The game was better than some ads, finally

The second Pepsi spot falls squarely into the category of “I can’t get that damn song out of my head.” Most of us have heard the song “What is Love” made famous by the movie "Night at the Roxbury" in which the characters Doug and Steve Butabi continuously bob their heads to the infectious tune. The ad features Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Macy Gray, Missy Elliott, Troy Aikman, Joe Buck and a host of other whose heads bob sleepily until they get their hands on some Diet Pepsi Max which shifts the bobbing to a far more energetic level.

Bud Light had several ads in the game. Two were quite funny. In one, men use a baguette and a large round of cheese to smuggle Bud Light into their ladies’ wine and cheese party. It’s the perfect guys-will-be-guys approach to beer advertising. Another envisions the ability to breathe fire as a very good thing when on a date and candles need to be lit. It’s very elegant and sweet until the man sneezes and his fire breathing abilities become unhinged and result in a bit of a disruptive dinner date.

As with any Super Bowl, there’s good commercial and there’s bad commercials. By far, the worst commercial in the game came courtesy of agency Arnell for Gatorade. For 25 seconds, viewers were treated to a dog drinking from a water bowl. For the last five seconds, viewers were shown the tagline, “Man’s Best Friend” and a visual of three Gatorade bottles. Is the dog a man? If so, why? Is the dog drinking water from the bowl or Gatorade? Is Gatorade a dog’s best friend?

A couple of commercials for Salesgenie.com which were created by the company itself have caused some to label them slightly racist. One ad portrays a boss berated an Indian worker. Another ad portrays a family of Asian panda bears. Whether or not they are racist is up for debate but strange would be a perfect label to apply to them.

A Careerbuilder ad in which a woman’s bloody heart rips its way out of her chest and plops down on her keyboard makes some wonder how children might react. Of course, the message of the commercial is to follow your heart to a better job and Careerbuilder can help you get there. It’s just not clear whether or not a bloody heart is the best way to convey that.

In all, the ads in this year’s Super Bowl were, excepting a few, quite tame and reserved. That’s likely due to the pendulum swinging to the conservative side of things following Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. Give it a few years though. As with all pendulums, they always swing back.

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