Super Bowl XLI — Live-Blogging the ads

As promised, I’m set to start live-blogging tonights big game. As I sit typing, it’s 15 minutes to official game time, and I’m prepared to say that I’ll call it my official commercial kick-off. Hopefully I’ll be able to cover every new commercial that happens between now and the end of the game. As I did last year, I’ll also try to mention (down at the bottom) any other folks I find live-blogging the game.

So here’s the commercials:

1. McDonald’s — Ronald McDonald house: A bit of promotion for a very worth charity, but they felt the need to throw in their very hokey slogan along with it. I’ll give them marks for public service, but “I’m loving it” really spoils the mood.
2. Ford — F-Series Trucks: Short and sweet. This makes a nice teaser for a new product, though I’m not the right market, so I don’t know if the feature list matters.
3. Ghost Rider: I personally don’t care about movie ads in the Super Bowl. I think that we get enough ads for them in regular programming. I’ll likely see this movie, but I really didn’t pay attention to this ad.
4. NFL Network: Chad Johnson’s Super Bowl party showcases a bunch of stars and somehow implies that if you get “NFL Total Access” you’ll attract similar people. Really, it’s pretty forgettable, but this round of commercials is going for “short and sweet”, so maybe they’ll build on it later.
5. Norbit: I had no interest in the movie before the commercial, and 2.6 million dollars later, I still have no interest.
6. Pizza Hut — Cheesy Bites: Maybe I should know the starlet who’s pushing the product, but they’re all indistinguishable at this point. The gimmick — “nothing’s more important than the return of cheesy bites” doesn’t do badly. Maybe I’ll actually remember to try them out someday because of the commercial, and really that’s got to be counted as a success.
7. Blockbuster — Total Access: A ho-hum commercial which gets worthy information across. I think it should have had more of an interesting hook to justify the price, but we’ll see how they build upon it with later commercials.
8. Ford — Edge: I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this same commercial on regular broadcast. It’s a pretty good commercial in its own right. It’s clever; it get’s your attention; and it ties in nicely with the name of the product. I’d normally give it good marks, but I expect new commercials for my Super Bowl viewing.
9. Ford — F Series Trucks: Okay, Ford is going heavily on the “from the inside out” concept. I kind of like it, although to me it just says “somebody is selling high tech trucks”. Will I remember tomorrow that it was Ford? I honestly don’t know. Remember that “brand identification” is more important than “clever” in this game.
10. Bud Light — Rock, Paper, Scissors: This is classic Bud Light. This line of commercials always goes for the humor, and their starter is cruel, but funny. People will remember it, and presumably keep the brand recognition because everyone knows that “the Bud Light commercials are the good ones”. You may forget the message of “anything is fair if it’ll get me the last beer”, and that’s probably just as well.
11. Doritos — Live the Flavor: This is, I believe, the first of the consumer generated commercials that’s been the new theme of this year’s crop. Frankly, I’d call it a very nice commercial. It’s smooth, funny, and connects very well to the product. I think it would be memorable without the “consumer generated” gimmick, and with it we have a definite winner. This is a solid commercial break all around.
12. Blockbuster — New Mouse: A truly funny commercial, which has been floating around for quite a long time now. As I said before, I expect new commercials for the Super Bowl, so this one gets downgraded. It also depends upon us connecting the cute animals and their antics with Blockbuster, which doesn’t necessarily work. All together, it’s not the home run that they might want. (Sorry for mixing my sports metaphors. Call it a gain of half a yard, perhaps.)
13. Sierra Mist Free — Beard Combover: Okay, so the idea is that somebody who is a total freak in every way likes this product, so we should go out and buy it. Either they should push the “it shows your good judgement” angle, or the “non-conformists choice” angle. Put them together and I just go “huh”. Besides, you could substitute any other soda and it would be the same commercial.
14. Saliesgenie.com: Okay, this is a 1960s commercial for a 21st century product. Maybe their target audience will go for it, but I just call it “lame”.
15. Sierra Mist — Martial Arts: Two Sierra Mist commercials in the same break. Apparently with enough commercials they’ll impress their logo on our subconscious minds and the ads won’t have to make sense, or have any quality. Who knows, maybe it’ll work, but it’s not scoring on the “likeability” grade. (As I recall, they had the one ad last year that offended me enough that I was tempted to boycott the product, so I’d have to say that memorability might backfire for me.
16. Toyota Tundra — One Happy Ending: A solid car commercial, but somehow it doesn’t distinguish itself from the pack for me. Unlike the Edge commercial above, I probably won’t be able to tell you tomorrow whether the commercial was for a Ford or a Toyota.
17. Fed Ex — Moon Office: Normally, I like a clever Fed Ex commercial and don’t much care that they are based on laughable science. (I loved last years caveman commercial.) This one just offends me by violating every rule of physics for no reason at all. Maybe if it were as clever as last years, I’d forgive, but it isn’t. On the other hand, it preserves the Fed Ex meme — “we’ll get it there, even if it’s impossible”, so it’ll probably pay off for them even if it isn’t all that good.
18. Bud Light — Auctioneer: What can I say? They keep coming up with clever new ideas, and they always hit the same themes: “the only thing that matters is the beer”. They are fun to watch, and presumably the folks at the home office know by now whether it’ll pay off. In any case, keep ‘em this amusing, and I’ll keep watching.
19. Snickers — After the Kiss: The basic commercial is so-so, and could be a generic ad for any product. The gimmick is that there is a website (afterthekiss.com) which lets you choose an ending. It’ll increase the mileage of their ad spend, perhaps, but I still will want to see proof that it’s got some brand identification. Thus far, it’s ho-hum.
20. Schick Quattro Titanium — Test Lab: This is an okay commercial with two problems: 1) I’ll never remember the product name because any razor would work as well for the gimmick; and 2) the commercial is ancient. Bad use of your ad spend, guys.
21. Pride: It’s a movie ad. It’s not even an action move, and there are no exciting moments.
22. Chevrolet — Old Songs: This one is different, and it’s definitely got brand identification, along with a good slogan: “People who love cars, love Chevy”. It’s not the best commercial, but it’s a very solid showing.
23. Bud Light — Language Lesson: Funny; name recognition; classic Bud Light. It’s solid. It’s not going to go into their hall of fame, though. Keep ‘em coming.
24. GoDaddy.com — Marketing: These folks bank on pure name recognition for their ads, along with the controversy of occasionally being banned. It works for them — it’s gotten me to check out their product. This commercial is fine for that purpose, though no longer in any way innovative.
25. Coke — Give a Little Love: I think this is a very well written commercial. It turns around the conventions of violent video games; it harks back to the whole “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” vibe; and it’s just plain well made. It does okay on the brand identification since Coke already has a history with this style of commercial. The big downer is that I’ve seen it before. Can’t you guys keep the big commercials under wraps any more?
26. Budweiser — Dalmatian: I love the Budweiser clydesdale commercials, but this one doesn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s personal taste, or maybe they are in a slump. As for the Bud Light commercials, you know what to expect, and it has nothing to do with actually telling you about the product. I will, however, remember that Budweiser and their clydes know how to tug the heartstrings. Just tug a little better on the next one, guys.
27. Garmin — Mapasaurus: It got my attention, and it does an okay job of selling the idea that GPS navigation will help you out. However, until the last 2 seconds I assumed it was advertising a different company than Garmin, and there’s still no brand recognition after those 2 seconds. I think this commercial may have helped TomTom’s bottom line just as much as Garmin’s
28. CareerBuilder — Another Training Seminar: It’s a nice commercial, and I think does appeal to folks who are unsatisfied with their current jobs. What’s more, it’s an interesting change from monkeys. I think I like it, and hopefully it’ll do okay on the brand recognition front. I’m not sure though.
29. Doritos — Cleanup on Register 6: Doritos consumer generated commercials are sticking to theme and being genuinely clever. I think they’ve got a series of winners here. Who knows, maybe I’ll even take another look at their products as a result. Thus far these folks are the breakout winners for this bowl.
30. Chevy — Guys can’t keep their hands off it: This is another consumer generated ad, and was lauded for the fact that it’s “one for the ladies”. Well, I’m not a lady, and maybe that’s why I think it’s just lame. Sorry, but the consumer generated gimmick isn’t enough if the commercial doesn’t work, and this one doesn’t work for me. Thumbs down.
31. Bud Light — Slap: Okay, that’s the first Bud Light commercial that has, IMHO, outright sucked. Thus, I predict that it’s the one that will be the smash-hit success that everyone will be raving about tomorrow. It was just pointless.
32. American Heart Association — beatyourrisk.com: An actual public service announcement, and I’d say that it definitely gets its point across. Not only that, but it’s clever enough to keep jaded audiences watching. I’d call it a low-key winner.
33. GM — Robot: This one was hyped pre-Bowl, and I was hoping we’d see some point to it. Now we see the punch-line, and it’s not bad. The pre-hype actually does have me remembering whose ad it is, and now I know they’re proud of their warranty, so I guess they sold their point. Not bad, not great.
34. Coke — Black History: Associating civic pride with the product name is a classic strategy, and this was a classy commercial. Will folks appreciate the message or be offended by Coke trying to cash in? I couldn’t say for others, but I like it.
35. Wild Hogs: Yawn. Maybe I’ll see the movie.
36. Sprint Broadband — Conectile Dysfunction: It’s cute, but I’ll never remember which company was the good one and which was limp. I don’t think it’ll pay off.
37. Doritos — Who’s Winning?: This is a nice puff piece, and apparently not consumer generated. They are going for good-will and brand-recognition on this one, and I’d say doing okay with it. (On the other hand, they are close to trespassing on Coke’s territory. Will confusion result?)
38. Coke — Never Had One: It’s got a new slogan: “The Coke Side of Life” and a very nice hook. It’s a nice commercial overall, but with a change in style, it runs into brand recognition problems — you could substitute any other soda (or foodstuff for that matter). This one only gets partial credit.
39. local commercials: I’m not going to report on these.
40. Toyota — Celebration: This is a generic non-superbowl commercial. I suspect this was actually a local slot that was filled with whatever they had lying around.
41. Half time show: I’ve got nothing against Prince, but this is the first break I’ve had since the game started. They are packing in a lot of commercials this year. It’s rest-stop time for me.
42. CBS: I haven’t been blogging CBS’s self-promotion. Obviously it’s cheap for them to advertise their own stuff. On the other hand they sure seem to be finding a lot more time for it. Did all the advertisers assume they’d better buy in the first half because the game would be a blow-out? Inquiring minds want to know.
43. Honda Trucks — Innovation to every adventure: I think it was a commercial. It was just such a generic car commercial that my overloaded mind couldn’t take it in. You need more than that to keep our attention at this point. (This may have been another local commercial slot.)
44. Cargill: A pleasant but low-key commercial. Since this is an established company who is probably just trying to get their name a bit better known, this is probably not a bad sort of approach. It’s not exciting, though. (This whole block seems like local stuff, so you may not have seen this one.)
45. Meet the Robinsons: It’s a nice enough movie commercial, but you’ve got months to advertise this, and are the kids you are advertising through really watching the Super Bowl at this point?
46. E-Trade — Getting robbed by your bank: This one makes its point very nicely, and I think I’ll remember the sponsor (especially since they already have a name for themselves). It’s a bit derivative of Capitol One Bank, but still I’d give it high marks for reminding us that these guys are still around.
47. Coke — Fantasy Coke Machine: It was innovative, and had us spending a lot of time looking at the Coke logo. It was also fun and clever. I’d call it a winner all around.
48. Bud Light — Gorillas: Maybe I’m getting burned out on Bud Light. There was nothing really wrong with that commercial, but it seems that I didn’t really get Budweiser’s 2.6 million dollars worth. It was just “okay”.
49. Revlon Colorist — Sheryl Crow: Not flashy, but I’d have to call it pretty effective. I think it’s a good solid Super Bowl commercial if the target audience is watching. How about it ladies? Do you watch the Super Bowl for the hair product commercials?
50. CareerBuilder — Survival of the Fittest: They are keeping to the theme, and I came into this commercial looking forward to the plot. I think they’ve got their water cooler moments, even without monkeys. Good show, folks.
51. Taco Bell — Lions: I think I want the chihuahua back. This just didn’t have any life to it, and I’m not going to remember the product. Maybe I’ll remember the brand, but I won’t have positive associations. It was just mediocre.
52. Van Heusen: I’m not sure what they should have done here. If they really do make products for metrosexuals, they’re just stuck with the fact that metrosexuals are out. If they have more variety than that, then they are backing the wrong horse. In other words it didn’t work for me, but I am not the target audience.
53. Toyota Tundra — 10,000 pounds: Note what I said about the previous commercial. It’s a big truck, but am I going to remember whose big truck?
54. Emerald Nuts — Robert Goulet: I saw last years Emerald Nuts commercials and immediately forgot the name. I have no idea if I saw the product on my store shelves or not. This one is almost as weird as last years, and will probably be exactly as effective. Why are you bothering?
55. T Mobile — My Five: I can’t keep mobile phone incentive plans straight, and this isn’t going to help me remember T Mobile or their plans. You will sell me cell phone service by providing reliable coverage, good phones, and good customer service — and I’ll figure out whether you’ve done those by asking all of my friends. I’d rather you spend money improving those than running forgettable commercials.
56. Fed Ex Ground — What’s in a Name: This is much better than the previous one. It may have water cooler potential, and it does a reasonable job of promoting a particular service that they haven’t pushed before. I’ll probably remember to check out the service.
57. Nationwide — Federline: This one got amazing hype before the Super Bowl, and doesn’t seem to have changed from the pre-release form. That said, I’d say that it’s pretty decent. It got the buzz; it makes its point; and most importantly, it incorporates the product name and slogan into the rap. Unlike last year’s efforts, I’m likely going to remember that it was Nationwide advertising. Whether that will translate into sales, I don’t know, but it’s a step in the right direction.
58. Bud Light — Hitchhiker: Bud light is definitely keeping to theme, and this one is better than the last. I give it extra points for a decent ending, but I still think they may be on a downward slide. Time for a new agency?
59. local commercials: There are more of those in this half, as well as fewer commercials overall. It does seem like all their sales were in the first half.
60. Budweiser — Crabs: Oh, I get it! King of crabs; king of beers. It’s all name recognition, and at least this one was fairly clever. I would have called it as a Bud Light style, but then they couldn’t tie into “king of beers”. A lesser work, but solid enough for today’s field.
61. Prudential — Rock Solid Retirement: “A rock can be….” It’s a nice extended metaphor, and with their long-standing “piece of the rock” slogan, it ties well into their brand identity. Not the top spot of the day, but a solid showing which could well pay off, and didn’t waste my time. Good show.
62. Honda CR-V — Burning Love: C’mon guys. This is another generic commercial that could be about any car ever made. Why are we going to remember your product’s name tomorrow after experiencing more than 50 commercials and maybe even a football game?
63. HP — Orange County Choppers: “The Computer is Personal Again.” Between the nice slogan and the audience appeal of Orange County Choppers, this has the potential to give HP some “cool factor”, and maybe differentiate them from the Dells and Gateways of the world. Or maybe not. But it was definitely a nice little commercial.
64. Izod: Pure name recognition, from a company that I thought was already pretty well established. Apparently they want to get themselves noticed by a new generation, or some such. If so, the commercial wasn’t a bad attempt.
65. Budweiser Select — holotable: Maybe it ties in with the “expect everything slogan”, and I assume there was some star power making the commercial interesting to someone, but my reaction was between “huh?” and “who cares?”. Budweiser is still a power in the Super Bowl, but I think they are slipping. (And if I don’t get a decent Clydesdale commercial soon, I’m gonna be pissed.) Update: Nope, I didn’t see a classic Clyde commercial this year. The dalmatians did not qualify in my book. That makes it official to me. Budweiser needs a new agency to help them remember their old values.
66. Flomax: What can you say? It’s not going to be a popular commercial, but maybe they know the demographic. If it sells product, it’s fair, but it certainly isn’t what we tune in for.
67. E-Trade — One finger: This one is clever, fairly memorable, and not too bad for brand association. E-Trade is an old hand at this game, and I think they are making a solid showing today.
68. Hannibal Rising: Movie. ‘Nuff said.
69. CareerBuilder.com — Team Building: This keeps building on the previous ones with, I suspect, and excellent water cooler impact. I think people will be remembering the name of careerbuilder.com, and will know why they want to keep it in mind. These folks are winning the game.
70. Honda — Most Fuel Efficient: This is the first Honda commercial that seemed worth the trouble. They are advertising worthwhile things — overall reliability and fuel efficiency — and it seems that I might remember that it’s a Honda ad. It’s still not great, but it’s at least okay.
71. GoDaddy.com — Marketing (repeat): It’s a repeated commercial. These are the first folks to stoop so low. Do they think we skipped the first half of the game and need a reminder? C’mon.
72. Snapple Green Tea — EGCG: Not a bad commercial. It definitely harks back to classic Mountain Dew, except that it’s actually talking about the useful properties of their product. Unfortunately, it’s more a commercial for tea than for Snapple, so we’ll have to see if it pays off.
73. End of game. Officially, they aren’t Super Bowl commercials any more, so I’m not going to bother covering them. I can’t imagine anyone is showing their A-list any more.

And here’s a partial list of live-bloggers:

1. The most hyped blog this year is superadfreak.com which is really a meta-blog gathering posts from various big-name bloggers posting on their own blogs. If you want the professional marketer’s view, it’s probably a good stopping point.
2. FilteringCraig is mostly blogging the game itself, but he has some commentary on the commercials themselves. I’m impressed, ’cause I can barely keep up with just the ads — I’ve got no time for the game.
3. It’s a short list thus far, but BusyMom is trying to keep up with very short reviews of the commercials: I watch Super Bowl Commercials so you don’t have to.
4. Emma Grant is just listing her faves, but as a result she is keeping up with the rush pretty well, and has some nice concise commentary.
5. Mark McGuire at Times Union is doing a series of posts by quarter. For example, here is his second quarter post. He’s splitting them by commercial break and giving them letter grades. Worth checking out.
6. Kalisah at Overdressed and Re-employed is Live Blogging the Super Bowl Commercials. The reviews are short but sweet, and she’s keeping up.
7. Bill Green at Make the logo bigger. is featuring Super Bowl thoughts., in which he divides the commercials into categories such as “funny”, “not funny”, and “mediocrity has a new name”. It has some pretty good summaries, even if he seems to disagree with me on almost everything.
8. Adland is doing a series of posts by quarter. For example, here’s the Second Quarter post. These are very detailed descriptions, including production notes, along with the poster’s opinions on the ad quality. These look like must-reads.
9. Dan Shanoff is actually watching some football with his commercials, but he’s got some good comments on the ads too.
10. Hal Boedeker at the Orlando Sentinel is also blogging the commercials quarter by quarter. Here’s his Third Quarter post.
11. More quarter-by-quarter from Ken Hanscom at Some Life. Here’s his Third Quarter post.
12. Eric Siegmund at The Fire Ant Gazette also has his posts divided by quarter. As in this 4th Quarter” post all posts rate individual commercials from 1-4 ants, with pretty good detailed reviews.

That’s all folks. I’ve seen the commercials; I’ve scanned the blogs; I’ve downed the sodas; and soon I’m going to back up and see what the score was. (I think the Equines won, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far.) I hope you enjoyed the ad-fest as much as I did, and for you pigskin watchers — you missed an interesting match.

Superbowl Ad Warm-up

Okay, we’re counting down to the big moment when we get to see whose commercials win the big game. (Anyone who thinks the Super Bowl is going to be a contest between overmuscled Ursines and Equines clearly isn’t going to be watching the same game as me, even if they will be tuned to the same channel.) As I start typing, there are 22 hours and 24 minutes of prep time left, so I’ve got to tune up my couch potato skills. I’ve got the soda; I’ve got the chips; there are 4 remote controls within easy reach of my comfy armchair — I think I’m gonna be ready. We have HDTV for the first time here at stately Gclectic Manor, so we will hopefully be able to see all of the subtle nuances of the advertiser’s art.

I hope to once again live-blog the ads, so in preparation I’ve been considering the question of what qualities make a perfect commercial, especially for the critical Super Bowl time slot. I think I’ve got it down to just a few vital qualities:

1. Brand Identification: This one can’t be stressed enough. If I come away from the game saying “I like that commercial with the aardvark — I think maybe it was for some soda company”, then the advertiser has wasted its money. (The big losers in this category last year were Nationwide and Ameriquest. I had to look up last year’s entry just to remember which companies they were. All I could remember was that they had to do with banks or insurance.)
2. Memorability: The cliché here is that everyone should be talking about the commercial around the water cooler on Monday. For bonus points, they should still remember it come next Super Bowl when your new ad references the old one. (This can be especially important for infrequent purchases. It was 10 months after the last years Bowl that I went looking for web hosting at GoDaddy.com, but they still got the sale. And this was even after I gave their commercial a poor grade. They mostly got my attention on the strength of their 2005 commercial. Now that’s memorability.)
3. Likeability: Some folks would say that this is optional, and that you win if people remember your name, regardless of the context. However, I remember the name of Parks Sausage from 30 year old commercials, and continue my resolve never to buy any product with that name. Likewise, I buy Wendy’s products in spite of the famous “Where’s the beef” commercials, not because of them.
4. Information: If you are a big brand, this one really is optional. Nobody needs to be told what Pepsi is, or see brand X comparisons. Pretty much everyone on earth knows their base product. On the other hand, if you are selling a relatively unknown product you really do need to tell us why we should be interested. (Remember “herestobeer.com” from last year? I still have no idea why they wanted me to go to that site, or whether they have something to sell.)

So basically, there are three major criteria and one minor one. (Likeability may be optional from the standpoint of sales, but I’m still going to down-check any commercial that I hate. I’m the blogger here, so that’s my prerogative.) As for the actual commercials, we’ll soon see (in 21 hours and 41 minutes) whether any of them meet these exacting standards.

A more proper Eurovision summary

In my previous post, I sent out a very quick pointer to the official webcast of the Eurovision finals, and encouraged all of my fellow ugly Americans who might not be familiar with the competetion to go check it out.  Odds are, nobody saw my post in time to actually view the webcast before it ended.  Now that I’ve finished watching it myself, I’ve got time to explain why I found it so interesting.  For anybody who’s already familiar with the competition, you can just follow along and be amused by my charming ignorance of 50 year old traditions.

For those who don’t know, Eurovision is in its 51st year, and acts like a “Miss Universe” pageant for singing groups.  Each country in Europe (loosely defined) sends an act; they narrow down to 24 finalists; and then the populations vote, country by country, for their favorite acts.  (Past alumni of the event include ABBA and Celine Dion.)  Frankly, this sounds deadly dull, and I’d have expected that I’d want to avoid it the same way I avoid beauty competitions.  However, I caught a few people live-blogging the events, and they made it sound very entertaining, so I tuned in.

What makes this event so charming, it seems, is that there appear to be absolutely no style guidelines.  (There must be some — I presume that they prohibit actual nudity and sexual intercourse on stage.)  Good taste is not a criterion in choosing lyrics, music, costumes, dancers or props.  They instead (apparently) try to guess what this years audience is in the mood to vote for, and all appeals to sexuality, kitsch, and nationalistic pride seem to be actively encouraged.  I hear that “Las Ketchup” is sent every year to perform tomato themed songs.  The Lithuanians performed a song with lyrics “We are winners of Eurovision.  Vote for the winners.”  I see long time European viewers taking pride in criticizing every aspect of the performances, especially those of their own countries’ representatives.

An exercise in contrasts comes in comparing three acts.  France (22nd out of 24 finalists) featured a solo vocalist in a formal gown, accompanied by a solo cello.  Croatia (13th place) featured traditional folk instrumentation and costuming, except that the tradition seldom features tear-away skirts with matching panties.  Finland (the winner) sent Lordi to perform “Hard Rock Hallelujah“, wearing full-body monster outfits including fully-articulated bat wings on the lead singer.   (Note: video link is to semi-final performance.)  This band could easily have played Buffy Summers’ high school graduation (and fans of the series should recall that the school did not survive that particular ceremony).

If you are interested in much more thorough analyses of this years event from those who know the format better, you can check out shrillczar, TVscoop, or sarahx.

Superbowl commercials: first reactions

Okay, as long as I’m watching, I figure that I might as well supply my comments on the part of the Superbowl that really matters these days:  the commercials.  I’ll be updating as the games continues, both to include new commercials and to reflect changing opinions if any of the players should start over-doing it.

1. Full Throttle:  We don’t know a thing about the product, and I consider this to be a problem, but they are building up the intensity with each commercial.  This is an interesting approach, but are they peaking too early?  Update:  Apparently, their strategy was to stick with owning the pre-game, rather than going against the heavy hitters.  Let’s see how it works for them.
2. McDonalds: Okay, not only is the hampster boring, but it has nothing to do with the product.  There’s nothing worse than a commercial that lets you forget the advertiser while remembering the commercial.
3. MasterCard: Found online at  priceless.com.  This is part of their classic series, and as well done as always.  McGyver is a perfect match for their commercial franchise.  And unlike the McDonalds commercial, you can’t forget the tag line:  “for [everyday stuff], there’s [Debit] MasterCard”.
4. BlockBuster:  It’s just another commercial, and it’s forgotten already.  How much did you spend broadcasting that, guys?  Update:  And again, and again.  Total boredom.
5. Pizza Hut:  Okay, a classic song, and busty girl, and a new product.  It’s a classic combination, and ultimately not a very interesting commercial.  I might be able to remember what they’re advertising tomorrow, except they’re going to be replaying this one 10,000 times so that I’ll just be hating the whole thing.
6. Tostitos:  It kept my attention (once), but I had to check another blog to be reminded what the product was.  Will this sell any product?
7. Burger King: Well, the commercial didn’t impress me, but I guess it was weird enough to be memorable.  It got the name and the slogan out there, and will help people remember that the franchise still exists.  (Actually, I’m not sure it does still exist in my town.  I wouldn’t know where to find a Burger King.)
8. Bud Lite — Scavenger Hunt:  Okay, this commercial was classic Budweiser.  It’s the sort of commercial Bud is known for, and I suspect gains them general “coolness” points when folks go to choose their favorite brand.  (Mind you, almost every beer lover I know loves Budweiser’s commercials and classes their product in with all the other undrinkable American beers.  Sorry guys, but that’s what I hear.)
9. Sierra Mist: Am I the only one who finds the whole airline security thing to be extremely bad taste?  This is the sort of thing which might get me refusing to buy the product.
10. Bud Lite — Magic Fridge:  See above.  This is what the Superbowl is about.
11. FedEx: All right!  Now that is a proper commercial.  Highlights the product; makes you laugh; and doesn’t resemble everything else on TV.  Thus far, it get’s my “best in show” award.
12. Hybrid Camry: This wasn’t high on cleverness, but it got its message across very well, and announces a new product that I’m glad to see.  I don’t think this one wasted my time or Toyota’s money.
13. Diet Pepsi:  Ho hum.  I think Pepsi needs a new ad agency.  Not only was the commercial uninspired and boring, but it seems they are really going with “Brown and Bubbly” as their official slogan.
14. Aleve: Okay, nice gimmick.  As an aging trekker, I always appreciate the Shatner/Nimoy nostalgia.  I might even remember, later, which product was being advertised.
15. Bud Lite — Roof Repair: Okay, it’s a mid-game slump.  There’s still time for them to get their mojo back.
16. Cars:  Movie commercials are a different genre, since they are constrained to actually talk about the move.  However, a new Pixar movie is always great news.  This one is, of course, a must-see.
17. Diet Pepsi — Stunt Double:  Okay, now that one showed some wit.  Maybe there’s hope for the product yet.  Still only average for a Superbowl commercial, but it didn’t waste my time.
18. Nationwide:  Not Superbowl calibre.  The commercial is okay, but I had to TiVo backward to remember which company it was.  It could have been any insurance carrier, and I guessed wrong the first time I typed this entry.
19. Budweiser – Streaker:  Oh boy.  The clydesdales are back.  This is a classic series, and an excellent entry.  Note my previous comments concerning Bud’s overall strategy.
20. Mobile ESPN:  That one developed good anticipation.  I was actually on the edge of my seat (kind-of) wondering what the heck they’d be showing us.  It seems a good strategy for a product that matches the audience pretty well.
21. CareerBuilder.com:  First use of chimps.  That’s a built-in advantage right there.  I think it’s a very nice ad concept, but again, it could just as easily have been an ad for any of the top 5 competitors in that space.  Are people going to remember the company’s name?
22. Escalade:  Very understated, but I guess that’s what you want for building buzz on a high-end auto.  Not my market, so I don’t know how well this will work.
23. Mission Impossible 3:  It’s a sequel.  People will go to see it no matter what.  Why are you wasting your advertising money on the Superbowl.  Ho hum.
24. Dove:  A public service commercial (with a “we care, so buy our product” hook).  Frankly, I like it.  The beauty industry doesn’t have a great record here, and I’ll applaud Dove for trying to turn it around.
25. Shaggy Dog:  Okay, making a movie commercial topical to the bowl is different.  Unclear whether Tim Alen is enough to make a remake worth seeing.
26. Ford Escape Hybrid:  Well, hybrids are in this year and 36mpg for an SUV beat my Ford Focus.  I’d have to say that this was a pretty good use of Kermit and his signature song.  I’d give this one a thumbs up (even though I’m far from an SUV fan).
27. Michelob Ultra:  All I can say is, they aren’t Budweiser.  They should find their own advertising strategy, or we’ll just remember them as Bud-Lite-lite.
28. GoDaddy.com:  Last year these folks got more publicity for having the network refuse to show their commercial a second time then they did for the first paid airing.  It looks like they are trying to remain controversial, but everyone I’ve talked to is simply confused.  Nobody knows what they are selling or what the commercial was trying to say.  I’d have to say this one loses.  (BTW, they are an internet domain licensing company — just thought you might want to know.)
29. Poseiden: Yada, yada.  If it’s not a sequel its a remake.  Just give me a 15 second list of new movies I should see and I’ll look up the trailers later, if I can be bothered.  Thus far, Cars is the only one that would be worth bothering.
30. Gillette Fusion: Shaving products are all about getting the name out there.  I think this commercial might embed the concept of “fusion” in people’s brains, and if so it succeeds.  On the other hand, it’s a lot more like a regular prime-time commercial than a Superbowl blockbuster — it’ll need 5000 repeats to really do its job.
31. Overstock.com: Ho hum, but I think I might remember the product name.  Could have been worse.
32. Walt Disney World:  Firstly, Disney owns ABC, so they only reason they get so many ads is that they are undercharging themselves.  (This is my suspicion, anyway.)  Secondly, is it my imagination, or have they been doing this 50th anniversary for about 3-4 years running, now.  What’s the deal, guys?
33. Sprint: Ho hum.  It’s a commercial, how nice.
34. NFL:  Okay, I wasn’t going to comment, but they acknowledged those of us who are just in it for the commercials.  Neat!
35. Lost:  Again, I wasn’t going to comment on ABC advertising their own shows.  However, Addicted to Lost was a very nicely constructed montage video.  You were watching the show anyway, but watch this commercial just because it’s nice workmanship.
36. Disney World — I’m going…:  Sorry guys, but it didn’t grab me.
37. AmeriQuest: These folks are about soft-sell.  The commercials are cute and memorable, which is good.  I’m not going to remember the name of the company tomorrow without referring back to this blog.  Can you make money with this strategy?
38. T-Mobile PEBL: Dunno what’s being advertised here, but they got the name out.  I’m not sure this is worth the megabucks being spent.
39. Sharpie Retractable: Nice low-key commercial.  I think I’ll remember both the commercial and the product, which is a win.  This won’t be the one I talk about beside the water-cooler, though.
40. Budweiser: Okay, I’m a sucker for anything with the Clydes, and baby animals are always winners.  This is what you expect from Bud, and part of what keeps me watching — see above.
41. Nationwide:  More soft-sell; and more “which company did that neat commercial?”  Frankly, I’ve already forgotten the hook, and isn’t that sad.
42. NFL Mobile:  Another concept that I never get tired of:  “back in the good old days….”  Excellent execution, and their selling to a sympathetic audience.  I’d say this one is a winner.
43. Hummer 3:  Not only was it an awful commercial the first time, but it’s ancient.  How dare they disrupt my Superbowl with this.
44. PS: Okay, a brand new product.  They got it in front of my eyes, and I’ll likely remember it when I see it in the stores.  Don’t know if it’s worth Superbowl prices though.
45. CareerBuilder.com:  Chimps and donkeys — we’re upping the ante.  I guess that chimp recognition may serve as a stand-in for name recognition, and the commercials will get talked about at the water cooler.  Probably they’ll pay off after all.
46. Taco Bell: We’ve already heard of the company, and I frankly don’t know what new product they were trying to sell.  This one is a waste of money by a company that usually innovates.
47. Slim Fast Optima: Ho hum.  Another new product, and maybe I’ll remember the name when it counts.  What’s interesting here is that I’d say this commercial is targeted at the female gen-x demographic, which I wouldn’t expect to be the perfect match for the Superbowl.  Presumably their researchers know more than I do, though.
48. Burn out:  No, there were no video game commercials, but after watching huge numbers of commercials, it seems like they’ve got to be real blockbusters to impress me.  I suspect that there’s an advantage to getting into the first half.
49. The World’s Fastest Indian: Okay, it’s another movie ad, and for a movie that’s already in the theaters.  But it least it’s not a sequel or a remake.  Is there hope for Hollywood?
50. Toyota Tacoma:  I understand the point — it’s a tough truck.  I don’t think you made the point very well.  Sorry.  I liked your Camry ad, though.  Update:  Okay, maybe I really am burned out.  Everyone else I encounter thinks it made its point very well indeed.  Maybe they should have swapped this with the other and put it in the first half.
51. Sprint: invokes Benny Hill.  Unexpected and witty.  I’ll give it points.  Heck, there’s even a minor pun on the product name.  Get it — they’re actually “Sprinting” around….  Never mind.
52. Local commercials:  It looks like ABC wasn’t sure there would still be a football game by this time, so most of the slots I’m seeing are being filled by local stuff.  I’m not bother to review anything that didn’t air nationally.
53. Degree for Men: Very nice.  It was a good ad concept, and kept up the interest and tension.  It was certainly relevant to the concept of anti-perspirants.  However, it may not have tied into “Degree” tightly enough, so I don’t know if it’ll pay off for the advertiser.
54. Emerald Nuts:  Okay, someone else pointed out that this years theme is “weird is memorable”.  This wins the weird award.  And yet, I just might remember the product name, which is more than I could say yesterday.
55. Fidelity Investments: This was a classy commercial.  It was nice to see.  It wasn’t a good advertisement for a particular company’s investment products.  I can’t give it good marks.
56. Budweiser — Stadium Cards: Perfect.  Clever, innovative, and definitely keeps the product name in view.  I’ll say it again — Budweiser owns the Superbowl.
57. MasterCard: I already reviewed this one above, having seen it on their web site.  However, seeing it on TV — yeah, it definitely works.
58. Mobile ESPN – abridged version: Given that ABC owns ESPN, I’d say this was mostly filler for an unsold slot.  I already reviewed the extended version above.
59. Honda Ridgeline:  Another simple product-awareness commercial.  Recognizable licenses don’t change the fact that it really doesn’t say anything.  Ho-hum.
60. herestobeer.com:  It’s a pretty commercial.  What was it advertising again, and why should we go there?  Apparently “The Beer Institute” has money to spare.
61. GoDaddy.com:  This is a repeat, and still makes no sense.  However, I’m informed by the other blogs I’m reading that this is the 9th edit of the commercial — the first 8 were rejected by the network.  That would certainly help explain its incoherence.  Again, I’d guess that follow-up news coverage on the censorship is what will really gain name-recognition for these folks.
62. Outback:  Boomerangs, and “come back”, vs. “outback”.  This was a clever commercial, and I can’t confuse the product with anyone else’s.  Not a great commercial, but I think they spent their money well.
63. Football Game:  Between the commercials, there were actually two teams of star athletes playing a football game.  There were some exciting moments, and my home team won.  Go Steelers!!!

If you want to find what other folks are thinking, here are some other folks who are live-blogging the commercials:

• blogJosh: Liveblogging the Super Bowl ads — blogging just the ads.
• Fonda’s Sports: Super Bowl Running Blog — blogging both the game and the ads.
• SterileJournal — mostly ads, with a bit of misc. commentary thrown in.
• A LOW PROFILE: Superbowl Spying — 50/50 football vs. commercials.
• Retrophisch: Super Bowl commercials — all commercials, all the time.
• Adventures of a Samurai Avon Lady – Superbowl commercials — again, nothing but commercials.
• tal_greywolf: Super Bore Commercials??? — very brief, but he’s giving letter grades to each one.
• squarebear: I review the Super Bowl commercials, part 1 — no football here.
• the madness of delusions – Superbowl Commercials — divided into the good, the bad, and the misc.
• WebChicky’s Journal — a series of posts, rather than a single frequently-updated entry.
• Adrants » Marketing and Advertising News With Attitude — another running series of posts, with a paragraph or two per commercial.  Of course, these are te pros, so you’d expect depth.
• Don’t Break the Seal: SuperBowl XL Commercial Live Blog — Commercials only, with letter grades.
• UnSpace » Super Bowlogging — simulblogging both the game and the commercials.  Rob’s another Pittsbugh local, so we’re rooting together for the Black and Gold.

Final Update:  Okay, the game is over, and nobody will be watching any innovative new post-game commercials, so I’m calling it an evening.  Hopefully, you enjoyed the advertising and/or football experience as much I did.