Super Bowl XLII Commercials - Second Quarter

Second Quarter has come to an end.

There were a few spots of note, such as Tide-To-Go "Interview", which even though it wasn't a new ad...it rocks. Also, FedEx and Garmin had decent spots too.

Gatorade - G2 - "Jeter" - :30 - Nice post effects.
Agency: Element 79
Gatorade G2 launches the first full spots of their campaign during the game. The ad features New York Yankee Derek Jeter. As in the teasers, we see a visual transformation of urban environments into sports landscapes which communicate how often athletes think about the game.
Superadgrunts, see spot below:

GoDaddy - "Spot On" - :30 - Yawn.
Agency: In-House
"Spot On"will feature a group of people watching the game and talking about the "Exposure" Danica Patrick ad that is only online and was not cleared by Fox for the word "beaver". CEO Parsons says "it's the funniest ad we've ever done." Sure thing, Bob-o. It's just as awful as the ads of yesteryear. I'm sure most of us in the ad world will be surprised by that though. ;-)
Superadgrunts, see "Spot On" below.

Dell Computers - "RED" - :30 Man walks down the street as people pat him on the back (and bum) because he's got the "RED" laptop.
Agency: Mother, NY
Director/Production: Samuel Bayer, HSI Productions
The company's first ever Super Bowl commercial will play off the "Yours is Here" campaign as well as introduce RED branded PCs and printers. The products went on sale on Thursday (Jan 24th) and can be viewed here. Under the (Red) program, Dell and Microsoft together will donate $50 for each of the XPS M1330 or XPS M1530 notebooks and $80 for each XPS One desktop sold.

FedEx - "Carrier Pigeons - :45 - Massive pigeons gone awry! Nice twist at the end.
Agency: BBDO, NY
“Carrier Pigeons” is set in an office environment and was finished in standard and high definition formats and was shot with standard film. It humorously shows what happens when an office clerk tries to handle his company shipping needs with carrier pigeons and chaos ensues.

Cars.com - "Stone Circle" / Death match - :30 - OK. A decent twist to keep it from being awful.
Agency: DDB, Chicago
Director/Production: Matt Aselton, Epoch Films
The spot takes place at a dealership and ends with the tagline "Confidence comes standard." The ad ends with a "funny" "Plan B" the buyer had in mind if things went sour.

Tide to Go - "Interview" - :30 - LOVE this spot, even though it's old and from 2007.
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Directs people to mytalkingstain.com. Man in interview has a stain that distracts interviewer.

Budweiser - "Team" / Dalmatian Trainer - :60 - Sweet. But not as great as prior years.
Agency: DDB, Chicago
A discouraged Clydesdale, named Hank, has a Dalmatian helping him get in shape after the horse gets cut from the beer wagon team.

Toyota Corolla - Badgers - :30 - Man gets locked in a car with "ferocious badgers". Not bad.
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, LA
Director/Production: Jesse Peretz, RSA or Lance Acord of Park Pictures, NY
The spot shows off the updated Corolla and "features a humorous product demonstration".

Garmin - "Napoleon" - :60 - Cute spot. So much better than last year's spot.
Agency: Tierney, Minneapolis (In-house)
Director/Production: Lance Acord, Park Pictures
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte shills the Garmin Nuvi. The commercial features what seems to be a driverless vintage red Panhard PL17 automobile while the Nuvi offers directions from Paris through the French countryside. As lively French music plays in the background, viewers see an arm reach out to pay a toll. Observers in a small town watch as the car goes by. The Nuvi guides the car to a battle site, complete with troops on horseback. The car door opens, and the Napoleon steps out from behind the wheel. As his troops look on, the emperor hurriedly slips his Garmin into his coat, striking the classic Napoleonic pose in the process. The commercial ends as one of Napoleon’s aides brings up his horse — a small, white pony.
Superadgrunts, check out the spot:

Career Builder - "Queen of Hearts" - :30 - Nice to see them go in this direction. Best Super Bowl ad they've done so far.
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, OR
Director/Production: Suthon Petchsuwan ,TWC OR/and Mike Mills, The Directors Bureau, Hollywood.
Uses a new tagline: "Start Building". Spots feature an overbearing boss, spider attacks, and mantra like phrases such as "If you don't like your job, then get a better one", "Self-help yourself", and "Wishing won't get you a better job."

Pepsi/SoBe Life Water - "Thriller" - :30 - Cute. Not sure it needed Naomi Campbell though. Lizards dancing would have been enough.
Agency: BBDO
Director: Peter Arnell
The spot featured Lee the Lizard and Naomi Campbell along with other lizards dancing the "zombie dance" to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

ONDCP - "Drug Dealer" - :30 - Slightly less preachy than prior ads. Points for that.
Agency: Draft FCB
In this spot a drug dealer complains about business being down because teens are turning to their parent's medicine cabinets to get high instead. The announcer ends with: "Teens don't need a drug dealer to get high, safeguard your prescriptions. Safeguard you teens."
Superadgrunts, see the spot now.

For GMC/Yukon - "Never Say Never" - :60 - Decent animation, but kind of a unspectacular spot for the Super Bowl.
Agency: Leo Burnett, Detriot
The spot features an animated short by Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics that was nominated for an Academy Award back in the '70s. The ad--"Why Push?"--focuses on GMC's new hybrid gas/electric version of the Yukon full-sized SUV. The spot also bows a new theme line that will be introduced in a new brand effort next month: "Never Say Never."
The commercial starts with a black-and-white, constantly morphing drawing of a man, alternately muscular, sometimes merely a representation in lines, rolling a boulder up a hill. During his struggles, a voiceover says: "Why push? Why change? Why grow? Why dream? Questions you don't have to ask yourself. When you never say it's good enough. When you never say it can't be done. When you never... say never." The short shifts into images of a white Yukon hybrid and text, noting that the vehicle gets 50% better mileage.

Bud Light - "Language of Love" :30 - Not terrible. Not amazing.
Agency: DDB, Chicago
Carlos Mencia shows his students how to use their foreign accent to their advantage to pick up chicks.

Planter's Peanuts - "Cashew Perfume" - :30 - Didn't see the twist of using the nuts for perfume, but I was close enough.
Agency: Draft FCB
Director/Production: Bryan Buckley, Hungry Man
The first Super Bowl spot for the brand depicts how far men will go to follow their instincts, but with 'Instinctively Good'' intentions, as a not-so-attractive woman drives them wild because she uses the nuts as perfume.

T-Mobile - "Barkley/Wade myFaves" - :60 - Nice to see the campaign continue. Barkley and Wade have a good chemistry.
Agency: Publicis in the West, Seattle
Spot highlights T-Mobile myFaves service and is part of the ad campaign which continues to star Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley.

United Way - "Do Your Part" - :10 - Retro animation.
Patriot's Quarterback, Tom Brady does the voice over for this animated spot touting how to keep kids fit.
Superadgrunts, see it below.

Pepsi Stuff - "Magnetic Attraction" - :30 - Not too bad. Had to have a "low-blow" in some ad. Why not this one? ;)
Agency: BBDO
Director/Production: Craig Gilespie, MJZ
The spot Justin Timberlake for Pepsi Stuff, a partnership with Amazon.com. In the ad, Timberlake hurls himself through stunts to show how every sip gets people closer to the stuff they want. Bonus - that's Andy Samberg in the wig.

Doritos - "Mouse Trap" - :30 - Um, ok. This is different.
Man sets mouse trap using a piece of a Cheese Dorito chip. Mouse comes out (man in mouse suit) and beats the crap out of the guy who set the trap.

Nissan Murano - "So Far Ahead" - :30 - Car driving around. Meh. Forgettable.

Toshiba - "DVDs" :30 - Defintiely not a Super Bowl quality spot.
Agency: Della Femina, Rothschild, Jeary Partners, NY
The spot in-game featured scenes from hit HD DVD movie releases (such as Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers and Shrek 3) and their LCD TV products.

Canada Chamber of Commerce - "Ontario" - :30 - regional most likely. Typical tourism type spot.