Super Bowl XLII Ads- Winners and Losers

By now, you've heard it all - "Greatest Super Bowl ever."

"Greatest upset ever."

"Greatest catch ever..." and on and on.

The Giants kicked the Pats' dream season to the curb (yay!), and record amounts of money were spent on the ads during this more-compelling-than-usual Super Bowl. Most were decent. Some were great. Others sucked.

So, who spent wisely? In my opinion, Tide, Anheuser-Busch, Coke, FedEx, E*Trade, and Pepsi carried the day.

Tide To Go: "Talking Stain" - This was my favorite ad of the day. Hilarious execution that communicated the benefit perfectly. Simple. Brilliant. The way ads should be. Score: *****



Bud Light: "Breathe Fire" - Second favorite spot. Creative idea to come up with a fake/funny benefit, and it could prove to have legs. Score: *****



Coke: "It's Mine" - Fun ad with parade balloons of Stewie and Underdog trying to grab a loose Coke bottle balloon. And, what do you know? Charlie Brown comes up big -- for once. Score: *****



FedEx - "Carrier Pigeon" - A well-executed ad with an engaging theme. We've all used this analogy in our speech at one time or another. The different sizes of birds make this theme work. Score: **** 1/2



E*Trade - "Clown" - Both E*Trade ads used the same concept - a talking baby. It's a concept that usually falls flat and one I generally hate. But both were pulled off well - especially the voice-over. I like "Clown" just a teence more, maybe because "Spit Up" doesn't work the comedy into the benefit completely. Score: **** 1/2



Pepsi - "Justin Timberlake" - Crude groin punishment aside, this ad was hilarious. And, I liked the clever addition of Andy Samberg, who hit it big with JT on a SNL viral video about something in a box. Hmmm... can't remember what it was, though. Score: **** 1/2.

Now - who blew tons of money just to get lambasted?

SalesGenie.com - Whole Campaign. Three spots - two were racist and demeaning, all were dumb. Not as cheesily written as last year's, but Indian and Asian groups ought to complain to the network. They don't deserve to get posted here.

Under Armor - "Prototypes" - Uh, what? Were they trying to re-do "1984"? I suppose woofing, preening, sweating athletes reach some people, but this is just confusing. Score: * 1/2



GoDaddy.com - Danica Patrick - Nope. Missed. Apparently, the first concept got canned by Fox. Every year, their over-hyped ad under-delivers. Score: * 1/2