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Super Bowl Hangover: Deggans Worst Ads of 2008
The Feed —
One of the most tired rounds of hype in television centers on Super Bowl ads.
Studies may show that sizable numbers of viewers only want to see the commercials (and I'm still waiting to see those numbers). But the hype over these bite-size bits of commercialism has grown faster than the game itself, mostly serving to help networks justify an ...
Super Bowl Ads: The Six Best
Pressed —
FedEx, "Pigeons": After a first quarter that was filled with lame or underwhelming spots, this was the first to draw big laughs from my Bowl-viewing contingent.
Doritos, "Mouse Trap": I'm not 100 percent sure why, but my tiny focus group went wild for this one. When people are yelling for you to pause the game and rewind a commercial, that's a successful spot. As one of my friends put it, "The mouse repeatedly punching him in the face was a nice touch."
Tide to Go, "Interview": ...
Super Bowl: Which Ads Hit Biggest?
Pressed —
A close game, a writers strike, a couple of big-market teams, each with its own compelling narrative: It all added up to 97 million viewers, the biggest audience for any Super Bowl yet. (The previous record, of 94 million, was set by 1996's Cowboys-Steelers matchup.) In fact, it was the second-most watched broadcast ever, behind only the M*A*S*H finale.
In other words, those $2.7 million 30-second spots turned out to be a bargain -- or at least the ones people liked did. But which ones were those? There's some disagreement.
By the most objective measurement -- pure TV-screen-on-retina contact -- E*Trade's talking, ...
2008's Best and Worst Ads, Overlooked Division
Pressed —
The Wall Street Journal weighs in today with its annual review of the year's best and worst ads. Some of its picks are obvious (eg. Burger King's awesome "Whopper Freakout" campaign) and some more controversial (will.i.am's pro-Obama "Yes We Can" video, which excited a lot of people but struck me as empty-headed and ripe for parody).
Here's three that didn't make the cut:
Doritos, "Mouse Trap": As I said at the time, this was the Super Bowl ad that got the biggest reaction from the (mostly male) crowd I watched with.
A Beer with ...
