Super Bowl XLV commercials were good, not great - Ingles

Monday, February 07 2011

A pugnacious pug, a thirsty gunslinger, a pint-sized Darth Vader and wild Kia drive through space, time and myth were among the most eye-catching Super Bowl XLV commercials Sunday night.
Advertisers plunked down up to $3 million for 30-second spots to peddle beer, cars, tires, chips, soft drinks, movies and other products during what should easily be the most-watched TV event of the year.

Most of the commercials used humor to make the pitch. But with more than 40 commercials there was a lot of clutter during the battle between Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

A cute little pug was the hero of the first commercial break. An obnoxious guy relentlessly teases the dog with a Doritos chip until the pug plows onto a glass door, pinning the doofus to the floor.

This amateur commercial from a couple reportedly only cost $500 to make. They used their pet dog Oko No-No.

At the other end of the expense spectrum was the head-spinning use of special effects in a commercial for the Kia Optima. The car is snatched off the road by a James Bond styled helicopter. It is then dropped in an ocean where a Poseidon catches it and hands it off to aliens. They drive it on a distant planet in to a wormhole where it emerges at an ancient Mayan temple.

Budweiser also scored early with a cowboy-themed spot in which a tough stranger rides in to a western town looking for a beer. The saloon is out of Bud and tension builds toward a showdown. But the Clydesdales are on the way, arriving just in time to cool off the gunslinger who breaks into song, leading the patrons in Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."

The commercials rolled by fast during the game with most being only mildly amusing. Bud Light poked fun at HGTV home improvement shows with a handyman remodeling a kitchen by only adding a bucket of beer.

There was nothing as surprisingly good as last year's Snicker's commercial featuring Betty White and Abe Vigoda. In the new Snicker's spot, cranky loggers are represented by cranky comics Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr.

Volkswagen scored an "ahh that's cute" moment with kid in a Darth Vader outfit. The little guy tries his best "Star Wars" moves but can't muster "the force" until the family Volkswagen starts up (with secret help from Dad using a remote key).

The much-touted Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne spot for Best Buy wasn't as impressive or humorous as others that preceded it.

Doritos gave viewers the most creepy (but memorable) commercial in which a nerd who craves the cheesy chip licks a guys fingers and pulls off a co-workers' pants to sniff cheese wiped on the pockets.

Other memorable moments:

•Two inmates at a posh prison for the wealthy try to break out, getting past the hounds and the smoothing Kenny G music. One escapee is tricked into getting into a limo that takes him back to jail. The other gets away in an Audi.

• One of the best for Doritos features a man who is house-sitting for a friend and lets things go. He discovers that sprinkling Doritos crumbs on the dead fish he forgot to feed brings them back to life. He also sprinkles chips on the ashes of his friend's grandfather.

•Elderly, hearing-impaired people can't understand a TV commercial about how the Chevy Cruze Echo gets 42 miles to the gallon.

•A couple battles over calorie counting as she thwarts his every attempt to snack. They finally share a Pepsi Max in the park. But when he flirts with a cute blonde on a park bench, his gal tosses a can at him. He ducks and the can beans the cutie.

•Movie makers go overboard with Bud Light props in French costume drama to get free beer for unabashed product placement.

•A Chevy Silverado truck pulls a Lassie by honking for help when little Tommy is stuck in a well, trapped in a cave, swallowed by a whale and threatened by a volcano.

•Another Pepsi ad features a nerdy guy is teased because he is unable to catch the soft drink can that is shot from a cooler at high speed. He gets revenge on a tormentor by hitting him in the crotch with a can of Pepsi Max.

•A young man with a mobile video pad is on a mission that recalls George Orwell's "1984" and the legendary 1984 Apple Super Bowl commercial. With the Motorola Xoom tablet he sends virtual flowers to a woman, bringing color to a colorless world.

•An animated Eminem puppet fumes over not wanting to do commercials until he discovers Brisk tea drink. But he has a tantrum when the company won't change the drink's name to Eminen.

•Office nerd Rod sends an embarrassing e-mail and the guy in the next cubical warns that it's going to everyone in the company. Rod dashes around town, grabbing-up laptops and mobile phones. He speeds around thanks to Bridgestone tires.

•Buff celebrities Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels unveil the last hot bodied babe for job-finder site GoDaddy.com. Surprise! It's Joan Rivers' head computer-generated on to a well-endowed female body.

•Faith Hill tries to help a young man compose a love letter but the best he can do is "Dear Kim, Your rack is unreal." It's a good thing he sent Teleflora flowers, too.

All the commercials can be seen at www.superbowlads.fanhouse.com (source TBO.com)