Friends. Chips. Dip. Wings. Chili dogs. Plenty of napkins. Beer. Soft drinks. Sandwiches. Cheering. Laughter.
Oh, and football! All the ingredients needed for a successful Super Bowl Sunday.
For some, the real show was the commercials between the game. And if you were one of those who subscribe to that idea, get your cursor cursing and vote your favorites that graced your big screen!
We jaw about a few of the ones we liked (and disliked) …
Dannon ‘The Tease’ Ad
Tara: I mightily chortled at the end of this commercial. It’s one of the only ones that had me laughing, honestly. I think it might be because I’m not a big fan of John Stamos, and I could live vicariously through the actor chick.
Michael: As far as I’m concerned, Johnny Boy deserved the cold-cock to the head for being an ass. Period. My mother taught me long ago: Don’t mess with a gal’s sweets.
Toyota Camry ‘Reinvented’ Ad
Tara: You know me, I love the ridiculous. So this Toyota ad was right up my alley. At least it showed thought and creativity. And the baby’s cuter than all get out.
Michael: I have a feeling the feminist contingent will be railing over that one.
Chevy ‘Happy Grad’ Ad
Michael: Speaking of (the bevy of Super Bowl) car ads, I was impressed with this Chevy piece. It’s right behind my favorite, the CareerBuilder ‘Business Trip’ spot.
Tara: You know, this was one of my least favorites. The setup for joke went on too long for very little payoff. So I gotta disagree with you here. It was just “meh” for me.
Audi ‘Vampire Party’ Ad
Michael: If I see one more anything about vampires — a book, a television program, a billboard, a radio spot, a cell phone application — I’m going to start carving my own stakes and wreck havoc. I thought things were really pushing into gear the summer before True Blood premiered, but since then they’ve gone way, way over the top. Enough with the freakin’ vampires already! The dumbing down and “sexing up” have completely ruined the genre. You want proof? It’s all there in this video. The dork admiring his lapels. The creepy eye-browed chick in the photo above. Vampires with guitars. Vampires climbing trees like squirrels. Picnicking. Give me a break, already. (Side Note: It’s criminal Echo And The Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” was used in this video. I’m going to need brain bleach to wash the images of the commercial from my mind before I can enjoy the song again.)
Tara: I’m weary of vampires too. I blame the whole Twilight saga for ruining them. (I actually saw the first couple seasons of True Blood and found it kinda clever.) Nope. It was Twilight and all the Team Edward crap that took all the elusive creepiness away. Look at the bright side … at least you still have your beloved Zombies. I don’t think “they” could find a way to make puss oozing Zombies all sexy and (therefor) marketable.
Honda CR-V ‘Matthew’s Day Off’ Ad
Michael: I already wrote about this particular ad. It was one of the better ones and I personally enjoyed it immensely. While I’m a big fan of Ferris, I didn’t go radio gaga over it. Still, it was nice to see The Sausage King Of Chicago reprise his role once more … in a manner of speaking.
Tara: I went gaga. I admit it freely. This ad is complete genius and is my hands down favorite of them all. It perfectly targeted the age appropriateness of its audience. And in a brilliant way. Consumers who are now in their forties were all over Ferris in the ’80s! Very smart and entertaining.
CareerBuilder ‘Business Trip’ Ad
Michael: Come on! It’s the CareerBuilder monkeys! What’s not to like? Nifty Odd Couple theme music … lampshades … meeting room shenanigans … and more monkey business than you can pin an inappropriate clandestine “Kick Me!” sign to. Again I ask: What’s not to like … ?!?
Tara: *rolls eyes*
Coca-Cola ‘Catch’ Ad vs. Pepsi MAX ‘Check-Out’ Ad
Michael: In the battle of the colas (and as a Coca-Cola guy my ownself), I must admit Pepsi’s ad trumped Coke’s nine ways to (Super Bowl) Sunday. Someone at the marketing department wanted some extra cutesy going on with the Coke bears. It firmly accomplished things to that end, but Coke’s ad was “just there” … and that’s it.
Tara:I remember when Coke and Pepsi were neck and neck in the advertising game. It seems to me both companies used to take this a lot more seriously. Huh. You’d think for three million dollars plus for each thirty seconds of airtime, Coke would strive to produce something better than that! Who are these ad “creatives?”
You and I could have come up with something better for half the money. Probably. I think. Right? Of course!
Michael: Commercials I hated / disliked / didn’t care for? Of course, the Audi and Coca Cola spots. The Suzuki ‘Sled’, Chevy Volt ‘Aliens’, Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator trailer and, especially, Cars.com ‘Confident’ ads were all pointless.
Now … get voting! You can choose up to three of your favorites. And don’t forget to check back to see how yours fared. (And if we missed any, please note it in the comments section.)
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Feb 05, 2012 @ 22:35 EST5EDT
Well, I thought all the vampires bursting into flame and disappearing was pretty good… I hate Twilight! I liked the Pepsi King Elton ad better than the Pepsi Max ad, and the VW dog and Ferris ads were winners, too. I didn’t watch the game, so I’ve only seen the ads that were already online yesterday.
The M&M’s commercial was ridiculously funny.
listen the m&m’s commercial and the samsung big game ad was the best out of all of them. end of story.
i liked these 3
Wow… NONE of my 3 favorites made either of your lists. I LOVED The Voice with Betty White, “America’s Halftime” with Clint Eastwood and “Here Wego!”
The M&Ms commercial was by far the funniest. LOVED it!
*POST AUTHOR*
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No M&M commercial on this coast, Carla …
“Here Wego” hands down was the best
I loved Melanie Amaro’s Pepsi ad with Elton & Flava Flave!!!
Loved the grandma & baby Dorito ad, it was quite quirky.
Loved the one for the Voice…love that show!!
This was a hard one for me though, was a bit distracted as the case of Susan Powell took a sad, tragic turn just as the Super Bowl was starting.
hearing a father blew himself and his children up kinda makes ya not totally give a crap about stuff like the SuperBowl and it’s commercials.
I loved the Audi ad. Granted, I’m biased because I loved Audis. However, it seemed to be mocking the whole douche vampire fetish. I don’t know if it was a good marketing strategy, but the commercial was hilarious.
And I really loved the Verizon Samsung Tablet commercial. It had joy and made me want to switch carriers, so mission accomplished.
Chevy had some wins. The 2012 ad with the dig at Ford, and apparent cease and desist letter will create some buzz. The Happy Grad commercial was funny. I think as a whole, they’re the advertiser that won the night. Although Hyundai is the dark horse. When did their cars get sexy?
Bud Light Platinum? Seriously? Did they buy out an overstock of Bawlz bottles and need a good way to market them?
How can you not include the FIAT commercial???!
I agree! The Fiat commercial was the ONLY one I liked at all. So funny. So surprising. And it actually made me get a sense of the appeal of the car.
For those who don’t remember, it was the one with the beautiful Italian woman with the scorpion tattoo.
*POST AUTHOR*
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L. Ross & Rose:
The Fiat commercial has been out for weeks. With that in mind, was it really a “Super Bowl” commercial … ???
I really enjoyed the ad for The Voice.
How could you miss what will be the most memorable ad? Eastwood for Chrysler. Without it even on the list, I guess you didn’t even watch the game, at least not the ads.
you didn’t even list the Chrysler halftime commercial with eastwood???? Are u kidding??????
Yep, you missed the best ones. We had a near standing ovation at our house for “The Voice” ad – well, at least spontaneous around-the-room applause. We are NOT people who applaud television shows in the privacy of our own home, but Betty White is becoming our real-life Sophia [remember “Golden Girls”] and we love her.
The Eastwood commercial had us entranced, although I did not see it as a Chrysler ad as much as an America, or maybe Detroit, ad. Honestly, I kept waiting for a PAC endorsement at the end, and was thrilled not to see one.
Check out the M&M ad!! [Can’t believe I’m saying this.] The “Too Sexy For My Shirt” music really put “Red” over the top as far as I’m concerned!! Dudley Moore from “Foul Play” in public!! Awesome!!
“Here Wego” was good, but overdone before the end of the commercial. Loses points with me for the attempted “Rescue Dogs” tie-in. Split the cost with somebody else, why don’t you? Don’t abuse the puppy’s trust, turn him into a slave for drunks, and then pat yourself on the back for saving him from a shelter.
And didn’t I just see a recent post by YOU lamenting false labeling when CBS called their show “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials”? Since that column was your “Best Post About Television Commercials Ever”, I guess I understand how you missed a couple in this column.
Seinfeld…Seinfeld!!!!!
Love that Suzuki commercial. The sled dogs don’t live on the end of chain like most do in Alaska. They also aren’t being forced to run in the Iditarod, a race that’s terribly cruel to dogs. What happens to dogs during the Iditarod includes death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including two dogs who froze to death in the brutally cold winds. FOR MORE FACTS: Sled dog Action Coalition, https://www.helpsleddogs.org.
I agree with others on here. How do you not have the Chrysler commercial with Clint Eastwood in the list. It was easily the best commercial of the day.
*POST AUTHOR*
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jdm, antonio311, Nyela and others who are or may be concerned at the omission:
Whoops!
Yes … I missed mentioning the Clint/Chevy commercial completely. I’m not going to make any excuses about doing so. I simply dropped the ball. Period. Apologies for doing so.
By the same token, there were several other commercials that weren’t touched on, either. Example? The M&Ms commercial wasn’t broadcast here on the West Coast. Regionally, I’m certain there were others saw we didn’t see. And … The Voice commercial? While I didn’t care for it, I didn’t mention that one, either. (But … I will in my pending The Voice post.)
I knew this going in … that there could be the possibility of non-mentions because of regionality, but, again, Clint got passed over.
Glad I tossed in the “And if we missed any, please note it in the comments section” to save my ass somewhat.
I loved the Chevy apocalypse ad… But that has always been my favorite Sci-Fi genre. And the Twinkie was a nice touch at the end.
Did NBC’s big “Brotherhood of Man” ad, with nearly everyone who works in front of the camera for NBC performing in a musical number, actually air during the game, or was it just in the pregame? Or just online? I didn’t watch any of it, but I saw that ad online and really enjoyed it.
I loved the post-2012 apocalypse one, especially the note about Twinkies at the end.
And as someone above had mentioned, I saw the vampire one as a spoof on the whole emaciated vampire theme that’s so rampant right now, not to mention getting to see them all killed off. Though, I wouldn’t want headlights really that bright, as I wouldn’t want to blind my roadmates. And the Killing Moon felt like a nod to the Lost Boys OST.
As for completely useless trailers that I have no idea why they even bothered including them, we caught Lucas whoring out Star Wars upcoming 3D release yet again (because somebody out there obviously must’ve missed one of the other dozens of adverts for it that have aired already), and wtf is Hasbro’s Battleship?