Aside from the plethora of inappropriate Ben Roethlisberger jokes and constant reminders of how bad Joe Buck is at his job, my Super Bowl watching experience was pretty fantastic: I found out there were other members of the Black Eyed Peas, the Steelers lost and Justin Bieber was in a commercial. And speaking of commercials, they were as expensive as they’ve ever been, bringing in about 3 million per 30 seconds of airtime.
In the end it was probably worth it, as Super Bowl VXL amassed the most viewers of any television program in history, averaging 111 million viewers. Regardless, this year the commercials were almost all entertaining; and how can we forget the cameos?
P. Diddy, Kenny G and even Poseidon made a guest appearance (and he had us convinced he was done after that whole Odyssey fiasco). Anyway, here are my top five commercials from the game on Sunday, and no, Justin Bieber didn’t make the cut.
5. Bridgestone: Reply All
This advertisement should have hit home with nearly every student at Wooster. It featured a guy at the office mistakenly hitting “reply all” on his e-mail and being so frightened other people would read it that he drove all over and stole their computers and phones.If you’re a member of any listserv, you understand this completely, as you’re well aware of how aggravating or embarrassing it is when people hit the wrong button on Scotmail.
This problem could be fixed, however, if first-years used rational thought when sending out their e-mails. Until then, enjoy poking fun at their expense.
4. Bud Light Product Placement
In this ad a movie director gets irked when a random product makes its way into his set, and is informed he gets free stuff whenever he shows that product on screen. This leads him to the brilliant idea of trying to place Bud Light in as many places as possible.
It’s a funny ad, no doubt, but what makes it better is the fact that it was run on FOX. If you’ve ever seen any show on the network, you’ll notice that this is exactly what they do; just watch “American Idol.” Actually, on second thought, don’t.
3. Budweiser: Wild West
Scary cowboy walks into a saloon, asks for some Budweiser and breaks out in Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” This scene made me pretty happy, since I’m a huge “Almost Famous” fan. Other than that, this was an ad that really showed an accurate portrayal of the product: drink this, and you’ll be so drunk you’ll start singing Elton John. Hey, I didn’t say it, the commercial did.
2.Volkswagen: The Force
Many folks argue this was the best of the night, but it fell just short first place. It involves a little kid dressed in a full Darth Vader costume trying to impose “The Force” on random objects.
When the dad comes home from work, he attempts to use “The Force” on his Volkswagen. This time it works, and the kid is dumbfounded. However, it was just dad messing around with the remote-start button on the keys. This was definitely the cutest ad of the night, and provided an excellent display of my future Halloween costume.
1. Chrysler: Imported from Detroit
It should be clear from the start that this is more of a statement than an advertisement. Chrysler bought a full two minutes of airtime, making this the longest Super Bowl commercial ever and hopefully wasn’t using your tax dollars. It focuses on the depressed Detroit automobile industry, and calling out the media and public perception for beating them while they’re down.
Detroit knows how to build a luxury car, the ad says, even if the solemnity of their city’s dÈcor doesn’t excite many. With Detroit-native Eminem driving a Chrysler through the streets of the Motor City and his track “Lose Yourself” beating in the background, this ad gives me chills. This is masterfully done, hauntingly beautiful, and leaves with a strong idea, as well as the underlying message of hope for a city that is in dire need of a second chance.