2008 Woodie Awards
Commercials fail to score
Brittany Fouskas
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Opinion
Every Super Bowl, millions of football fans face the same task - serve as a guinea pig for a company's products. Good or bad, here are some memorable commercials.
Drinks are a highly commercialized product during the Super Bowl. Democratic strategist James Carville and ex-U.S. Senator Republican Bill Frist proved that Coca-Cola was a drink that would bring politically-divided people together. Life Water, the new Vitamin Water, was advertised almost everywhere. From the "thriller" dance to the picture on the half-time desk with Howie, Jimmy Johnson, James Brown and Dan Marino, you couldn't get away from the colorful lizard. And to make an assumption about football fans - eating pizza, Doritos and other carbohydrates - I don't think they are looking to live healthier. Stick to Budweiser. Speaking of which… my favorite Budweiser commercial was tough to choose.
Will Ferrell did a better job than Carlos Mencia naturally, and the imitation of Richard Simmons was a little random. The flying man, however, threw me off course; I thought I was watching a Red Bull commercial. The breath of fire commercial didn't make any sense either. So, by process of elimination, without any disrespect to Ferrell, my favorite was the caveman with their invention of the wheel. Yes, the caveman advertisement is both outplayed, and has become a cliché but come on, it was funny.
I think we can all agree that the publication of American Idol was over the top. During the pre-game show we were forced to watch Paula Abdul sing her new hit single with, surprise, Randy Jackson on guitar. Ryan Seacrest was also present, interviewing big stars walking onto the red carpet. But this commercial put the American Idol craze over the top.
Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger has now become the new puppet of this pop sensation, singing the song, "If you like Pina Coladas…" I guess Fox has to make some money after football season. The commercial was more pathetic than anything else.
Overall, the commercials weren't as funny as last year's, but you do with what you have. Better luck next year.
Drinks are a highly commercialized product during the Super Bowl. Democratic strategist James Carville and ex-U.S. Senator Republican Bill Frist proved that Coca-Cola was a drink that would bring politically-divided people together. Life Water, the new Vitamin Water, was advertised almost everywhere. From the "thriller" dance to the picture on the half-time desk with Howie, Jimmy Johnson, James Brown and Dan Marino, you couldn't get away from the colorful lizard. And to make an assumption about football fans - eating pizza, Doritos and other carbohydrates - I don't think they are looking to live healthier. Stick to Budweiser. Speaking of which… my favorite Budweiser commercial was tough to choose.
Will Ferrell did a better job than Carlos Mencia naturally, and the imitation of Richard Simmons was a little random. The flying man, however, threw me off course; I thought I was watching a Red Bull commercial. The breath of fire commercial didn't make any sense either. So, by process of elimination, without any disrespect to Ferrell, my favorite was the caveman with their invention of the wheel. Yes, the caveman advertisement is both outplayed, and has become a cliché but come on, it was funny.
I think we can all agree that the publication of American Idol was over the top. During the pre-game show we were forced to watch Paula Abdul sing her new hit single with, surprise, Randy Jackson on guitar. Ryan Seacrest was also present, interviewing big stars walking onto the red carpet. But this commercial put the American Idol craze over the top.
Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger has now become the new puppet of this pop sensation, singing the song, "If you like Pina Coladas…" I guess Fox has to make some money after football season. The commercial was more pathetic than anything else.
Overall, the commercials weren't as funny as last year's, but you do with what you have. Better luck next year.
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