It's a rare year when the Super Bowl itself eclipses the ads, but 2010 was such a year. Bob Garfield declares in Advertising Age that most of the spots were skippable and asserts he is "totally pro-TiVo." His picks for a few of the (relatively speaking) best and worst:
The good (3.5 or 3 stars):
- Audi: This spot about overzealous eco-police is "very funny for all the obvious reasons."
- Chrysler: The company figured out a way to "reach manly men without bullying girly men" in a spot selling Dodge Chargers.
- Budweiser: The 15-second spot for Select 55 offers "no horses, no babies, no jokes. Just 15 seconds of interesting news."
- Denny's: It's overdone, sure, "but the public doesn't care about novelty." The chain successfully promoted its free breakfast Tuesday, and people will line up.
- Hyundai: An ingenious use of Brett Favre to promote a warranty.
- Motorola: A Megan Fox-fueled "teen masturbation joke" that's actually funny, "even sweet."
The bad (1.5, 1, or 0 stars):
- Budweiser: Didn't do so well other than the Select 55 spot. "Unfathomably unsurprising, unimaginative, unfunny, and unhelpful for the brand."
- Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret: The tag is funny; the spot is a "tortured ripoff."
- Boost Mobile: Features the "pitiful, majorly unadorable geriatric version" of the Super Bowl Shuffle.
- GoDaddy: "More T&A from these infantile, repulsive Neanderthals. And not a molecule of taste or wit. A national embarrassment."
For the complete list, click
here. You can also watch
Google's ad or
David Letterman's promo. (More
Megan Fox stories.)
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