Yay, sportsball!
I’m at home, eating lots of food and watching the commercials for the Big Game. Yeah, there’s some football in between, but I’ve always been more interested in the commercials, especially ever since Apple’s groundbreaking 1984 commercial. And let’s be serious… most people watch it for the commercials, and to eat (and drink).
I’ll be offering (almost) live commentary of every commercial. Some will be local ads, and since Omaha is a larger market (74th), we’ll probably not get one of those crazy ads from Will Ferrell that shows up in a smaller market like North Platte. But I’ll include them anyway.
Afterwards, I’ll include links to all that are available, and embedded YouTube videos for the best (or better) videos. (Embedding will cause the page to load slowly, so I’ll limit my exuberance.
Kickoff and First Quarter
Avengers 4!
Short and sweet and intriguing. Others can screen-shoot it and analyze it. A good teaser. I want that poster!
Bon & Viv spiked seltzer water. How much did they spend? Spiked seltzer. Is that a “shark tank” joke? Me, I’m wondering how much they spent on the production. Will it work? Dunno. B-
M&Ms. Chocolate Bar. Yeah, I kinda figured it out halfway. Not as bizarre as that previous “hostage in the trunk” ad, but still…. eating a sentient candy? Would I try the candy? No. But you might. Was the actress well-known?
Handmaid’s Tale! BRILLIANT! I loved that bait and switch, with a bit of a dig at Reagan’s “Morning in America” political film.
Bumble bff? What is it? Nice message from a great figure, but…?
car shopping… root canal. jury duty. middle seat. The Talk. Vegan Dinner Party. Car shopping. HYUNDAI. Good use of the celebrity and the idea. B+
movie. Ridley Scott. Turkish Air. “The Journey” The airline did something similar with Man of Steel. Or is this a short film for Turkish Airlines?
Survivor: Edge of Extinction. Teaser. I’m thinking there might be some deaths? Or maybe dinosaurs? Or The Greatest Game?
Horror movie. Olay. selfies. #killer skin. Movie star. Kinda cute, but …meh. B-
Doritos. Old school. Rapper. I want it that way. Fun, I’d watch it again as a music video! B+
WeatherTech. Pet Comfort Feeding System. Is this a real ad? Not a bad market to enter. B
Maroon 5 ad Pepsi halftime Show.
Captain Marvel. New teaser trailer. Again, lots of analysis is probably being done as we watch. Otherwise, not much excitement from me.
Corn syrup. beer. Miller. Coors. Bud Light! Fun, with some good jokes during the quest. A-
James Corden teaser. Okay.
Fast and the Furious: Hobbes and Shaw. The OTHER shared universe that works. Yeah, this was fun when I saw it on Facebook a few days ago. I’m not a fan of the movies, but I’d watch it just for the chemistry between the two! (How many movie ads will we see tonight?)
Mr. Chainz. Expensify. another app ad. B+
FBI. CBS ad.
Second Quarter
“Is Pepsi okay?” Do celebrity appearances work if you don’t recognize them?
porch pirates? your job? Simpli safe. The point is communicated. Not memorable, but effective. B-
texting…. gonna have to read that later… T-Mobile. Short and sweet! A+
Audi car ad. electric e-tron. HA. ALL Audi models will be electrified. whoa… B+
[So far, nothing that makes me go WHAT TH?! Most have been okay, if not stunning. Maybe there isn’t much striving for a “big spot” this year? Or we’ll see it later in the game?]
Bud Light. Bud Knight. Tap this keg… Game of Thrones?!? HBO just rickrolled everyone! A+
Avocados from Mexico. Dog show. Penalty cone. Heh. B.
How do you define…. the best? The World’s Best. Following the Super Bowl.
Pringles stacking. with Alexa? Reworking last year’s ad, with a little bit of modernization. B-
Google Assistant. Nice message ad. “How are you? Thank you. I love you.” *sniffle* A
Showtime? blinked. Streaming.
“Make the putt” Wile Coyote! Free Willy. Mercedes. If everything else could be changed as easily. A-Class. A-
Persil. Short. Nice punchline. B-
T-Mobile. She drives me crazy. Texting. Taco Tuesdays. A
Toni Harris. Message ad. Toyota Rav4 hybrid. B
Planters mobile. another celebrity cameo. Fun. B
CBS ad for Man With A Plan.
Mint Mobile. chunky style milk. “that’s not right.” YUP, I agree. C.
Norwegian Cruise Lines. Go karts?! Nice. B.
and a CBS ad for Star Trek Discovery.
huh…loss of signal… no, it’s…
Jordan Peele. TWILIGHT ZONE!
yeah… I think I’ll be subscribing to CBS’ All Access!
Robo Child. Turbo-Tax. hmm…. SFX is the theme tonight… no longer expensive for a Super Bowl ad, but does it communicate?
Stella Artois. Sex and the City. The Dude. Heh. A
Sprint. okay…. SFX. But lacking. B-
Million Dollar Mile? CBS ad.
Halftime
World’s Best ad. CBS.
Big Bang. Young Sheldon. CBS
God Friended Me. CBS. Nice premise.
Showtime. But what?
Local Ads:
Oprah. Hy-Vee grocery. “One Step” backpack program. Local ad. A-
Cox vs Century Link. Local ad. B-
Sol’s Jewelry and Loan. another local ad. five seconds.
100th season of the NFL. FUMBLE! A+
Pepsi intro… It’s okay.
Spongebob? First time there’s been Hip Hop at the Super Bowl?
Too many white people in that drum line.
Those lanterns…. did they open the roof? Oh, they’re drones. Darn.
Pinball Wizard… nice choreography with the car. Toyota Supra. B+
ADT Security. meh. B-
Grammys. Alicia Keys. CBS. Next Sunday. Cool.
Masters. CBS.
CBS news.
CBS Sports.
Local ads.
Giggling. “Dipstick”. Cenex. Quick and simple. B
Refreshment Challenge. Busch Beer. um… C.
Cenex. Clown camper. heh. B+
Woodhouse. a local car dealer, producing a Super Bowl ad! Music, lots of shots of people having fun, powered by the pickup trucks Woodhouse sells.
Sol’s, again with the five-second voice-over.
Third Quarter
Kia ad. Local ad, in a way. “We are not famous, but we are incredible.” Telluride. A-
Bubly. Bublé. Oprah…Uma…. Cute. B
CBS. NCIS.
T-Mobile. Free Lyft rides. A nice twist on an old joke. Good general style with the ads… texting in real time, while a classic song plays in the background. You have to read it, have to watch. A.
Wix.com web design. Karlie Kloss. B-
Orangutangs. Netflix. Nature. “Our Planet”. B
A lot of robots in ads this year… Michelob Ultra. B
Anthony Lynn. First responders. Verizon. sniffle B
Devour frozen foods. Heh. But a little weird. B-
Grammys with Alicia Keys.
Literacy. NFL. A good message.
NFL social justice. [#TakeAKnee]
These codes don’t mean anything… 7% who sleep in the rain… Jobs for Veterans. Google. *SNIFFLE* A
Colgate Total toothpaste. B-
CBS. SWAT.
Amazon Prime… Hanna. hmmm…
Tony Romo. Skechers. meh. B- [They’re selling Skechers to seniors now?]
Bud Light barbers. heh. B-
Goosebumps… World’s Best CBS.
Fourth Quarter
CBS The Neighborhood.
CBS Eyeballs ad. Great use of sound bites.
Local ads:
KMTV News streaming.
Lasik cooking ad. clever.
And another Sol’s ad.
Microsoft Adaptive controllers. [I watched the uncut ad a few days ago on YouTube.] A-
WeatherTech phone holder. Is that real? But cute. B
Trojan Horse Bud Light. heh. quick. B-
First responders Verizon. AllOurThanks.com
Andy Warhol? Burger King? Heinz ketchup? Did he make that film? #eatlikeandy whu?
(More info about it on YouTube below:)
Budweiser Clydesdales. Bob Dylan. Wind power. A-
Big Bang. CBS. Ten episodes left. [good]
Amazon Alexa. “The Incident”. I hope that’s Garry with Harrison Ford. A+
Michelob Ultra. WHAT? huh? C.
CBS Late Show. HAH. After the game.
Girls Inc. Cool. B+
T-Mobile. Eggplant parmigiana recipes. B
Washington Post. oof. A
CBS Grammy Awards
My mother liked the NFL Centennial ad the best, and I thought it was a lot of fun as well, with a lot of cameos of hall of famers and in-jokes. (Here’s hoping someone will annotate the ad!)
Ignoring the message ads, which are designed to hit you in your hearts and minds, I also liked the overall theme of the T-Mobile text ads, as well as Bud Light’s medieval series (with more online at YouTube).
There was a theme of artificial intelligence, either via digital assistants or robots. Is that a Zeitgeist?
No really bizarre ads this year, except for maybe that Michelob Ultra AMSR ad, and Andy Warhol. Only one Doritos ad, and nothing from Mountain Dew. Not a lot of automotive ads, and those were fairly straightforward in presentation. Celebrities up front, or playing a part, continued to be a reliable source of storytelling. Overall, a good selection of ads.
[Last updated at 11:10 PM Central Time.]
I liked the Walmart ad with all the movie and TV cars.
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