With Sixty Seconds of Silence, Pepsi Celebrates Diversity

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So here's Pepsi's Bob's House commercial in which two deaf guys get lost on their way to a friends house and resort to honking their horn to hep them locate the right house. The ad was created and enacted by deaf members of the Pepsico workforce. No doubt, due to it's silence, the ad will command attention during game viewing along with the subtitles which will actually draw people further into the ad.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2008



Beautiful Balloon Ballet Celebrates Coke Side of Life

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We have to tip our hat to Wieden + Kennedy for their Super Bowl efforts this year for Coke. In Jinx, which we reviewed here, Republican pundit Bill Frist and Democratic pundit James Carville share a friendly day together in Washington. In the second Super Bowl spot W+K created for Coke, we are treated to the slow, graceful dance of two Macy's Day Parade balloons as they engage in a battle for a balloon in the form of a Coke bottle. In the end, a third balloon, Charlie Brown, wins the prize high above Central Park.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Super Bowl 2008



Yawn...GoDaddy...Super Bowl...Beaver... Blah, Blah, Blah...

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By now you've heard the spot GoDaddy's Bob Parsons wants you to see won't air during the game. The spot(s) that will air feature a crowd of people at a party scene. In one, White Light, Candice Michelle makes her appearance in a doorway to a transfixed audience. In another, Spot On, Danica Patrick teases the crowd to check her out online in her "OMG! Fox Rejected Commercial!" So after the game, if you care, that's where you can see Danica and that whole beaver thing.

We're going back to sleep now.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Opinion, Super Bowl 2008



Screw the Game, It's All About the Commercials

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We just received the perfect illustration depicting Super Bowl party attended by people who work in the advertising industry. It's a classic and a true representation of advertising types at their finest. Anf you all know this is true. Click the image for the truth.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08    
Topic: Super Bowl 2008



Minnesota Lottery Guys Appear in NFL Super Bowl Commercial

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We don't have much to say about this Super Bowl commercial promoting th NFL Network other than the fact it features the same goofy looking guys who appeared in a series of Minnesota Lottery commercials in January. It seems the two travel in pairs. Triple Double created.

Advertising Age says the NFL will place a :60. This ad is a :30. We'll just have to wait to see what actually airs.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2008



Coke Brings Together Republican and Democrat

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We actually like this Coke spot featuring Republican pundit Bill Frist and Democratic pundit James Carville who find themselves in the situation of saying the same thing at the same time. Of course, the rules regarding that apply and Frist calls "jinks" on Carville and tells Carville he has to buy him a Coke. The two then embark upon a day together in Washington.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Good, Super Bowl 2008



Gatorade Dog Ad Most Baffling Super Bowl Ad Ever Created

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Gatorade really isn't cutting it with its Super Bowl efforts this year. In a spot for its G2 sport drink, Derek Jeter walks through the streets of New York as a baseball landscape digitally follows him. Like we said here, nice effects but that's about it. We said it wasn't lame but close.

After viewing this Arnell-created commercial for the company's flagship line of drinks, we can, without doubt, say this one is truly lame. For almost the entire length of the commercial, we see a dog drinking from its water bowl. We watch. We wait. We watch. We wait. There simply has to be some amazing punchline this thing's working up to. Will the dog break out in some sort of digitally-enabled, cartoonish, Gatorade-fueled dance? Will we see a loving scene between dog and man with a closing shot of man and dog expressing their love for one another while the man drinks from a bottle of Gatorade and the tagline, "Gatorade. Life is Good" is supered?

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08    
Topic: Commercials, Strange, Super Bowl 2008, Worst



Sunsilk Super Bowl Spot Royally Disappoints

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When we heard Sunsilk tapped design firm Desgrippes Gobe, Paris and BrandThinkTank to compose its Super Bowl spot -- which features images of Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe -- we pictured something deliciously Warholian and mod. We thought it would make sensuous sport of our eyes and ears.

Instead there was this.

We watched it twice to be sure of its suckage. We are now certain. The pictures and music should flow, but the ad feels like it missed a much-needed appointment with the cutting room. It's all too much like a YouTube mashup.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb- 1-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008, Television



Can't Fight Monday? Cease the Lameness. GET BETTER JOB.

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There's something apocalyptic about this Monster spot by BBDO, NY. Called "Daybreak," the premise is you shouldn't have to fight Monday. To illustrate that, a bunch of people knock down their satellite dishes, grab trashcan covers and run out to do battle against the sun -- only to walk off in defeat when the sun rises anyway.

The ad made us sad. Can't a comparison be made against this futile race to beat sunrise, and the lame way we trudged (hung OVER) into the office and passive-aggressively trawled eBay for the first three hours of the morning?

The ad debuted in early January (another debuted during Lost last night), and is part of "Your Calling is Calling." Maybe we find the spots such a consistent bummer because that slogan sounds so promising. Shouldn't Sally Housewife be cupping her ear to the kitchen window and listening for the sunny Higher Calling (inevitably, her dormant talent as a Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist)?

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SalesGenie Super Bowl Ads Not So Cheesy This Year

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Ah yes, recall the cheesiness of last year's Super Bowl ad for Salesgenie in which a wannabe suave, debonair dude hops out of his mid-life crisis sports car and utter, "I don't work hard. I work smart." Eesh. At least this year we don't have a repeat of that debacle. But we will have cartoons. Two of them. And cheesiness works just fine in commercials.

In the first ad, a married panda bear couple is stress out because they have now customers and fear they will go out of business. Thankfully, Panda Psychic comes to the rescue and recommends Salesgenie and its 100 free leads offered new users. Love that bamboo sports car at the end.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 1-08    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Super Bowl 2008