My colleague, Brian, has been doing a stunning job with this blog. But I'm going to beat him to the punch with my list of the best and worst of the game. I know he'll weigh in a little later today.
As I have done for the past few years (check here for 2007, here for 2006, and here for 2005), I will begin by handing out some awards:
The "With this Amount of Steroids I could be a Baseball Hall-of-Famer" Award: Under Armor
Under Armor had lofty ambitions: an Apple 1984-style ad announcing a revolution against the established oligarchs of athletic wear. But instead of the allegorical Everyperson breaking tyrannical control, they gave us athletes in extreme workouts (how novel for an athletic shoe ad ;-) proclaiming in a steroidal rage: "We are the Future!" I didn't think announcing a Super Bowl ad could tank their stock price -- maybe the stock analysts had seen the ad.
The "The Revolution will NOT be televised" Award -- Audi R8
Speaking of revolutions, Audi promised a breakthrough ad and chose to use a scene from the classic movie The Godfather, as its attempt to "explode on the Web and get people talking." Not a bad idea, but where's the link to their strategy to "grab into the heart and soul of the American struggle and the American entertainment business."? The Godfather was made in 1972 and the American entertainment business has moved on from there. Has Audi heard of HD, iPod, XBox, Wii that are now the heart of the entertainment business? And in these precarious economic times, the American struggle is to still afford luxury while trying to pay $3.00 at the pump and not default on your mortgage. Hyundai's Genesis speaks more to this revolution than a $100,000 ego machine.
The "Where's Tippi Hedren when you need her?" Award -- Fedex
Alfred Hitchcock meets Godzilla as giant carrier pigeons run amok and destroy the city. Fedex will come the rescue -- and rescues their reputation for great Super Bowl ads with their best attempt in several years.
The "Most Outrageous Fantasy" Award -- Coke
Giant carrier pigeons are pretty outrageous. Sarah Connor as femme fatale (literally) is, too. But not even The Chronicles of Narnia can compete with Coke's impossible dream of bringing Bill Frist and James Carville together for some good, old-fashioned, friendly bonding. Coke's power to go beyond teaching the world to sing to get even Democrats and Republicans to share some good times brings a hopeful note to a rancorous, polarized election year. Hey, Coke, deliver 535 bottles to Capitol Hill and put it on my tab!
The "Sisyphean Feat" Award -- GMC Yukon Hybrid
I like the art direction of this ad: a simple line drawing of a man pushing a boulder up a mountain -- striking in its simplicity. Unlike the Greek mythological character, Sisyphus, GMCman makes it to the top. Being a Prius-driving, solar electricity generating kind of guy, it struck me more as the allegory of an unending struggle to get car companies and the American driver to give up their addiction to monster SUVs and save the planet. Sure, a hybrid SUV is better than gas only. And for builders and other trades that truly need a vehicle like this I'm sure it is a fine choice. I'd like to have the optimism GMC encourages with its "Never say Never" tagline, but it's hard to maintain in the face of all the soccer moms behind the wheel of these greenhouse gas belching behemouths.
The "It's the 21st Century, not the 1970's" Award -- Tide-to-Go
While Audi reached back to the 1972 movie "The Godfather", the Clydesdale's paid homage to 1976 "Rocky", and SoBe Water doffed its cap to the 1982 "Thriller" album, P&G, of all unlikely advertisers, is thinking about today's audience. Their site MyTalkingStain uses this new-fangled thing called the Internet and, dare I say it, Web 2.0 techniques to engage the audience. I can't wait to see what spoofs people submit to this otherwise pretty humdrum ad.
The "Living in the Past" Award -- Doritos
Though Doritos isn't living in the 1970's, their efforts this year did not show the innovative, forward thinking of the Crash the Super Bowl contest last year. Sorry, Kina, your song is nice but a warmed over version of American Idol isn't exactly a breakthrough idea. Maybe that is why Doritos reached back to last year's consumer-created-ad contest to run the Mousetrap spot. I liked the Duct Tape ad better, but I gave Mousetrap an A- in art direction for an excellent job in creating the fake wall and not hiding the the fakeness of the mouse suit. Congratulations to Billy Federighi for having his work shown this year.
The "Battle of the Beverages" Champion -- Pepsi
There can be no denying that with perennial Super Bowl Ad dominator, Anheuser Busch, this year pursued by the portfolio of Pepsico brands (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi Max, SoBe Water, G2, Gatorade), and Coke's 2 spots, this was the year of the battle of the beverages. And I have to give it to Pepsi. Justin Timberlake had a lot of talk going into the game and even at the Super Bowl party I attended (with a bunch of 50-something types who have only heard of Mr. Timberlake because of their daughters), the spot was a crowd-pleaser. I also want to recognize the "Bobbleheads" ad for Diet Pepsi Max which had the right combination of mystery, music, comtemporary cultural references, and product benefit to be a very effective ad. Combine that with ads for a range of target audiences -- wanna be athletes who need an off-filed hydrator, new-ager aging Baby Boomers with the Thrillicious ad, and dog-lovers with the Black Lab Gatorade spot, and Pepsi effectively showcased their entire lineup.
It was a great effort by Bud this year, and they came out strong in the first quarter with "Fire Breathing" and "Wine and Cheese", but I thought their spots declined quickly from there.
Congratulations to Pepsi for being my pick for the overall Super Bowl XLII ad champ.
PS. A special thanks to Victoria's Secret, though, for giving us despondent Pats fans an excellent suggestion for how to take our minds off our sorrows....
