Super Bowl XXXVIII Review

Each year the Super Bowl is lauded as the creme de la creme of the advertising we will see during the year. And in recent years that has, for the most part, not been true. Overall the ads are flat, conservative, and becoming more and more boring each year. Throughout the game there were a few that stood out amongst the muck of ads. And there were some who probably shouldn't have wasted their ad dollars. Probably more than usual.
This was another banner year for animals in the ads as well with a donkey, two ads with horses, two ads with dogs, two ads with bears, chimps, monkeys, and elephants. Plus, a man acting like a wolf, and the famous Muppet animals.




Beer/Alcoholic Beverages:
Anheuser Busch- Budweiser: "Donkey"
Ad Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
Summary: A donkey gets his wish to join the Clydesdales.
Comments:
Caff: Overall a solid spot. A refreshing change from the poop jokes, sexy ladies, and other lowbrow humor typical in beer ads (especially during the Super Bowl). Reminiscent of "Babe," this was a spot both men and women could enjoy. Even though it was the probably the most hyped spot of the AB ads, it was able to live up to the buzz.
Dab: Okay, I'm pretty sure the Clydesdales were invented so that little girls like me could be mesmerized at a beer ad. Or something. Now add a spunky donkey and a rags to riches story and goshdarnit, I got all sentimental that was very 'aaaaw' while getting a chuckle. Still won't touch a bud with a ten-foot pole unless it's "Budweiser Pilsner" though.

Anheuser Busch- Budweiser: "Good Dog"
Ad Agency: Downtown Partners, Toronto
Summary: Owners demonstrate how their dogs fetch Bud Light.
Comments:
Caff: A classic crotch joke with a twist. Made all the boys in the room cringe and there was a collective yelping sound as well. Reached the target well, based on that reaction. Got a giggle out of me. An interesting choice to start out the game with though.
Dab: Another one that made it from the wastebasket of tasteless ideas? Almost made me smirk but not quite.

Anheuser Busch- Bud True:
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: Referee tunes out a football coach angry about a call because he's used to his wife yelling at him.
Comments
Caff: Stereotypical. Just bad. What year is this? 2004? You'd think it was 1904 or something. Those who did this ad must have forgotten that the viewing audience for the Super Bowl isn't the same as it is for most football games, meaning, yes boys, there are women and girls present.
Dab: OhmyfreakingGod! I took a time machine back to the damn 50's. This aired? That’s not even funny.

Anheuser Busch- Bud Light: "Spa"
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: Cedric gets unexpected spa treatment.
Comments:
Caff: Not bad. Not stellar either. But Cedric's reaction is great. Still, overall, of the A-B spots, it's one of the better ones that they chose to air.
Dab: somewhat amusing, only for the actors face. poor sod.

Anheuser Busch- Bud Light: "Sleigh Ride"
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: A romantic sleigh ride goes amiss.
Comments:
Dab: Farting horses and candles? How did this make it on telly from the wastebasket of tasteless ideas?
Caff: The line "Do you smell barbecue?" is just awful. This one was lame. That's all I have to say.

Anheuser Busch- Bud Light: "Paintball" -postgame
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: Paintballers play for Bud Light.
Comments:
Caff: Boys and paint guns. You better watch out. Reminds me of the stoning scene from "Life of Brian" done by Monty Python. And if you're comparing the two, this spot doesn't stand up to the original, but I will admit, that's hard to do.
Dab: It is the stoning scene... Funny-ish. Not nearly as good as the python-gangs.

Anheuser Busch- Bud Light: "Chimp Date"
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: A man's pet chimp makes a move on his date.
Comments:
Caff: My reaction is the same as the woman in the spot. W-T-F? I don't think I had enough beers while watching the game for that ad to make sense. Maybe that was the problem. Not a bad ad, but very strange. Interspecies relations is definitely different, I'll give it that.
Dab: aha, beastiality is funny. I must have missed a memo. Talking animals are usually quite the funny-bone tickler, but this gag fell flat. It might have survived if the monkey did something different - like backtalked his owner and begged to woman to get him out of there perhaps. "He snores! He never says he loves me! He won't take me to the zoo!" etc. Who knows.

Anheuser Busch- Budweiser: "Lipstick" -postgame
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago, IL
Summary: A man's drops a woman off at an airport, and realizes she left her lipstick behind. He drives 250 miles to where her plane is landing to return it, but it's not hers.
Comments:
Caff: One of the softer ads done by A-B this year. It's not humorous- and it's an old idea. But on the plus side, it's not offensive or toilet humor either.
Dab: on the bright side at least this gigolo is trying to be a gentleman, even if it's only because he likes to drive. ;) Pretty forgettable gag.

Anheuser Busch- Responsibility: "It Must be Tough"
Ad Agency: DDB, Chicago, IL
Summary: Tim McGraw for designated driver message.
Comments:
Caff: Not a bad ad. I better than last years with McGraw, but I like the "Flowers" ad better. Still, it gets the point across without being preachy.

Anheuser Busch- Responsibility: "Grow Up Fast- weID"
Ad Agency: DDB, Chicago, IL
Summary: Responsibility message for ID- Girls get dressed up to look older so they can buy beer.
Comments:
Caff: An okay spot. Didn't floor me. But the fact that even the girls understood that dressing up to look older (and slightly whorey) well, it won't fool the guy behind the counter.
Dab: Why rerun last years ad anyway?

PSAs:
American Legacy Foundation: "Shards O' Glass" (pre-pregame long version)
Ad Agency: Arnold Worldwide, Boston, MA/Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Miami, FL
Summary: Scientist outlines the safety of phony shards of glass company.
Comments:
Caff: Great spot. Almost tongue-in-cheek humor, and disgusting at the same time.
Dab: *chainsmokes* yeah, uh-huh, funny ad. Got a light? I'm out of matches.

Partnership for a Drug Free America for White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: "Rewind" a.k.a. "Jessica"
Ad Agency: FCB, NY, NY
Summary: Life rewinds to where Jessica's mom talks to her to keep her from ODing.
Comments:
Caff: Life doesn't rewind. Makes a good point and slightly less of a preachy than last years spots. Good concept though for the reality that you can make mistakes and can't turn back. Although the onus is on those not doing anything to stop it rather than the person making the choices.
Dab: I liked the execution of it going backwards. It works.

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: "Friendship" a.k.a. "Drowning"-postgame
Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, NY, NY
Summary: A girl stands on a dock while she watches her friend drowning.
Comments:
Caff: An interesting and blunt statement about friendship and taking steps to help your friend if in need. The better of the two done by ONDCP this year.
Dab: creepy scene.

Viacom/Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: "Dumpster-KnowHIV/AIDS"
Ad Agency: DDB, Seattle, WA
Summary: Shot of dumpster, copy talks about numbers of people dying- as says it doesn't have to be like that- a large number of people come out of the dumpster.
Comments:
Caff: A decent spot. The announcer over-enunciates though. And that bothers me.
Dab: Don't have a problem with the VO, I do have a problem with them not mentioning condoms once. Preventable how, please?

Phillip Morris USA: "1 in 5"
Ad Agency: Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, IL
Summary: Corporate responsibility and smoking-prevention ad
Comments:
Caff: No where near as effective as the "Shards O' Glass" spot. But then again, the tobacco maker isn't going to make those kind of claims. Simple idea done as a demonstration type ad, with something that is not really tangible. But the execution of it was simple too, maybe too simple, which made it bland, in comparison to the other ads of the evening.

NFL/United Way: Heroes Fund"
Ad Agency: Y&R, NY, NY
Summary: Help the families of soldiers fighting for freedom.
Comments:
Caff: An ok spot. Directs viewers to nfl.com/herosfund to make a donation to help out families of fallen soldiers.

NFL: "Inspire/Join the Team"
Ad Agency: In-house
Summary: NFL players want you to join the team and volunteer.
Comments:
Caff: NFL players shot in one set. Kinda boring. Looks low budget. Directs viewers to jointheteam.com.

Prescription Drugs:
Levitra- Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline: "Football vs. Baseball" (short spot)
Ad Agency: Quantum Group, Parsippany, NJ
Summary: Mike Ditka promotes new erectile dysfunction drug.
Comments:
Caff: I found it odd that Ditka went after baseball folks. It seemed unnecessarily mean towards baseball. He says "Baseball could use Levitra"...to make it more fast paced? Um, I thought Levitra was an erectile dysfunction drug...which I'm not sure makes a great connection to the fact that the copy of the ad puts down baseball as a slow paced game that gets called on account of weather. Bad analogy here. Plus, personally, I don't like being yelled at in an ad. Maybe it's different for men, and they are the target audience.
Dab: hehehehe..... I hate watching baseball even more than I hate watching american football so I was a little amused by his baseball slagging. Gimme a real game like socccer or rugby and we'll talk. Cheeziness goes overboard at the end where he throws a ball through a tire, I literally smacked my forehead when I saw that. I'm not the target market either.

Cialias- Eli Lilly: "Will you be ready?"
Ad Agency: Grey Global Group's Healthy Grey Village
Summary: Couples in "romantic" scenes
Comments:
Caff: A rather boring spot. Definitely not Super Bowl worthy. There are other ways of reaching your target audience without spending $2.3 million for one ad.

Dot coms:
AOL: Back in Time
Ad Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, OR
Summary: Mikey goes back in time.
Comments:
Caff: Mikey is actually pretty good in these ads. The other guys sound like they are reading from cue cards, and probably are. Jumping on the bandwagon of the popularity of a show isn't new. It's a decent tie-in to the Top Speed product although in a weird way. But it works as a demonstration ad for something rather intangible.

AOL: "Evel Knievel-Bike"
Ad Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, OR
Summary: Mikey makes an Evel Knievel jump.
Comments:
Caff: These ads are all pretty much the same. Okay tie-in, but there's something strange too that I can't put my finger on that bothers me about the ads.
Dab: I'm getting too much of a Ratchet and Clank - "weapons out of this world"-vibe without the funny in these.

AOL: Scooter
Ad Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, OR
Summary: Mikey gets catapulted upward.
Comments:
Caff: Yet another execution of the same idea. The overall concept of these ads is rather small- Paul Jr. supes up something with Top Speed not knowing that it only makes the internet faster. And each time, it's just a different object that he does something to...and putting Mikey into it.

Monster Worldwide: "Soulmates"
Ad Agency: Deutsch, NY, NY
Summary: A boss and job seeker start their days the same way. Introduces new design of Trump, the monster, by John Kricfalusi of Ren & Stimpy fame.
Comments:
Caff: Nice spot. I like the way it was shot as well. No need for split screen...just cutting back and forth between each guy's morning.
Dab: Didn't need it? Man I loved that part of the execution.

Monster Worldwide: "I Feel Love"
Ad Agency: Deutsch, NY, NY
Summary: People getting ready in the morning.
Comments:
Dab: I feel love. Man ten years ago, I had this great new job, and every morning was like that. That is, until I met the clients. ;) They got that feeling just right, and it's different.
Caff: This is a remix of sorts of the ads they have been playing already. A good spot though. Nice and upbeat...and well shot. They definitely picked the right director for this.

Expedia.com: "Magique"
Ad Agency: A husband and wife plan a trip to New York City.
Summary: Deutsch, LA, CA
Comments:
Caff: I'm not sure why this was a Super Bowl ad. It's exactly like their other ads they run during the year. So it keeps the continuity, but at the same time, it's nothing special.

Products:
Pepsi Co- Pepsi: "I Fought the Law"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Pepsi and iTunes promotion- show kids who had been prosecuted for illegally downloading music. Green Day sings a remake of "I Fought the Law".
Comments:
Caff: Great way to tie-in the legal downloading of music and the promotion. Timely, and perfectly directed at the target audience. Perfect song. The one problem with the ad is the girl who speaks with a thick Jersey accent - she needed some more practice with a acting coach. But overall, a good spot.

Pepsi Co- Pepsi: "Bear"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Bears find food and an empty Pepsi cooler in a cabin.
Comments:
Caff: Great ad. Only problem was, I missed the bit of him paying with a check and didn't understand the ID part for a minute. But, otherwise, a funny and good spot.

Pepsi Co- Pepsi: Diner
Ad Agency: Spike DDB, NY, NY
Summary: A Pepsi and waitress help restore a man's faith in love- directed by Spike Lee.
Comments:
Caff: A fun spot, well done. Ties in well with their current ads.

Pepsi Co- Pepsi: "Crossroads"
Ad Agency: Spike DDB, NY, NY
Summary: A young Jimi Hendrix chooses Pepsi over Coke, which leads him down his famous path.
Comments:
Dab: Ya know, ten years ago, this would have been a great ad. That’s the thing though, it feels like ten years ago. Everything about it. The look, the storytelling, the subject, the line.
Caff: Dab, you're right. I like the ad though. But it does have that "been there- done that" kind of feel to it. Maybe that's why it didn't grab me so much. But it's a nice play off the decisions we make everyday and tying it into the product choices we make daily too.

Pepsi Co- Sierra Mist: "Fire Escape"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Man and dog jump from apartment into ice water pitchers.
Comments:
Caff: Same man and dog from last year come back to find another simile to the refreshment that Sierra Mist gives you. Ok spot, but not great. Somewhat blah in the overall scheme of things.
Dab: Good dog. Not so good ad. I hate the cut-back-to-comic-relief move, the gag is over, move on.

Pepsi Co- Sierra Mist: "Bagpipes"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Bagpiper in parade cools off in a creative way.
Comments:
Caff: Playing off the idea from last year's monkeys at the zoo finding a creative way to cool off (in the polar bear's pool), the bag piper cools off underneath his kilt. I can't decide if I think they went just a tad too far, as the kid in the spot says "Dad, that's just wrong." Also, the Marilyn Monroe spoof has been done to death.
Dab: See, here the comic relief cut ruined it for me, as everything up until that kid says that was somewhat funny (for his helium sounding 'iih-ih-iiiih' alone)...

Frito-Lay: "Grandparents"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Grandma and Grandpa fight over a bag of Lay's.
Comments:
Caff: A forgettable ad. The denture joke is old and overplayed. The ad was supposed to be humorous but I didn't even crack a smile.
Dab: That ad was just sad. Tried cartoonly slapstick and missed by a mile.

Charmin- Procter & Gamble Co- "End Zone"
Ad Agency: Publicis Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: P&G bear switches Charmin for quarterback's towel.
Comments:
Caff: A few of the people I watched the game with couldn't believe the line "Softer on your end zone" was actually used on TV. The bear suit was weird. I would have rather seen the illustration of the bear that they use in all their other ads. An okay spot for P&G's first foray into Super Bowl advertising. I was happy to see them shy away from the safe/typical P&G creative that we usually see. Although the Charmin brand has been doing some more "pushing of envelope" in the toilet paper category with their bears.

Gillette: "Angel/Feeling"
Ad Agency: BBDO, NY, NY
Summary: Black and white images show men enjoying life.
Comments:
Caff: Just boring. And bizarre! "Like an angel by your side"??? Huh? WTF does that *mean*?? Hello? Did someone actually get paid to come up with this subpar concept? The jingle/soundtrack is horrid too. Just a waste of $2.3 million. A pure waste. Has to be the cheesiest ad of the whole shebang.
Dab: I thought at first they were trying to be ironic....

Schick: "Quattro"
Ad Agency: J. Walter Thompson, NY, NY
Summary: Quattro's "Power of Four"
Comments:
Caff: Thankfully this ad was short. It was rather boring.

7 UP: "Slamdunk"
Ad Agency: Y&R Advertising, NY, NY
Summary: The 7UP spokesman drives around to give away free 7UP and a million dollars to anyone who can slam-dunk in the 7UP hoop, placed on the back of the truck.
Comments:
Caff: This spot is ok. Nothing really spectacular. The folks trying to slam-dunk are slightly amusing. Still doesn't beat their "Make 7 UP yours" or "Show Us your Can"(SB 2000) spots.

IBM- Linux Prodigy software: "Ali"
Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Summary: Muhammad Ali tells a kid to shake up the world.
Comments:
Dab: I don't have that love for Ali as so many others have, though I get it. It's a so-so. A pretty decent ad, and great that IBM is standing behind Linux like this. The campaign gets a good score overall. Dunno if this is one of the better superbowlian ads though.
Caff: A nicely shot spot. Just one of two featuring Ali. Although this one is more focused on him and has him today, as opposed to just a shot of him back in the day. A decent ad.

PS2: "Jet Li- Rise of Honor"
Ad Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, LA, CA
Summary: Live action shots of Jet Li and video shots.
Comments:
Caff: Typical video game ad.
Dab: Yeah, but it's Jet Li man, and it's slo-mo, and i's backwards, and it's Jet li, and big aquariums break, and it's Jet li!

Real California Cheese: "Sprinkler"- pregame
Ad Agency: Deutsch, LA, CA
Summary: Cows frolic as sprinklers get turned on - which turns on the bulls.
Comments:
Caff: Brilliant! An old ad but still fun to watch.
Dab: Tres surreal, worth a small chuckle as it was a well executed gag.

Retail/Stores:
Pizza Hut: "Muppets/Jessica Simpson" (pregame short)
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Jessica Simpson and the Muppets promote the new 4forAll pizza.
Comments:
Caff: An okay spot I guess. Jumping on the popularity of Jessica Simpson bandwagon though. And the Muppets...I don't know that I get the connection. Would have been more amusing to see Jessica being dumb and her husband trying to explain to her.
Dab: That orange woman is famous? I barely even noticed her, I love Animal. Animal rules.

FedEx: "Alien"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: Alien office worker tricks co-workers.
Comments:
Dab: höhöhöhöhöhöhöhöhöhöhö, there's an alien with a crappy mask on - höhöhöhöhöhöh. This scores high, due to it's irreverence. And that "I got my eyes on you" gesture. Oh yeah. Brill!
Caff: Bizarre ad but in a good way. Funny. And the expression of the actor at the end was great! Well cast, fun concept, and overall a good spot. This is what Super Bowl ads are about. Hitting the mark on the strategy but at the same time being entertaining. Good job.

Subway: "Misunderstanding"
Ad Agency: Fallon, Minneapolis, MN
Summary: The spot supposedly makes fun of their own recent ads with men dressed up as cheerleaders after eating at Subway.
Comments:
Caff: If they have to explain their older ads, then something is wrong. Very wrong.
Dab: Amen to that Caff - also there's a serious "real american hero"-deja-vu on the VO once he starts saying: "So you, Kelly in Memphis, stop spilling on bad tippers"... I must admit though, I loved the perfume-scene, which could be an ad on it's own, perhaps for a department store that doesn't have perfume ladies. ;)

Staples: "It Was Easy"
Ad Agency: Martin/Williams Advertising
Summary: Office workers trade pastries for office supplies starring Joe Viterelli.
Comments:
Caff: A nice spot. The concept is one that many office workers can relate to. The hoarding of supplies and needing to bribe your way to get something you need is a fun take on the easiness of shopping for the supplies yourself at Staples. Good spot. Well directed with the right touch of Mafia.
Dab: Amusing, one of the top ten - as we all recognise the situation in begging for a few paper-clips...

McDonalds: "Dryer Sheet"
Ad Agency: DDB, Chicago, IL
Summary: A burger wrapper ends in the dryer
Comments:
Caff: Gross. Who wants to smell like a burger? And what kind of sicko would be attracted/turned on by the smell of it? Ugh. Hit a foul on this one.
Dab: Something smells really cheesy here....

Microsoft: "Fiona"
Ad Agency: McCann Erickson, SF, CA
Summary: Follow a girl through a day at school.
Comments:
Caff: This old ad is a good one. The way they use the outlines to demonstrate their "experience new worlds/innovations" works well.
Dab: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. huh?

Financial/Services:
H&R Block: "Willie Doll"
Ad Agency: Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis, MN
Summary: Puzzled taxpayers seek financial advice from a Willie Nelson doll.
Comments:
Caff: The ad plays off last year's spot featuring Willie Nelson. The doll is amusing. A good ad, but not great. Still one of the better ones this year.
Dab: The doll could have, and should have, said much funnier things.

H&R Block: "Shoeboxes"-postgame
Ad Agency: Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis, MN
Summary: H&R person talks about people's shoeboxes.
Comments:
Caff: An old spot. A decent ad showing the benefits of H&R Block.

Visa USA: "Snowball"
Ad Agency: BBDO Worldwide, NY, NY
Summary: U.S. Olympic women's volleyball team plays in snow.
Comments:
Caff: A nice spot. Shows the love of the sport by the players- in almost a way ESPN does their love of the game ads. And reminds the viewer that Visa is a sponsor of the upcoming Summer Olympics.

MasterCard: "Homer"
Ad Agency: McCann-Erickson, NY, NY
Summary: "Priceless" campaign follows Homer Simpson's spending.
Comments:
Dab: Finally they are honest about spending-with-card-habits. ;)
Caff: As a fan of the Simpsons, it's always nice to see Homer. Feels a little like Goering has sold out, but then again, he did with all those Butterfinger ads too. A good ad though.

Automotive:
Dab: What's with all the sexy car-shots? I can't remember the car's names.
Caff: I dunno. They all kinda blurred together to me.

Dodge- Magnum: "Monkey"
Ad Agency: BBDO, Troy, Michigan
Summary: Man has "a monkey on his back" trying to find a family car that's cool until he discovers the 2005 Magnum
Comments:
Caff: Monkey on your back idea is very done (besides it was a chimp not a monkey). And this ad reminds me more of VW's spots with the folks who have the Beetle on the brain.

General Motors- Chevy: "Soap"
Ad Agency: Campbell-Elwald, Warren, Michigan
Summary: Kids eat soap for uttering expletive at sight of new Chevy pickup.
Comments:
Dab: I like it because it proves the Linux-kid (i.e. Linux itself) swears. It does too. ;) (the Linux kid is in it!)
Caff: Hands down, the best auto spot that aired during the game. And one of the better spots overall. Great concept. It did feel a little "VW-esque" though.

General Motors- Cadillac Convertible: "Intersection"
Ad Agency: Chemistri, Troy, Michigan
Summary: Set to Led Zeppelin, weird watery effects ripple the atmosphere.
Comments:
Caff: The only thing that ties the effects to anything is the line "the wave of performance luxury." Typical car ad otherwise (read: boring).

Cadillac Convertible: "Break Through" -postgame
Ad Agency: Chemistri, Troy, Michigan
Summary: Set to Led Zeppelin, weird watery effects ripple the atmosphere.
Comments:
Caff: Another typical auto spot. Car goes fast. So fast it makes the atmosphere ripple. Boring.
Dab: Uh-huh, a neat post effect but they weren't using it to say anything in particular...

Cadillac SRX V6: "Accepting Award" -pre and postgame
Ad Agency: Chemistri, Troy, Michigan
Summary: Back and forth fast cuts of car shots to slow pans of award in the road.
Comments:
Caff: Typical fast cuts. Boring.

Cadillac SRX V6: "Open Air Roadster" -postgame
Ad Agency: Chemistri, Troy, Michigan
Summary: Woman drives SRX along side a guy driving a convertible.
Comments:
Caff: What is up with the driving shots? Boring and typical.

Cadillac SRX V6: "Well Said"
Ad Agency: Chemistri, Troy, Michigan
Summary: No sound for the first half of the commercial, until sound catches up.
Comments:
Caff: At first, I thought something was wrong as there was no sound. It wasn't until the second viewing of this that I caught that it was supposed to be because the car was going so fast, it went faster than the speed of sound. Which is quite an exaggeration. Better than the typical driving spots though.
Dab: Simple idea. Clever. Still not a great ad though....

General Motors- Aveo: "Pachyderm" a.k.a. "Elephant"
Ad Agency: Campbell-Elwald, Warren, Michigan
Summary: Tall athletes appear small in new Aveo.
Comments:
Caff: Ran back to back with "Big Little" spot. Not really Super Bowl worthy, but a good place to introduce a new product.

General Motors- Aveo: "Big Little"
Ad Agency: Campbell-Elwald, Warren, Michigan
Summary: Tall athletes appear small in new Aveo.
Comments:
Caff: An okay spot. Decent CGI showing the tall guys as tiny in the car.

General Motors- GMC Canyon: Who'da Thought -pregame
Ad Agency: Lowe, NY
Summary: Compares things that people never would have guessed until they happened.
Comments:
Caff: An okay spot. Typical automotive advertising for a new model.

Ford Motor Co.: "In What Gear"
Ad Agency: J. Walter Thompson, Detroit
Summary: GT sports car driving on racetrack.
Comments:
Caff: Typical ad showing how fast the car goes. Good copy though.

Ford Motor Co.: "It's the One" -pregame
Ad Agency: J. Walter Thompson, Detroit
Summary: Shadowy shots of the GT mixed with quick shots of it driving.
Comments:
Caff: This is more of a teaser spot. Somewhat typical. Ok.

Mitsubishi: "Accident Avoidance Test"
Ad Agency: Deutsch
Summary: Galant vs. the Toyota Camry, as objects are thrown off a truck, the two cars try to avoid them. Set to "Ballroom Blitz."
Comments:
Caff: This follows the campaign that broke mid-January. It directs the viewer to seewhathappens.com as the spot ends as two cars are coming out of the truck. A teaser to drive viewers to the site. A decent spot.

Honda- Pilot: "Raised by Wolves"
Ad Agency: Rubin Postaer & Associates, Santa Monica, CA
Summary: Man acts like wolf.
Comments:
Caff: An old ad, but interesting. Somewhat bizarre too.

Other:
NFL- NFL Network: "Tomorrow"
Ad Agency: Triple Double, NY
Summary: Players sing "Tomorrow" from Annie promoting the NFL Network.
Comments:
Caff: Nice spot. Well done. Amusing and entertaining to see football players singing.

Ads that didn't make it into the game:
Moveon.org
PETA

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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AnonymousCoward's picture

What's on tap for 2005 Super Bowl commercials?

Has anyone heard anything about what's being planned, or which advertisers are on board?

Dabitch's picture

From what I've read recently 90% of the ad space is already sold, and the asking price for thirty seconds sets yet another record - I think it was 2.6 million dollars for 30 seconds!