Game on. And away we go...
Ads in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLI were decent. Sierra Mist did a good job with their Mist-takes comedy troupe in "Beard Combover" and "Karate" for a change. They were much more effectively used. The Snickers "Mechanics" spot with two guys kissing was amusing as well. And Coca Cola's previously aired "Video Game" is worthy of mention.

[1st Quarter]
Anheuser-Busch/Bud Light - (:30) "Rock, Paper, Scissors" - In a game of Rock, Papper, Scissors, a man throws in a real rock. Ok. Works on a physical comedy level that is expected for a Super Bowl ad. [Agencies: DDB, Chicago, Downtown Partners, Toronto, Mortar Inc., Chicago and Cannonball, St. Louis]

Frito Lay/Doritios - (:30) "Accident" - Consumer-created spot. (info here) [credited agencies: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; Millsport, Dallas; and TPN, Dallas]

Blockbuster Total Access - "Mouse" - Rabbit and guinea pig clicking on a real (CGI) mouse trying to get online. Was that Bobcat Goldthwait as the voice of the mouse?

Chevy has announced the winner of their Chevrolet College Big Idea Super Bowl competition. Katelyn Crabb of North Prairie, WI came up with the idea for the ad as part of a class project through University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

The 30-second spot was directed by Bryan Buckley, of Hungry Man Productions, and was produced by Chevrolet and Campbell-Ewald. Additionally, GM will air two :60s during the game.

Alright gang, you know the drill. This is the last update to the Super Bowl commercial spoiler alert we'll be posting before Sunday's game. If there are any big announcements between now and then, we'll post them either as an update to this post or as a separate post. Of course, as usual, on Sunday the ads go up in the Claymore Project, along with reviews and commentary.

Super Bowl Commercials!

As always, if you'd rather be surprised, don't read on.

Thanks to those who've sent in info.

A quick dip into our 35-year strong Super Bowl Commercial Archive, a.k.a The Claymore Project to refresh your memories. What was the best ad of 1969? 1995? 1978? We asked a bunch of adgrunts to name ads they recalled off the top of their heads, and here's what we got.

In their tradition of screwing up their own superbowl ad hype by revealing too much about it before the bowl, Nationwide has released the Kevin Federline works in a fast food joint ad 'teaser' and a whole bunch of outtakes on their website. As if we really wanted to see more of that golddigging manwhore.
The ad-gag has real burger flippers sizzling :

"A sudden change in Federline's career could have been depicted with him holding an unemployment benefit check," said Annika Stensson, a spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association. She fired off a scathing letter to Nationwide CEO Jerry Jurgensen for giving the impression that working in a restaurant is "demeaning and unpleasant."

"It shouldn't be necessary for a company to disrespect others to get its point across. It's an insult to the 12.8 million restaurant workers in America. It's a negative, unfair and inaccurate reflection. It's not Kevin we take issue with, but the depiction of where he ends up."

Nationwides VP of brand managment Steven Schreibman, defend their ad with: "We're not making fun of anybody, except maybe Kevin Federline."

More advertisers have jumped in the game, or at least have let the cat out of the bag that they will be advertising during Super Bowl XLI. We've scoured the web, our inbox and a few other places to provide you with the most comprehensive list of super bowl commercial contenders.

You'll notice some additions from the post made earlier last week. And we'll attempt to post one if not two more updates at least before next weekend's game.

After 9 years out of the game, Coca Cola has reentered the ad line up for Super Bowl XLI. We will see three spots, two of which have already aired--"Video Game" and "Happiness Factory". All three, including the new spot, come from Wieden + Kennedy and are part of the "Coke side of life" campaign.

See Video Game and Happiness Factory below:

See "Redheads", the last Super Bowl ad from Coke (1998):

Apparently the the National Restaurant Association is worried that Nationwide's Super Bowl spot featuring Kevin Federline will be insulting to those who work in the restaurant industry. A letter was sent stating "We hope that these reports are inaccurate and that Nationwide will not be airing such an ad that would give the impression that working in a restaurant is demeaning and unpleasant. An ad such as this would be a strong and a direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry." Right, because everyone knows those McD's workers are lovin' it. ;)

All you closet KFed fans, check out behind-the-scenes footage of KFed. on the mic for Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial.

Read on for a Q&A with Federline and Steven Schreibman, VP of Advertising and Brand Management at Nationwide.

Garmin will make its first Super Bowl commercial appearance this year sometime during the second quarter. The Garmin Blog has been posting behind-the-scenes scoops of the a shoot. The Fallon created spot is being directed by Phil Boston of Alturas Redfish Films with visual effects by Zoic Studios.

Super Bowl XLI is just over 2 weeks away. And all the press releases and news bits are starting to come through with information as to who is in and what we'll see this year.

Like last year, I've started compiling a spoiler for those of you who are curious about what you will see. If you would prefer to be surprised, don't read on. You have been warned.

As we get more information we'll be updating the list with more confirmed information, etc. If anyone has any scoops, dont' forget to send them into the hostmaster.

So, read on to see advertisers for Super Bowl XLI, so far that is.

Anheuser Busch will be the top advertiser, yet again, for Super Bowl XLI. As it's about two weeks before the big show, ad news about the spots is going to start trickling in.

A CBS channel got some behind the scenes footage of "Apocalypose", a spot for Budweiser, that will air during the game. The Mad Max-esque spot ad features NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking on an angry group of post-Apocalyptic mutants for his highly coveted Budweiser.

Watch the behind the scenes footage here. Just watch out...it goes on for a while. Superadgrunts, click the image below to enjoy the quicktime goodness.

Fourth Quarter:

Degree- "Stunt City" :30 Summary: Adaptation of the 2005 European commercial, set in a make-believe city whose only residents are stuntmen. Ad Agency: Lowe Worldwide, London
Dab:
Not new, but hey. What can is say but FAB! (Fantastic advertising Baybeh). I love it, always have. But I want the long version. Stingy! And wow, did they do the extra obvious "no helmets" sign holding and pointing for the US market only? Still five though I hate this short edit.
Caff:
Good ad, even though I've seen it before. ;) Perfect for the brand, and obviously has an international message.
Clay:
Bastards gave us the short version for the Super Bowl!? What the...!?

Third Quarter

Ameriquest Mortgage Co. - "Turbulence" :30 Summary: Plane turbulence creates awkward situation. Ad Agency: DDB, Los Angeles [Review]
Dab:
Hands up those who didn't see that gag coming! Oh. You didn't? Really? Does this stuff only happen to me when I fly?
Caff :
Less interesting of the two.
Clay:
Very Three's Company, and in a good way.

[2nd Quarter]

Pepsi-Cola Co. - Diet Pepsi "Stunt Can" (:30)
Summary: The can's agent, Jay Mohr, meets with Jackie Chan, who wants to co-star with Diet Pepsi in his next big action movie. Once on the set, Jackie finds a clever solution to getting a stunt double. Ad Agency: DDB, New York
Dab:
Heh, extra half-point for the cheeky jab at Coke.
Caff:
Shorter, and therefore less impressive than the prior spot. Not enough Jackie Chan or his moves in this.
Clay:
Pepsi finally gets even for that New Coke "Catch the wave!" commercial in the 80s where Max Headroom makes a Pepsi can sweat.

Super Bowl XL. Was it an XL disappointment?
Just like every year, the Super Bowl commercials this year were celebrity packed. Stars included with Fabio, Nimoy, P.Diddy, Jackie Chan, Jessica Simpson, lots of sports stars and many others. Even ABC's promos for Desparate Housewives went the celeb route. Then. of course, there's the chock-a-block use of animals, from chimps to horses, bears and felt frogs.

We saw a lot of tackles (from Michelob, Bud Light, AirTran's regional spot) too. But perhaps this was the year of "destruction" with Vault, Bud Light, Degree and Toyota Tacoma using this theme somewhere in their ads.

It was also a year of emotional advertising too, with ads from Dove, Toyota Camry, the Beer Institute, and Budweiser.

But as adgrunt Tlevitz so succinctly quipped "Verdict: The Super Bowl Commerical is a Victim of Its Own Legend "
Read on for the reviews and ratings from the core Adland posse.

Alright folks, it's nearly game time. So far we have a good list and have added some new players to the supposed lineup for Super Bowl XL this Sunday.

UPDATED!
As always, if you'd like to be surprised, don't look. ;-)

PETA lets us know that their latest effort to convince people that milk doesn't do a body good is a spoof of all those girls gone wild videos. This time with real udders.

But not only that, PETA’s "Milk Gone Wild" 30-second TV ad has been rejected by ABC executives, who turned down the $2.2 million PETA was prepared to pay to run the spot during Super Bowl XL. ABC rejected the ad on the grounds that it "falls outside the boundaries of good taste". Because everything else about the superbowl is just oh-so classy and risque jokes have never ever been shown. No chimps hitting on their owners dates, and no fire farts, to name but two. Rrright.

Just over a week until the Super Bowl XL. We've assembled all the dirt on what you can expect to see. As always, there are probably a good number of secrets yet. But it seems this year, many advertisers are using the pre-game time to use the press to give some extra PR to their spots.

Here is an UPDATED list of the spots broken down by air time (if we know it) that you can expect to see this year.

If you prefer to be surprised, don't read for more. ;)

As usual, Anheuser Busch has a wide selection of ads to pick from for their Super Bowl spots. Typically they end up waiting until closer to game time to make their final decision on what will make it to the airwaves. This year they have bought 10 spots for their various brands.

Some possibilities:

For instance, one Bud Light commercial, which shows the unintended consequences of stocking a "secret" refrigerator with Bud Light, has a clever premise and a hilarious punch line. The spot is created by DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group.

A commercial being considered for Budweiser Select is sophisticated enough to show a couple playing chess, a pursuit that rarely if ever has made its way into a Super Bowl spot. That commercial is being created by Peterson Milla Hooks, an agency best known for its glossy, offbeat campaigns for Target; it is the agency's first work for the brand and for Anheuser-Busch.

A possible Budweiser spot tugs at the heart strings rather than hammering at the funny bone. That spot, by DDB, shows a junior Clydesdale getting some uncredited help from its parents.

Yet again, Pizza Hut is bringing together Jessica Simpson and the Muppets for their Super Bowl XL advertisement this year.

Apparently Miss Piggy and Miss Simpson will be dressed alike. Perhaps now that Jessica Simpson is single they will have her try to win over Kermits affections.

Two years ago, Ms. Simpson appeared along with the Muppets for a Super Bowl ad. Super AdGrunts, see it here: