Super Bowl 09

The game was good.
Pittsburgh gave me a scare, but they pulled it out at the end!

The ads on the other hand did not meet my expectations. They sucked (bunch of crap Washington Post to suggest otherwise). I half expected a snuggie commercial to find it's way into the mix with the interest level of this year's bunch.


I still can't believe how largely disappointing they were. The economy must've killed the commercials. I mean even the Coca-Cola advertisements weren't amusing. Must be because PepsiCo wins as this year biggest advertiser

For the first time in a long time, PepsiCo, not Anheuser-Busch, this year will be the Super Bowl's biggest advertiser. Including spots for its Gatorade, SoBe Lifewater and Cheetos products, PepsiCo will have 5 to 6 minutes.

And note that only 30 seconds of airtime costs about $3 million. Pepsi must have bought out NBC. Geez.

Despite the disparaging lack of showmanship this year, I did have a few favorites that stood out among their competitors. My top 6 are as follows:

6. Budweiser Meeting Commercial
5. GE Wind Energy Commercial
4. Bridgestone Potato Head Commercial
3. Budweiser Fetch Commercial
2. Doritos Bus Commercial
1. Pedigree Exotic Pet Commercial


Bruno come back here. Bruno, you bad bad bird.

Would you agree? Any good ones that I missed?

A Note on the Super Bowl

Seriously? People aren't excited about the Super Bowl this weekend?

Well, I am. I can't wait see the advertisements Steelers play.


Really though. I am ready to see both. I live in that sort of world. (The one were TV commercials and TV programming rate about equal on my interest gauge)

Advertising Age reports

Blog mentions of the phrase "Super Bowl ads" appear to be running at least 20% below the rate they were at the same time last year

I think that they are just counting their hits too soon. Give the blogosphere some time. We are excited about those Super Bowl ads this Sunday. So there. Take that.

I'll have a full post on my faves after the broadcast. I know you'll wait in anticipation. I want to hear your favorites too, so make sure you tune in.

And if you have to go to the bathroom, for goodness sakes, don't go during a commercial!

Internet Advertising

This article in the Washington Post is very interesting. It talks about how website owners can make 10 times more money from advertisers by tracking users for the purpose of displaying tailored advertisements.

The article says:

The growing practice of "behavioral targeting," or sending ads to online users based on their Internet habits, is now under scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, whose review could shape not only Web advertising rules but the character of the Web itself.

For while public interest groups argue that compiling profiles of largely unsuspecting Internet users ought to be illegal, online advertisers and publishers respond that their ad targeting tactics protect privacy and may be essential to support the free content on the Web...

Behavioral targeting promises to bolster sagging online ad revenue with a more profitable approach.

Interestingly, on Facebook within the past few months I've noticed advertisements that are almost creepy--like they know too much information about me. A few ones I noticed were: "Want To Learn Spanish by Teaching English in South America?," "Be a Fan of Empowerment," "Te Gusta Julieta Venegas?" and "Put a Link to Us on Your Blog for Cash." There were more too.

It's like they somehow peeped at my info and said hey, these are ads that this girl is likely to click on. To be honest, it makes me uncomfortable.

***
Oh, and after writing this post I googled "advertising" and the first link that popped up was for Facebook ads: "Reach the exact audience you want with relevant targeted ads."

I'm feeling even more uncomfortable...

Super Bowl Ads

Who saw the super bowl ads yesterday? I don't think they lived up to my expectations, but I did pick a few winners.

My Favorite Five
1. Diet Pepsi Max Head Nodding
2. Fed Ex Carrier Pigeons
3. Doritos Mouse Trap
4. Tide Stain Does the Talking
5. Bridgestone Screaming Creatures

USA Today's Ad Meter tracks the second by second response of viewers watching the ads and groups the information according to age, gender, and income. I think it's interesting to look at their research data.

The USA Today test group favorited the Budweiser dog and pony one which didn't even make it on my top 10 list. Hello, been there done that, couldn't they gone for something bigger?

Some of my running commentary:
The Bridgestone Richard Simmons one, you knew everyone was screaming, hit him, hit him. And the Toyota badger one--gross, brinking on inappropriate. Garmin GPS Napoleon navagating to Paris too hard to follow, although very funny once understood. The worst ad was by far the Career Builder follow your heart one. Ugh.

If only I had a Harley

I love this ad. It makes me smile. The small details are what counts.


The gloves, the headphones, the neckbrace, the black socks with white pants and shoes, the long corridoor, old man's little tiny head. It's just advertising art.

Subservient Chicken

Oh my holy word!

Burger King wins creepiest mascot award again. First it was The King and now it's the chicken. Actually, I'm not so sure it's the chicken, or if it's what the chicken will do.

"Have it your way" Go to www.subservientchicken.com

I can't believe I didn't stumble onto this site earlier, when it has been around since 2004. It wins most disturbing on the web. Whatever you type into the box, the chicken will do on camera. I probably spent an hour yesterday torturing the chicken.
A few of my favorite commands:

Jump
Play dead
Shake your tail
Sit on the couch
Eat McDonald's (ha ha ha)
Lay an egg
Do a cartwheel
Take off the chicken suit (he didn't like that one)
Riverdance
Fly
Kiss me (don't worry he'll only make out with the pillow) but...
Kiss (he'll give you a peck)
Pose
Turn off lights
Moonwalk
Hide and Seek

I just wonder how much they paid the guy in the suit?
I hope it was enough to salvage some dignity. Right.

Best Super Bowl Commercials

The greatest display of American advertising (and football) did not disappoint. I had two favorite Super Bowl Commercials this year.

1. The Chevy car wash commercial.

Synopsis: girls in car, man approaches car, begins to wash car, they give him money, bam, guys start stripping and dancing beside car, Nelly's "It's Getting Hot in Here" plays, female screaming, flocks of men start pouring in to wash the car, most dirty old men, girl covers eyes pleading, "Tell me when it's over", naked cowboy shows up, Quote: "Guys can't keep their hand off it"

2. The Bud Light Classroom commercial

Synopsis: a bunch of foreigners in a classroom, teacher teaches class to say "give me a Bud Light" in 3 typical American accents, from the south, New York, and East LA, teacher ask class, "what do you say when someone ask you for a Bud Light?," class responds in unison while waving hands, "No Speak English!."

Watch them here.

Runner ups:
1. Blockbuster's real mouse for a computer mouse (cute)
2. Nationwide's K-Fed rapper turned fast food employee
3. Budweiser's dalmation, be what you want to be message (nice connection with last year's)
4. Doritos' your personality is a type of chip

5. Fed-Ex: Ground's significance of a name, Hairy, Ilene, Joy, Bob, Mr. Turkeyneck.