Super Bowl Ads Super Stunk

If I had a million dollars, well, I’d buy you a short commercial during the Super Bowl. In fact, you would need three million dollars to secure a 30-second spot during the big game this year. Some companies shouldn’t have wasted their money, or our time with some of the ads that came out.

They weren’t all bad. Each spot was posted on youtube and voted on by the public as part of the “Ad Blitz 2009” contest. Doritos came out on top with its “Free Doritos” ad. Basically, an office worker pretends he has a crystal ball (snow globe), predicts there will be free Doritos at the office, and hurls it through the glass of the vending machine. Other companies rated in the top five were E-Trade with the singing baby and CareerBuilder.com with, my personal favorite, a talking koala bear being punched in the face.

Some of the ads, though, did not convey a message. A good example would be Coke Zero’s attempt at recreating and putting a spin on the famous Mean Joe Brown Coke commercial (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, make sure to look it up). Some didn’t know what company it was for, confusing it for a Pepsi ad.

Some of the ads were interesting and unexpected. Cash4Gold typically advertises during daytime and late night television, promising cash for unused gold. They had a 60-second spot featuring Ed McMahon and MC Hammer, two notable, in-debt celebrities of the past. Also, Miller stuck its head in there with a one second spot of some guy who simply yells “High life!” – that’s all. The animated Coke commercial was also interesting and creative.

Overall, the Super Bowl ads this year were disappointing. Some were good, some were plain ugly, and some were repeats or old ideas, like the E-Trade babies or those horrid Sobe geckos. Many of the commercials were for movies or TV shows anyway. Let’s hope next year there is something to look forward to. I mean, the Super Bowl isn’t actually about football, right?