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Yes, it's that time again. Will any Super Bowl ads rise above...


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Yes, it's that time again. Will any Super Bowl ads rise above...
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2012-02-04, 17:52

...labored pop culture (Star Wars or The 80's™) references or "hapless twenty-something slacker-dweebs getting hit in the balls in increasingly elaborate ways"? *

You tell me.

Post 'em here...

Yeah, I'm getting started early because a) I won't be around to follow/watch real time, and b) even if I was, I can't imagine centering my Sunday around football and Madonna.

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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2012-02-04, 18:03

Who's Madonna?
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2012-02-04, 18:07

There's going to be a lot of car ads this year! I'm looking forward to it.

An interesting (to ad nerds like me, I guess) change this year has been the increase in companies avoiding purchasing national slots and instead purchasing ads only in key markets. BMW is advertising their new 3 Series in NYC and LA, for example, and tiny Suzuki is also hoping to get some Super Bowl buzz for their Kizashi sedan while avoiding shelling out for a nationwide ad.

Also, at the eleventh hour, the FCC has ruled that Randall Terry can't force stations to broadcast his shock ad featuring "an aborted fetus and/or fetal parts" during their most-watched programming of the year just because he says he's a presidential candidate. (Who wouldn't love a few fetal parts with their salsa or bean dip?)

Randall Terry should have just teamed up with Sony to make their annual Creepy Sony Ad extra disgusting. "PlayStation Vita? More like PlayStation Fetus!" BLAM.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2012-02-04, 18:23

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle View Post
Who's Madonna?
Well, it wouldn't be a Super Bowl halftime show without either an aging, borderline irrelevant performer or completely inconsequential, lightweight pop-tarts no reasonable person - even football fans - could possibly give a serious shit about watching/listening to.

Out-of-tune, sloppy, phoning-it-in old farts who should be working in their gardens and enjoying their royalties or the Black Eyed Peas?

Played-out "classic rock" or new lame stuff that never deserved being recorded to begin with?

Seems to be the only two choices.

I swear, they'll hire Boston for next year's halftime show. Just watch...

I'd rather see a magic act at this point, to be totally honest.

I'm still recovering from the shock that it wasn't Taylor Swift, truth be told. I was sure she'd land the gig! Didn't she snag that fifth spot on Rushmore this past summer?

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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2012-02-04, 18:27

I'm totally with you on this one actually. Maybe some day there will be a good performance again. Then again, maybe we are just to far out of touch with the target audience.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2012-02-04, 18:34

I've already decided on my favorite ad. The Super Bowl is over! David Beckham wins.

Also, I'm looking forward to the stereotypical Walmart-and-ammo men of middle America not knowing what H&M is. But I guess that's why they did the ad?

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2012-02-04, 18:43

Does he even play soccer anymore? Anytime I see anything about/with him, it's something along these lines...or him posing with his knot-head wife in similar shots for magazines, websites, some TV profile, etc. (do the two of them every put any clothes on?). I can't remember the last soccer-related thing he's done, other than kinda underwhelm in L.A. (despite, of course, months and months of breathless hype and build-up). Why doesn't he just retire from his day gig and model full-time?



No, Robo...that ad is going to cause the Walmart-and-ammo set to go into various "I'm straight as hell!" self-affirmation rituals, so they won't even reach the end where H&M is referenced. Sorry.

They'll be busy in the kitchen opening a beer with their buddy's teeth (or ass cheeks, in a bit of oblivious irony), while using a free hand to slap their wife for "scorching the cheese pool".

But seriously...the only Super Bowl commercials I like are ones that don't come across as Super Bowl commercials. And, at the moment, I can't think of a single one. It's certainly nothing from Pepsi or Doritos, I'll tell you that right now. Those two outfits wrote the book on it.
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chucker
 
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2012-02-04, 18:49

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Does he even play soccer anymore?
Yes, but he's starting to get a bit old for that.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2012-02-04, 19:05

What's the cut-off age, typically? Has he passed his best years, then? I don't know how the numbers work. I know he's had some injuries and things. All I remember is that people wouldn't shut up as he was coming to California to play. Then he got there and I honestly think I could've put up similar (if not better) numbers...
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chucker
 
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2012-02-04, 19:09

I don't know that much about sports, but I believe his heyday was in the early 2000s, and most soccer players seem to be in their 20s. (He's 36.)
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Robo
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2012-02-04, 19:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker View Post
Yes, but he's starting to get a bit old for that.
Good. It's about time he focused on more important things, like being David Beckham.

Why waste your time with "sports" and "teamwork" when you can just put on designer clothes and get photographed and make bank? If that's too much effort, putting on the clothes is optional. The point is, if he stopped playing sports, someone else would win whatever championship thing. But if he stopped modeling, would we have another David Beckham? NO.

I think we can all see what's really important, here.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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billybobsky
BANNED
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2012-02-04, 20:30

For you. Important for *you*.
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Robo
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2012-02-04, 21:11

Quote:
Originally Posted by billybobsky View Post
For you. Important for *you*.
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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2012-02-04, 21:37

Fuck Madonna (I wouldn't mind actually; she's aged pretty well last I saw), fuck the NFL with their weak ass drug testing, and their 400 pound linemen who they kick to the curb every few years so they can die of heart trauma at age 47, and fuck the overrated commercials. Now it's gotten to be a cultural thing so it doesn't even matter anymore if they're good: they know everyone is paying attention so half of them are just boring average commercials.

That said, I hope you all enjoy the game.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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Robo
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2012-02-04, 22:10

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moogs View Post
fuck the overrated commercials. Now it's gotten to be a cultural thing so it doesn't even matter anymore if they're good: they know everyone is paying attention so half of them are just boring average commercials.
This I never understood. Super Bowl ads might have been priced at a bargain for their massive reach once, but that doesn't seem to be the case any more. They're priced at a premium. You could probably reach the same number of people though multiple "average commercials" for less.

What you're paying for, in other words, isn't just the audience, you're paying to be part of that "cultural thing," part of the program that people watch for the ads, part of that water-cooler talk the next day. Part of threads like these, in other words. You're paying extra to make a splash. You can say you have a new ad and nobody cares, but if you tell people you have a Super Bowl ad, people pay attention.

So, knowing this, why half-ass it? The idea is that the Super Bowl is a showcase for the ad industry's best and brightest; a collection of their most creative output. That's the only reason why people would watch a show for the ads, after all; we can see normal ads anywhere. And many times the ads are creative and clever and, y'know, good. But sometimes that doesn't seem to be the case, and I always wonder what's going through those media buyers' heads.

I think the worst are probably the trailers for the summer blockbuster movies. They all look the same! It's probably because the movies themselves are all the same, but they could at least advertise them creatively, beyond the standard explosiony Super Bowl teaser and Burger King tie-in deals and Memorial Day premiere, &c. &c.

It's probably to be expected that with such a large audience, lowest-common-denominator ads ("Chips! Beer! Guys getting hit in the balls!") would reign supreme. But what this means is that to stand out, you should take a different approach. I'm not saying the Super Bowl should be full of snobby ads, with glasses of wine (or David Beckham) artfully photographed in black and white, only that being memorable requires being different.

For the last few years, Doritos has been crowd-sourcing their ads (and the results have been, well, about what you'd expect). What this basically means is that Frito-Lay doesn't value good ads. You'd never see a company crowd-source their hiring practices or their mergers and acquisitions department, because that stuff matters, but stuff like logos and ads? Pssh! Anyone can do those. Hell, let's make it a contest and use that to get even more publicity!

It goes without saying that, say, Apple doesn't crowd-source their ads. Apple pays through the nose for TBWA/Chiat Day. Target and Nike and Levi's and Coke all pay through the nose for Wieden+Kennedy. They all seem to think paying for the best and brightest is worth it. And hey, those are all pretty well-known, admired brands! Funny that.

(Woo, tangent.)

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2012-02-04, 22:20

One of the supposed-ads that I've seen is mostly horrible (the Ferris Bueller one) and the other one I've seen is just OK (the Jerry Seinfeld one).

I'm convinced we've hit and passed Peak SuperBowl Ads.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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Robo
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2012-02-04, 22:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad View Post
One of the supposed-ads that I've seen is mostly horrible (the Ferris Bueller one) and the other one I've seen is just OK (the Jerry Seinfeld one).
It's funny how those are from the same company. Right? The Ferris Bueller one is for the Honda CR-V, and the Jerry Seinfeld one is for the Acura NSX. Honda clearly believes in the power of celebrity endorsements, though those are one of my least favorite types of ads.

The VW Beetle ad tries to combine cute dogs and last year's Star Wars theme, with somewhat less success. See it here: http://www.vw.com/en.html

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2012-02-05, 10:35

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad View Post
One of the supposed-ads that I've seen is mostly horrible (the Ferris Bueller one) and the other one I've seen is just OK (the Jerry Seinfeld one).

I'm convinced we've hit and passed Peak SuperBowl Ads.
I believe you're right, now we must ween ourselves from the Superbowl Ads teet and turn to alternative sources of entertainment... .

Spoiler (click to toggle):




Resistance is Futile.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2012-02-05, 11:10

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
The VW Beetle ad tries to combine cute dogs and last year's Star Wars theme, with somewhat less success. See it here: http://www.vw.com/en.html
That's the one I reference in my opening post.

Just feels heavy-handed and forced, like there's no real reason for them to take this route. I get the tie-in to last year, sure. But it doesn't seem quite enough. Just an excuse to stir up the Star Wars nerds (I'm one) again. But I'm not that easily bought.



In any case, we know this must take place the same afternoon Ben and Luke visited. The walrus guy's right arm is missing(!) and it's the same crowd, wearing the same clothes (I, for one, appreciate the waist-down view of the two black-haired vixens...we never saw that in 1977).
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2012-02-05, 12:54

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moogs View Post
...

Resistance is Futile.
I might succumb to this. I happen to enjoy most hockey games I watch.
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SpecMode
Wait what
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: El Dorado County, California
 
2012-02-05, 19:01

Chevy's spot was great – and I'm not a Chevy fan, so that's saying something.

Best Buy's was pretty good too, if you ignore everything from the point the Best Buy logo shows up.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
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2012-02-05, 19:25

Quote:
Originally Posted by SpecMode View Post
Chevy's spot was great – and I'm not a Chevy fan, so that's saying something.
Which Chevy spot? I heard they were buying, like, six. (Not watching the Super Bowl...)
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FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2012-02-05, 19:53

The Doritos baby bungee grab was very LOL - probably my favorite so far. I'll be sick of it in a month, though.

The Audi vampire thing... I HATED the first half of it, but then it really delivered. And the VW commercial that ended with a Star Wars scene went from "pretty good" to "totally awesome".
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SpecMode
Wait what
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: El Dorado County, California
 
2012-02-05, 20:17

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Which Chevy spot? I heard they were buying, like, six. (Not watching the Super Bowl...)
The post-apocalyptic one right at the beginning.
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2012-02-05, 20:27

Got to hand it to Madonna (or more properly her production designer). While I take little joy in seeing her shake her 50+ booty, the halftime show benefitted from a kind of chilled-out club vibe with great visuals and a real sense of theatricality. Beats the hell out of seeing some aging rock band just basically cavort on a stage. I wish there had been more camera angles showing what was going on with the projection mapping on the field-- looked like if you were in the stands it was pretty spectacular.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2012-02-05, 21:10

I have to say that she looked eminently uncomfortable through the first half of the show... and creaky and grumpy through the middle part. Toward the end she looked like she was having fun. Yes, great production design overall.


...

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
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Chinney
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2012-02-05, 21:21

Listen to the Moogs. He sees clearly.
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addabox
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2012-02-05, 21:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
I have to say that she looked eminently uncomfortable through the first half of the show... and creaky and grumpy through the middle part. Toward the end she looked like she was having fun. Yes, great production design overall.

...
Yeah, a lot of those moves (particularly during "Vogue") looked really forced, like she just needed to prove that age hadn't slowed her down-- which it clearly has. I was worried she was going to injure herself. Once she got to just sort of prance and party with LMFAO and Cee Lo it felt much better. But yeah, somebody really knows how to work the venue, it made even big production value stuff like Michael Jackson's halftime look plodding and labored.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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torifile
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2012-02-05, 21:33

I agree about the halftime show. My wife wanted to watch it and since it was her turn on Words with Friends, I had nothing else to do but watch. Anyway, I thought she almost fell over a couple of times but it really did warm up and it was a wonderfully produced show.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2012-02-05, 22:30

I tweeted about it, but was I the only one who was really weirded out by the Samsung ad? It was just so...bad.

I'm not criticizing Samsung's ad for not being true, because (shocker!) ads often aren't. But good ads ring true. The less bullshit the better, but if you have bullshit it at the very least can't smell like bullshit. And that whole series of ads with the line-waiters smells like bullshit.

Even ignoring cringe-worthy contrived lines like "we just got Samsunged," the whole premise just feels off. Samsung's trying to have it both ways; they're poking fun at line-waiters for being sheep while also suggesting that they want to be freed by whatever phone Samsung's pushing that week. But these messages are self-contradictory; nobody waits in line for a product they're eager to escape. So the whole thing smells like bullshit.

It's true that I think Samsung's products are substandard, but that's not what I'm talking about here. It's just that the advertising sucks. Instead of having some dude go "Is that a PEN?" and then having everybody shout "Freedom!" and fleeing the Apple Store, maybe they could just, idunno, show us why a pen might be useful? I'm in the Steve Jobs if-you-see-a-stylus-they-blew-it camp, but not everybody is. And if they built a pen into their product, they obviously think that it's useful, right? They didn't just put it their to have a pointless differentiator from the glut of other identical handsets, right?

Valentine's Day is approaching. They could show people exchanging sweet handwritten notes. Hell, it's still winter; they could show people using the pen to use their phone while wearing gloves. Either of those could make for an effective ad! Instead, they chose bullshit.

It's just weird how so many Android ads — Samsung's ads, last year's Xoom ads — go for the "it's not Apple!" angle instead of, y'know, selling the product. Even BlackBerry seems to be getting into the weirdly negative ad game, with their recent round of "We need tools, not toys!" ads. It reminds me of the iPod era, where so many MP3 player companies marketed to the too-hip-for-anything-popular, anything-but-iPod crowd because that was all they could reach.

The difference is, the iPhone doesn't have iPod-style market share (yet). And it's weird seeing Android fans crowing about how Android is winning the market share battle and becoming the OS for the masses while simultaneously deriding Apple users as sheep who are just following the crowd.

Woo, tangent.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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