The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
by Kona Gallagher, posted Feb 7th 2010 11:22PM
Look, I knew as soon as I saw the promo for 'The Late Show with David Letterman' that featured Letterman, Oprah and Jay Leno, that nothing was going to top that. There was just no way anything could be better than that 15-second ad. While I was correct, there were some commercials for non-CBS products that put a smile on my face. Of course there were many others that made me groan, wince or sigh, but Bob's handling those.The videos below are from Hulu, because they were the first ones available. If you can't view them due to location restrictions, they will all be up at Fanhouse.
Snickers: "Betty White" - Honestly, no matter what she's selling or what she's doing in the ad, anything that involves Betty White is automatically going on my list. As far as I'm concerned, she can do no wrong, and this Snickers commercial featuring Abe Vigoda is no exception.
Doritos: "Play Nice" - Overall, I thought the Doritos commercials sucked this year. The casket one was particularly annoying. However, this one, where the little kid just up and slaps her mom's suitor sounds obnoxious as I'm writing about it, but it made me laugh. This is one that can really go either way, but the kid is painfully cute, and he really sells it.
Coke: "Hard Times" - It's a 'Simpsons' Coke commercial! While we don't have any of the regular voices (save for a Millhouse line at the end), we do have just about every Springfield resident on hand to first revel in Mr. Burns' collapse and misery, and then to lend him a hand, or a Coke, as it were. While I would have liked it better if it were a funny spot, seeing 'The Simpsons' characters is always a good thing.
Bud Light: "Voice Box" - Bob did not like this spot. I'll fully admit that it's dumb, but there's something about T-Pain that just never fails to crack me up. Come on, "pass the guacamole" is hilarious.
Flo TV: "Moments" - Flo TV is actually responsible for my absolute least favorite ad of the night; the one with the guy shopping in the mall with his girlfriend. However, this ad, set to The Who's 'My Generation' and filled with clips of major events from the beginning of television all the way up to today is so well done that it almost makes up for the unfunny, sexist crap of the other spot. Almost.
Home Away: "Hotel Hell Vacation" - It's the Griswolds! Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo star in this ad for a website I've never heard of, Homeaway.com. I don't know if it's a good website or not, but resurrecting the couple from 'National Lampoon's Vacation' is a brilliant idea. Chase has made a fantastic resurgence in 'Community' this year, so seeing him anywhere just makes me happy.
Google: "Search On" - They don't say a word in this ad, yet they manage to tell the entire story of a guy falling in love with a woman during a trip to Paris. As far as branding goes, this is the most successful ad of the night. Not only does it reinforce the fact that you can use Google for everything, but it positions itself as something that you can always turn to throughout your life. It's simple, elegant, and amazingly well-done.
Comments
by hessian, posted Feb 7th 2010
Snickers and Google win the night.
Hmm... how long til the Girl Scouts start selling Snickergoogles.....?
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by wulfn1, posted Feb 7th 2010
Betty White:
Funny ad, though the local station cut off the end, no Abe Vigoda here , Same for the Doritos commercial. no comment from mother in the end.
Doritos ad with kid:
Best commercial of the night! Too cute!
Coke Simpsons:
Cute, but only remarkable because the whole cast is in the commercial.
Bud voice thing:
You're kidding right?... can't believe that made it to best.
Hotel hell:
Really cool to see the Griswolds again! Just wish they both spoke. Seemed like Chevy was the only one speaking in that one. Would be neat to see a "they got older" family vacation movie.
Google ad:
Loved the "how to assemble a crib" at the end! That was worth a smile.
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by Rob, posted Feb 7th 2010
I thought the Google commercial was the best commercial of the night. There were some funny ones, but that's the one that will stick with me.
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by Eludium-Q36, posted Feb 8th 2010
My favorites not already mentioned here:
1. Monster.com: beavers playing fiddles,
2. Budweiser: human bridge for delivery truck,
3. Hyundai: Brett Favre still indecisive retiring in 2020 at age 50,
4. Bud Light spoofs "LOST",
5. Bridgestone Tires spoofing "The Road Warrior",
6. Kia Sorento: stuffed toys joy ride,'
7. All the Doritos ads, very imaginative.
I was generally impressed with many more ads this time than in Super Bowls past, maybe I was just paying more attention this time, though.
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by ac, posted Feb 8th 2010
- Google ad made me smile as did The Simpsons ad.
- Superbowl Shuffle was funny in an awful way
- The VW Punch Buggy ad was amusing.
- Also a special mention to Go Daddy for somehow making boobs boring to football fans. Seriously give the ads a rest.
Yeah the good ads didn't outweigh the bad.
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by Matt, posted Feb 8th 2010
Flo TV shows the destroyed OKC Federal Building, the terrorist who blew it up, Ground Zero after 9/11, the Superdome after Katrina…to sell me a TV?
And you think this was one of the BEST ads of the Super Bowl? This ad made me want Flo TV to go bankrupt tomorrow. I'm never buying ANYTHING that uses Tim McVeigh in a commercial.
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by Dorv, posted Feb 8th 2010
Matt, whoa there, tiger. It was a montage of moments in television history, of course you have to include those moments.
My favorite was the 1983 NCAA Final Four, with Dereck Wittenburg to Lorenzo Charles for the NCSU Wolfpack to beat Houston.
by Galley, posted Feb 8th 2010
How is it possible that Abe Vigoda is still alive?
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by Lisa, posted Feb 8th 2010
Google = genius, that was quintessential branding. Next favorite is Snickers = who can not vote for Betty White and Abe Vigoda (who is often rumored to be dead, poor guy.) Third goes to VW for punch buggy = Stevie Wonder yelling 'red' and punching Stacy Morgan at the end is priceless.
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by Dan, posted Feb 8th 2010
The only one that made me laugh outloud, and therefore my favorite, is the Doritos dog bark collar commercial. Loved the douche twitching like a fish at the end.
Other than that, Betty White is always great...the rest were ho-hum.
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by Trevor, posted Feb 8th 2010
2nd these two...my favorites of the night.
by debrev2002, posted Feb 8th 2010
No one mentioned the Bridgestone Whale rescue one. I thought the last line was great "Now that's what I call a bachelor party"
I also liked the Hyumdai Brett Farve one. But I like most any ad with someone who can laugh at themselves and not at another's expense.
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by MaryK, posted Feb 8th 2010
I liked the NCIS promo that claimed head slapping was replacing hand shaking.
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by RobynM, posted Feb 8th 2010
Betty White is always a classic. Bonus points for Abe Vigoda.
The Simpsons Coke spot was more heartwarming than I expected.
The Google spot was sweet - bonus amusement points for 'who is the stig' being at the top of the suggestion list for 'who is t'.
Stevie Wonder and Tracy Morgan were adorable in the VW spot.
I did like the "My Generation" spot, even though it made me feel really old. will.i.am did a nice job on the remix.
Not the big Chevy Chase fan, so the HomeAway spot didn't really impress me.
The Kia spot got bonus points from me for using a Yo Gabba Gabba toy.
It was still a pretty mediocre-to-bad year for Super Bowl commercials overall, though.
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