It is Super Bowl Sunday (Super Bowl XLIII if you are not aware).  Every team dreams of being part of the Super Bowl.  Now I do enjoy the game but really what I want to see today are the commercials.  NBC did sell out all of the commercial time but not all of the commercials should have made it to the air.  

Go Daddy - their commercials have to be continued online as they don’t meet decency standards for television.  The guy eating Doritos making items like a woman’s clothes blow off, or for a ATM machine to spit out free money and when a cop shows up a Doritos crunch makes the cop disappear.  Now I’m sure I’m reading too much into this but what kind of message is this sending to kids who are watching the game.  Do anything you want...and yes, the Doritos guy did end up getting hit by a bus when he runs out of Doritos but maybe this is a metaphor for the situation we find ourselves in with the economy.  Do what you want, don’t worry about consequences and live beyond your means.

What about the Bud Light spot that has the two guys sitting on a deck next to a ski slope and one of the guys draws a jump and a skier uses it to make a great jump.  Then he draws a pine tree in the middle of a run for a skier to run into and because of the obstacle the skier then hits a picnic table.  This is just in poor taste both because the guys sitting on the deck but at the end of the spot the guy that drew the tree has two broken arms.  Doesn’t Bud Light realize that when you run into a tree you can be killed but also, that violence isn’t the answer.  Yes, this is shown during a football game but the difference is that the men playing the game are professionals and they have to follow rules.

These commercials that are in poor taste seem to be infiltrating the game more and more.  This year’s game isn’t unique, it has been happening for the last few years.  From the first half only three spots are memorable and ones I’ll be talking about.

1. Firestone: Taters (Love the angry Mrs. Potato Head eyes)
2. Budweiser: Clydesdales Stick
3. Budweiser: Clydesdale Circus

There were more enjoyable commercials during the second half of the game and ones done with more creativity and taste.

That doesn’t mean everything was a winner, though.  The award for most annoying spot should go to CareerBuilder.com.  It ran a spot about hating your job.  Now at one point or another, all of us have felt this, but in this spot it was repeated, over and over and over again.  Winner of most annoying hands down.

GE (who owns NBC) aired two very creative spots and both having to do with clean energy.  Both of these spots were well done and really with an audience the size of the one that watches the Super Bowl - why not promote clean energy and get that message out to the masses?

My favorite spot of the second half was the Coca-Cola spot where all of the bugs worked together to take the sleeping man’s Coke.  I think this was the most creative spot of the Super Bowl.

The spots that air during the Super Bowl should be the best of the best.  They are being shown during the championship game, so why wouldn’t you want your best out there to match the game and impress a huge audience.

One of my dogs (Cole, a 70lb Boxer mix) watched the game with me and had some definite opinions on the commercials.  During the Toyota Faces spot he barked the entire time.  I don’t know if it was something with the music in the background of the spot or what it was but he didn’t care for it at all - four paws down.  His favorite spots had the Clydesdales in them.  Every time he saw one of the horses he sat up a little straighter and paid closer attention.  If there was one that he liked the best it was Budweiser: Clydesdales/Generations. 

I have to agree with Cole, those Clydesdales get me every time!

 To watch any of the Super Bowl spots you may have missed, go to hulu.

By Tracy Aiken