Another Super Bowl has come and gone. It is one of those rare occasions where the game itself will be remembered more than the commercials. However, there is no need to panic-the companies that dropped millions of dollars for seconds of advertising ambrosia at Super Bowl XXXVI left the audience with a few choice spots that had the viewing public laughing one minute and waxing sentimentally the next. This year’s commercial fare was a mix of the silly, the serious and the sublime.
E-Trade seems to have a knack for odd but funny commercials. Last year’s mocking of the fall of fellow dot-com companies was followed this year with homage to Broadway. This year’s ridiculous commercial was complete with all the pizzazz of a chorus line and the inane sight of a monkey riding an arrow. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics; chimps and dancing women are marketing goldmines.
Rudolph Giuliani made his first Super Bowl commercial appearance with a somber black and white backdrop of New York City, and the ex-mayor thanking the United States for all its support. The public service announcement sponsored by monster.com was a welcome change to the typically flashy and often uninspired spots that dull the mind and numb the senses.
Budweiser was once again in “true” form. The return of Cedric the Entertainer from last year’s explosive entrance was funny as the comedian played matchmaker to an unlucky lady and a man with an obvious agenda.
By far their best spot was one of a guy in typical form watching the football game downstairs, while his neglected wife calls him to join her in bed with invitations of freshly washed satin sheets, her wearing a teddy and a bucket of Budweiser! The man, after hearing “Budweiser” rushes up the stairs faster than you can say “wassssup,” only to jump on the bed and find the satin sheets a little too washed as he slides off and out the window.
Pepsi once again showed off their million-dollar spokes model Britney Spears, and it was worth every penny. The ad follows the singer through the decades as she transforms from soda shop girl to queen of bubble gum pop.
The most annoying commercials of the night were the confusing and unexplained “mlife”, from AT&T. Their off-color slice-of-life spots, showing how life can be better with this 5-letter word, left viewers wondering why they were wasting their life watching these ads. Although it did the trick of getting people to look into the product, which was an improved cellular system, most were wondering when the next Budweiser commercial was coming.
The most shocking commercial of the evening was a serious advertisement that featured testimonies of people saying things such as and “I was responsible for those airplanes being hijacked.” These shocking statements left households throughout the nation in silence, as an unexpected message flashed on the screen, asserting that purchasing illegal drugs is helping the terrorists. The reality of post-Sept. 11 was violently brought back into our consciousness for a moment before the television went back to the gridiron. Perhaps commercials do have a purpose.
