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Happy Monday!
Boring and uninspiring:
Super Bowl 53 and its Halftime Show.
This sentiment extends to about 91% of the commercials during the breaks in the game. People were paid big money for these ads?
Having said that, there were a couple of inspirational ads last night during the Super Bowl. The best was the heartwarming Microsoft gaming controller for kids with disabilities that is the extended version of an already heartwarming ad featuring the focus of last night’s Super Bowl commercial.
In terms of clever commercials, the Hyundai elevator ad starring Jason Bateman was well written and imaginative.
The Peanuts ad with a surprise cameo by Charlie Sheen providing the apt tag line “And people think I’m nuts” was just good fun.
A moderately funny commercial (or separate storyline of a full-length commercial) starred Harrison Ford and his dog. Suffice it to say that automatic ordering is a dangerous thing with Amazon’s Alexa. Unfortunately, Amazon has not posted this sidekick commercial online.
Now the winner for most bizarre yet creative Super Bowl 53 commercial goes to advertising giant Ogilvy with its throwback ad of sorts for Burger King featuring a retro/living appearance by the equally famous and bizarre American artist Andy Warhol from a past documentary who is unwrapping and eating a burger from the aforementioned burger chain. The commercial was almost silent sans unwrapping sounds and a barely audible “it doesn’t come out” by Mr. Warhol concerning the Heinz ketchup bottle. The 45-second commercial simply ends with #EatLikeAndy.
Will Burger King earn 15 minutes of fame from this Super Bowl ad? Time will tell.
This Andy Warhol ad is weird and kind of good, like Burger King.
But there was an ad (well, a reaction to a recent ad) that aired a couple days ago that should have aired last night. And it was nostalgic gold that made ‘Home Alone’ fans–one in particular–smile.
Bonus points if you get the gold reference.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Happy Monday!
Something very strange happened last night:
An NFL game was actually entertaining from start to finish.
Super Bowl 52 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots was a virtual offensive free for all as both teams combined for more than 1,000 years of total offense. Damn! And despite the final two and a half minutes playing out all-too-perfectly for a Tom Brady-led comeback win, the unthinkable happened:
A Tom Brady fumble was called a fumble.
Even with an unbeatable 41-33 lead, Eagles fans held their breath on the final Hail Mary pass by Mr. Brady. Fortunately for fans in the city of brotherly love, that pass fell to the ground as an incompletion. However, what’s not incomplete is the Super Bowl trophy case in Philadelphia as the Eagles claimed their first Lombardi Trophy in Minneapolis last night.
Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now for the actual half of the Super Bowl:
Justin Timberlake.
Playing a medley of past hits (with new song “Filthy” to kick it off), it was more of a high-energy dancing blitz than anything else. Which, given the short nature of the Super Bowl halftime show, should have been expected. Having said that, the tribute to Minnesota’s favorite son Prince was special, as was the stroll into the crowd with the Super Bowl selfie kid who looked too busy googling who Justin Timberlake was instead of living in the moment.
Now for the other half of the Super Bowl:
The commercials.
The night kicked-off (not that kick-off) with the highly-anticipated second trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and it was incredible. It appears a more intimate and scarier sequel has been engineered for summer audiences to enjoy on the edge of their seats starting June 22.
(Clever nod to Spielberg’s BFG)
Movie trailers have evolved as verifiable commercials during the Super Bowl, somewhat replacing the previous showcase for Budweiser’s creative talents. There’s an art to producing a creative, engaging movie trailer.
Speaking of which…
The first Mission: Impossible – Fallout trailer premiered with Tom Cruise and Co. looking engaged in practical effect stunts that may have dropped the jaws of viewers.
(Was that Spectre in the beginning?)
Get ready for July 27.
Turning to TV, Westworld debuted a second season teaser with a premiere date of April 22 that will excite its fans for a definitive return to the mind-bending park of our dreams (and nightmares…).
There were a lot of clever ads last night (Pringles, Wendy’s, Mountain Dew, Budweiser and Stella Artois’ water ads, Tourism Australia), but there was one clear winner in my book.
And to think the Super Bowl life is just one giant Tide commercial.
Tide finds a way…
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Happy Monday
The Atlanta Falcons clearly aren’t big Mighty Ducks movie fans or they could’ve pulled off the Super Bowl LI win by, yes, flying together.
The field goal attempt was within range to put the game out of reach for the New England Patriots late in the fourth quarter by the Atlanta Falcons, but the offense wasn’t in sync and, consequently, their chances of winning went bye-bye-bye.
Christopher Walken knows what I’m talking about.
New England Patriots 34 – Atlanta Falcons 28 in OT.
Admittedly, Super Bowl LI (51) did not present the greatest slate of commercials. Still, there were a few amusing submissions. The Bai drink ad above, the Budweiser journey and the Mr. Clean commercial with the hilarious twist were quite entertaining. Interestingly though, the shortest ad was arguably the best last night.
The creative team at Amazon Echo, which is essentially Siri for the home, wrote and produced a genuinely sweet moment between a father and daughter watching football. The simplicity and the smile-worthy moment was not only what fans of all ages needed and appreciated, but desperately what the NFL needed and appreciated (ie – ratings decline).
Will there be a Little Giants sequel…?
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 