Super Bowl Ad Controversy

Due to some rather boneheaded Internet marketing, my pick for the second-best ad of the Super Bowl will not be seen again.

Snickers announced that it has pulled its ad which featured two guys accidentally kissing after sharing a Snickers bar. The spot ends when the two guys decide they need to do something manly and start pulling out chest hair.

But on a Snickers website, an alternate ending showed the two men attacking each other and even worse, there was footage of NFL players jeering the kiss. Not surprisingly GLAAD protested and Snickers wisely pulled the ad.

I believe we call that going too far...

Who Are These People?

It seems like every year I try to predict the winning Super Bowl ad and every year I'm wrong.

Which leaves me to ask this question. Who are these people anyway?

The results are in for the "USA Today" Ad Meter and they have chosen Budweiser's crab commercial as #1. What is it with people and animals? My favorite commercial, the auctioneer wedding was #6. And, apparently, I'm the only one that thought the Doritos and FedEx commercials were too cruel.

Here's the top 10:

1) Budweiser--Crabs worship Bud chest
2) Budweiser--Stray dog fakes being dalmation
3) Bud Light--Rock, paper, scissors game
4) Doritos--Guy In Car
5) Bud Light--Immigrants learn to ask for Bud Light
6) Bud Light--Auctioneer wedding
7) Bud Light--Ape misses chance at stealing Bud Light
8) FedEx--Moon office
9) Snickers--Two mechanics
10) Bud Light--Hitchhiker

By the way, Kevin Federline's Nationwide commercial was seventh to last. Personally, I think that was more because everyone had already seen it, but maybe people just don't like him. I thought it was funny...

To see the entire list of ads and view the winning ad, go to http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2007-02-04-ad-meter-winners_x.htm.

Super Bowl XLI: The Year of Cruelty?

First of all, I would like to say that if my Super Bowl prediction won any of you money, I’ll expect my cut by the end of the week…

But what was up with Peyton Manning winning the MVP?...

And how about that Starship Enterprise deck they did the trophy presentation on?...

I also want to give kudos to Prince for putting on a pretty good show in pretty bad conditions. I especially liked his rendition of Foo Fighter’s “The Best of You”…

Now, to the commercials…

As my fiancé said, this was the year of the cruel commercial with people slamming into cars (Doritos), astronauts floating to their deaths (FedEx) and even suicidal robots (GM)…

There were some good spots, though, just not as many as I would’ve liked…

Sierra Mist made a strong showing with two good commercials featuring Jim Gaffigan and Michael Ian Black. Emerald Nuts gave us a goofy—but funny—ad featuring Robert Goulet. And regardless of what others might say, I think the Kevin Federline Nationwide commercial was funny…

I also liked CBS’s Oprah-Letterman promo, but I guess that doesn’t count…

There were some definite misses in the game too. Not only did Budweiser’s Jay-Z commercial not make much sense, you couldn’t hear anything Don Shula said. Coke made its Super Bowl return, but its two spots were just plain weird.

It also wasn’t a good night for contest winners. Both Doritos contest-winning ads missed the mark and Chevrolet’s college challenge winner’s ad (“Hot In Here”) was also pretty weak—especially after I heard the other finalists’ pitches. The only possible exception was the winning ad for the NFL, but I’m not sure about it either…

For me, two commercials were head and shoulders above the others: the Snickers ad featuring the two men who accidentally kissed and my choice for the best ad, the Bud Light auctioneer wedding…

So what did you think? What were your favorites?...

What Are Your Favorite Super Bowl Ads?

So Sunday is the Big Game, but how many people actually even know who’s playing?

The Super Bowl, after all, is really just about the commercials for most people. And at $2.6 million a pop, no wonder the advertisers usually put their best foot forward.

For the record, it’s the Chicago Bears vs. the Indianapolis Colts. If I had to make a prediction, I would say that Rex Grossman will choke and the Colts will win—which unfortunately will only give game announcers even more ammunition to declare Peyton Manning the King of the NFL…

But back to the ads. Personally, I think that last year’s Daytona 500 commercials were much better than the Super Bowl ads, but nobody ever devotes an hour special to relive those—even though the Dale Jarrett UPS ads were so good, they should have been released on DVD…

But I digress…

Tonight, CBS will take a look back at some of the best Super Bowl commercials of all time at 9 p.m. Fifteen ads will compete against the reigning favorite, Coke’s “Mean Joe Greene” for your vote.

So, while we’re on the subject, what are some of your favorite Super Bowl commercials?

Before you answer, here are MSNBC’s top 10 choices:

10) Budweiser “Frogs” (1995)
9) Xerox “Monks” (1977)
8) Tabasco “Mosquito” (1998)
7) EDS “Herding Cats” (2000)
6) McDonald’s “The Showdown” (1993)
5) Monster.com “When I Grow Up” (1999)
4) Reebok “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker” (2003)
3) E*Trade “Monkey”
2) Coke “Mean Joe Greene”
1) Apple “1984”
Runners-up: Pepsi “Apartment 10G” (1987), Pepsi “Diner” (1995), Pepsi “Sucked In,” Mountain Dew “Bad Cheetah” (2000), Budweiser “Magic Fridge” (2006)

You can view these ads at http://www.msnbc.com/.

With all due respect to MSNBC, I don’t see how you can possibly have a top 10 list without Nike’s “Bo Knows” commercial, the Diet Pepsi “You Got the Right One Baby” ads, or any of the Budweiser ads featuring Clydesdales. I would also include that Dana Carvey-Jon Lovitz American Express ad from Super Bowl XVI (Wow, that’s dating myself, isn’t it?).

Okay, so what do you think? You can see even more Super Bowl ads at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070202/NEWS01/70202015/-1/NEWS13.

And don’t forget to come back here Monday morning as we gather around the virtual watercooler and discuss our favorite commercials from Super Bowl XLI.

Oh, and we may talk about the game too…