Super Bowl Quarter

The Spot:  Brand + Review

Spots are listed in alphabetical order according to brand

CAREERBUILDER.COM: Performance Review You can take an idea and run it into the ground.  Based on the final product, it might have been better had the company simply buried this one.  The scenes of employees get abusive performance evaluations are neither funny or interesting; they're just weird.

Ditto for Careerbuilder.com's Darts - Training Seminar ad.

BUD LIGHT:  Reception:  The idea of having an auctioneer rush through a wedding so everyone can have a beer might have been mildly amusing on the drawing board, but the final execution left me flat. 

BUD LIGHT: What would Carlos do?  The question is where will Carlos sleep after he repeats all the bad things his girlfriend has confided in him about her girlfriends who over for some girl-time?  This ad might get a rise from guys craving a cheap machismo high, but I'm not one of them.  It left feeling not very good about the moment or the brand.  Sorry, Bud, this fumble is for you.

CHEVY: Car Wash.  This ad bombed in a big way.  Chevy’s HHR revolution ad turned out to be revolting, not revolutionary.  Nothing says "not-sexy" as much a bunch of nerdy guys showing off their under-developed bodies in all their wintry hues.  The girl in the ad has it right when she says, “Tell me when it’s over.”  Obviously, this one wasn’t over soon enough.  I'll take a pass on the revolution.

EMERALD NUTS:  Who brought Robert Goulet out of retirement and why?  This is a dumb ad that fails at humor and at conveying how the product helps push back late afternoon fatigue.  Maybe this ad was conceived in the late afternoon without benefit of the product.  Maybe the creative team is just nuts.

E*TRADE: Bank Robbers  Sometimes you can try too hard; and I didn’t find this spot particularly interesting.  I get the point that banks can rip you off, but the spot didn’t make me feel as though I need to go with E*Trade.

FED EX:  Moon Office:  This ad was heading for the COMPLETED PASS category when the office colleague got slapped on the back, sent flying into space, and then struck by a meteor streaking across space.  BUMMER.  It reminded me of last year’s violent ending to the cave man who got into trouble for not getting a package delivered on time.  It seems Fed Ex wants viewers to associate painful endings with its service.  Talk about a bad delivery.  Ouch!

FOOTLOCKER: Kevin Garnett This spot opens with two friends in a mall focused on different priorities.  One is obsessed with his new shoes, the other is interested in picking up girls.  Unfortunately, the lady's man isn't exactly a catch.  Everything changes when Kevin Garnett passes by and provides autographs for the two friends.  This is a fun and amusing spot that pays more attention to the situation between the friends than to the brand or the big event.  One has to wonder why Footlocker would place an ad featuring Garnett, a professional basketball player with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, in a Super Bowl time slot.  Although the ad is entertaining and works as a stand-alone ad, as a Super Bowl ad, it fumbles. 

GM: Quality Robot  With so many depressing stories in the news about the U.S. auto industry, one has to wonder why GM chose to make an ad about an assembly line robot's fear of being fired. Quality should be a celebrated thing - something  potential buyers should feel great about.  It shouldn't conjure up images of a robot out on the streets and ultimately jumping off a dock.  GM got its lines crossed on this one.

IZOD  Some ads are just okay; but this isn’t one of them.  I didn’t get any sense of the uniqueness of the brand.  The ad just features an uninteresting couple who bounce around from one location to another engaging in a variety of sports.  Someone, pass the dip, please.

LEXUS: Gravity  I'm always a little skeptical of the incredible claims.  I wasn't "feeling" Lexus at the opening of this ad, but the automaker got my attention as the white Lexus raced towards the mark and crossed it a fraction of a second before the black Lexus came crashing to the ground.  It's an amazing shot. But then I began wondering how an object as big as a Lexus could free-fall 4,000 feet, in a straight line, onto a target, in the desert without having wind and other aerodynamic forces shift it off course.  That's when this ad started to fall apart for me.  I figure Lexus dropped another car from a much closer distance, timed perfectly to just miss the car on the ground.  Marketers should avoid ads that confuse audiences or cause viewers to question the veracity of their ads.  It might be useful for Lexus to devise a way of showing both cars advancing through to the moment of impact, without any editing.  The fact that I was left with questions means this spot fumbled.

NFL: Chad Johnson's Super Bowl Party  It's fun to imagine partying with the other half, especially during the Super Bowl.  This spot is loaded with celebrities from all walks of life, including Janet Reno.  There's a wonderful scene at the end of the spot where soccer legend David Bechkam is trying to explain that he's a "football" player for Los Angeles.  It's a great way to end the spot, but the viewer is left wondering about the message and the product.  The logo at the end says its an NFL spot, so party on and never mind the message.

SALESGENIE.COM  The premise of this spot is simple, direct and unconvincing:  use the product and everybody wants you. Well, it's a stretch that's not deserving of a Super Bowl audience.

SCHICK Quatrro:  Another silly ad.  Why did the girl go flying off the treadmill?  The ad is a bit juvenile for the intended user of the product.

SIERRA MIST: Comb-over  Okay, Ted has issues: from a comb-over beard to inappropriately high cut-off shorts and roller skates.  Yes, I understand why Ted is being fired, but I forgot about the product.  Oh yeah, Sierra Mist.  Maybe it's me, but I don’t associate Ted with a refreshing beverage. 

SIERRA MIST: Karate Class  This spot is trying really, really hard to be funny, and in the end, it's neither funny or interesting, and it says nothing about the product.  Sorry guys, you need to go back to class on this one.

See how I scored other Super Bowl ads:

|  Summary  |  Touchdown |  1st & Goal  |  Completed Pass  |

|  Fumbled  |  Intercepted  |  Penalty  |

or see the spots for yourself at http://www.ifilm.com/superbowl/18373