February 5, 2007, - 9:03 am
Schlussel Superbowl Ad Redux
By Debbie Schlussel
In my opinion, last night’s Superbowl was among the worst for creative, good ads. Most were gross or stupid or both.
Two guys eating a Snickers bar who end up kissing. No thanks. Naked, scrawny guys washing a car with women inside. Yuck. Men slapping each other in the face. Not funny. A guy throwing a rock at another guy, knocking him out for a Bud Light? Was he trying out for rock- and molotov-cocktail throwing Palestinian boy terrorists brigades in Ramallah . . . as brought to you by Anheiser-Busch?
Ironically, two of my five picks for best ads were created by amateurs–both for snackchips. So here’re my picks for:
Most Annoying Ad: HOprah Watch Extraordinaire–Oprah and David Letterman on an ad for his Late Show. Only 10 seconds long, but each second was painfully annoying. Do we really have to see Oprah even on the Superbowl? Can’t she leave us alone for one day, one Big Game? Those two declaring that they’re in love with each other was just dumb. Now, if it were Oprah and Gayle, then it would be more believable and interesting.
Dumbest Move: Emerald Nuts ad with Robert Goulet–Memo to Emerald, most younger consumers don’t know or care who Robert Goulet is. Those that do are in dentures and can’t eat your product. Something to keep in mind for next year.
Most Questionable Value: McDonald’s for Ronald McDonald House (during “Kickoff Show”)–No question that Ronald McDonald House does great things accommodating families of seriously ill kids. But wouldn’t it have been better to donate the gazillions it cost for the ad to the cause? Perhaps the ad was donated.
Best Ads:
* Budweiser: Stray dog gets dirty and looks like Dalmatian. Gets to live out his dream of riding next to beauty queens on float fronted by Clydesdales.
* Doritos: Check-out girl. We’ve all had nosy or annoying check-out cashiers commenting on our purchase choices. This one reminded me of that in a humorous way. This is one of the ones that was created by an amateur who won a contest, NOT an overpaid Madison Avenue advertising exec.
* Doritos: Car-crash couple. Another one created by an amateur who won a contest. Fire Madison Avenue and hire these Doritos contest winners.
* Taco Bell: Lions and Ricardo Montalban rehearse rolling “R”s and tout best qualities of the fast food chain. Would have been better if when Montalban finally did the voiceovers, he mentioned something about “fine Corinthian leather.”
* Bud Light: Hitchhiker with ax, hitchhiker with chain saw. Echoes of horror thriller, “The Hitcher” (now in theaters).
Tags: Bud Light, David Letterman, David Lunde, Debbie Schlussel, food chain, Lions Montalban, Madison Avenue, McDonald's, Oprah Artwork, overpaid Madison Avenue advertising exec., Ramallah, Ricardo Montalban, Robert Goulet, Snickers bar, The Hitcher
I agree with all the above. The only addition I would make is I’d add to your “best” selection the Blockbuster one with the mouse.
The Sierra Mist ads were annoying, but for some reason I thought the beard comb-over was funny. Nothing else about that one was funny, just the beard comb-over.
Stealthkix on February 5, 2007 at 9:53 am