sitting on the couch above the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where Dave used to bring his interns. Why was it so bad for me? Easy. I can’t stand Jay, Oprah, or Dave. Put them together? Armageddon. Does Jay Leno ever NOT wear that jean dress-shirt when not doing the Tonight Show? Ever? And, in the same night we see 1,000 Doritos commercials, why wasn’t Leno--a former Doritos salesman--eating Doritos on Letterman’s intern-couch? “He’s just saying that cuz I’m here.” It would've been funnier if Conan came in as the maid.

Noteworthy:

The Rodent Violinist who gets the hot tub and the blonde in the end.
The Green Police. Very funny

For moré check out CBSSports.com/Superbowlads

Brian Huba
2/8/10