The game itself is only one of the reasons people watch the Super Bowl. The commercials are also a major attraction, as advertisers bring out their most impressive new spots for the occasion. Here are some of the best ads that premiered during Super Bowl XLV.
Volkswagen Passat and Beetle
The German car manufacturer appealed to the nostalgia of Star Wars geeks everywhere with a spot showing a child in a Darth Vader costume trying to use the Force to manipulate various objects in his family’s house. He doesn’t meet with much success, at least not until his father uses his Passat’s remote control to give him an unexpected thrill.
Later in the game, Volkswagen scored again with an ad for the revamped Beetle, depicting an actual beetle with markings like those on the car racing past larger, clunkier insects, taking tight curves with ease, and making a flying leap over a patch of dandelions.
Audi A8
It was a surprisingly good evening for eccentric spots from German car companies. Audi’s ad for the A8 luxury sedan found a group of rich people trying to escape “the confines of old luxury,” depicted as an upscale hotel converted into a prison. The guards attempt to lull them to sleep with the sounds of Kenny G, and when two of them make it to the gate, one recognizes the waiting Mercedes Benz as a trap because “my father used to drive one.”
Lipton Brisk
While it may result in die-hard fans calling Eminem a sell-out, his Claymation commercial for Brisk was a knowing self-parody that also fit with one of his recurring themes: deflating celebrity excess. The animated Eminem ran through the demands he makes when he’s asked to do a commercial (including writing his own song) and laments that he usually ends up hating the product once he tries it. But he does like Lipton Brisk, even if Lipton refuses to change its name to “Eminem.”
Motorola Xoom
Anyone who remembers Apple’s famous “1984” ad introducing the Macintosh will immediately recognize what Motorola’s going for in this spot for their iPad competitor. A man walks through a subway full of people dressed in identical white hoods and absorbed in their iPod earbuds. He’s reading “1984” on his Xoom. He spots an attractive girl and uses the Xoom to look up a florist. Later, in his cubicle, he takes a picture of the flowers and uses the tablet to add them to a cartoon greeting he sends to her. She removes her earbuds, and Motorola makes a not-so-subtle point about Apple becoming the monolithic power it once challenged.
Best Buy
The electronics retail giant made good use of two contrasting celebrity spokespeople in an ad for their Buy Back program. Ozzy Osbourne, in a futuristic suit, starts filming an ad for a 4G phone only to find it’s been supplanted by 5G in the time it took to roll the cameras. He’s then replaced by Justin Bieber, who pitches a 6G model. It was a clever take on the accelerating pace of technology and a good showcase for both Osbourne and Bieber to display their senses of humor.
Snickers
Snickers followed a formula they’ve established in previous commercials, with people “not feeling themselves” appearing as celebrities until they eat a Snickers. But this ad had the added benefit of Roseanne Barr getting knocked flat by a giant log. Most of the spot was dominated by Richard Lewis as a grouchy logger not performing his duties to his supervisor’s expectations, but it was the final punchline that made the spot work.
If you want to judge the best (and worst) for yourself, all the major commercials aired during the show are available on a special YouTube channel, AdBlitz.
Paul Brown - Paul Ferrell Brown graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1994 with a B.A. in English literature, and completed his M.A. in ...
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