Superbowl Commercials

Football is, in my opinion, the least entertaining professional sport out there. Why then do I find the Super Bowl to be one of the most entertaining nights of television? The commercials, of course.

Every year, advertisers try to out do themselves and wow us with new and funny commercials. It’s probably the one time a year when people don’t talk over them and this year was no exception. While I have no idea what was going on during the actual game, I do know that the commercials were just as entertaining as ever.

The first of many commercials by Budweiser/Bud Light featured a house made of Bud Light, a funny concept with a classic peeping-tom punch line. However, the commercial was overshadowed by Betty White being tackled into the mud in an ad for Snickers that claimed  you just aren’t yourself when you are hungry.

The first quarter also had some other greats, including a few of the many Doritos ads – my personal favorite featuring a dog shock collar. There were also two more Bud Light commercials, including one using everyone’s favorite advance in music technology, the auto-tune, featuring T-Pain himself.

There was the great ad for Hyundai in which Brett Favre poked fun at himself and his decision to come out of retirement, saying that he would still be playing professionally in 2020. Intel also had a pretty humorous commercial involving a very sad robot. Although I am not completely sure exactly what they were selling, nothing beats a sad robot.

As the chips and dips started to slowly disappear, the commercials went on. Some were boring, some were weird and some were just plain horrible. Taco Bell’s Dr. Seuss knock-off was all three. Charles Barkley really made this commercial unbearable with his monotone recitation of lines that sounded like he was reading them straight from that Taco Bell box he was holding.

The GoDaddy ads were dumb as always. I know I cannot be the only one that is sick of these dumb commercials that really have no content. Sorry Danica Patrick, but no one really cares anymore.

E*Trade commercials are usually some of my favorite. For some reason, that talking baby always makes me laugh. However, this time all three fell short, although it did create my new favorite term for a baby: “milkaholic.”

The best ad of the night? It’s a tie between Google’s “Parisian Love” ad and the “Late Show’s” spot with Letterman, Leno and Oprah. The simplicity of Google’s ad made it fantastic. The “Late Show” ad was such a shock, seeing Letterman, Leno and Oprah in the same room, sitting on the same couch. It made for a great 15 seconds of TV.

If you missed any of the ads and would like to check them out, they are all available online, organized by quarter here.