The Superbowl Ads That Left Us Smiling
There was a mix of the good, the bad, the ugly and the great last night in the myriad of superbowl commercials. Some cracked us up, some grossed us out, some inspired us to change our perspective and others brought tears to our eyes. Here are some of the best ads that spent their money well on the most expensive spot in television.
Coca-Cola: A Lot Of Crazy People. Coke took a new angle with the idea of surveillance. Security cameras exist primarily for--wait for it--security, but that doesn't mean they don't capture the good as well as the bad.
Rav 4: Make a Wish. Who doesn't love Penny? The Big Bang Theory star has broken into the commercial world without leaving her quirk, wit and beauty at the door.
Gangam Style Pistachios. The only thing that could make Psy, the wizard that brought us Gangam Style, more over-the-top, is a chorus line of human pistachio nuts.
Dodge: God Made a Farmer. The ad featured a voice over from Paul Harvey, iconic radio broadcaster for ABC. It was brilliant because Harvey himself was extremely successful with sponsors. Seamlessly, he could break from a monologue and deliver commercial messages. In The Guardian, he is quoted saying, "I am fiercely loyal to those willing to put their money where my mouth is. Some days the best news is in the commercials." This particular monologue was perfect for a pick-up commercial during the highest rated Superbowl in history.
Jeep: "Whole Again." For anyone who has a loved one in the armed forces, it's enough to make you cry even thinking about what war may call for. So when an ad pays tribute to the troops, it's got to be good, and Jeep pulled through on that.
Budweiser: Clydesdale Horse Remembers Man Who Raised Him. This one was corny for all the right reasons. Man raises horse, horse becomes glamorous Clydesdale horse, man misses horse, decides to see horse in parade. Man smiles at horse in parade, horse doesn't see man because blinders, but OH WAIT, horse somehow SENSES man's presence and books it down the road, blinders off. Man begins to drive off with crestfallen facial expressions that make us all CRY LIKE INFANTS, and suddenly sees horse booking it down road in rear-view mirror. Man stops truck, gets out, makes most heart-twisting, heart-melting, OMG-AWWWWWW-ing gesture ever by raising both hands to stop horse in middle of road. Man smiles, horse calms the heck down, they embrace, and we die. The end.
Okay, back to the funny stuff. Who better to cheer you up than Amy Pohler? Best Buy made a wise move when they hired Pohler to basically be herself on camera for 30 seconds.
All State: History of Mayhem. They took the idea of mayhem, and tossed it all the way back to the dawn of man. Real fun. This was a great idea since many of us are probably tired of seeing the sultry mayhem guy fall on things (sort of).
Oreo: cream vs. cookie. Is this the funniest ad ever? Probably.
Not to mention, Oreo's marketers responded to the power outage with lightening speed when they tweeted this ad, making them the MVPs of advertising:
