It’s been a while since I’ve seen a football game as exciting as Superbowl XLIII.  In recent years, the games have just been blah, and the commercials are what I looked forward to the most. I suppose it comes with the territory of being in the marketing industry.

Last night, I was riveted by the game, and mostly disappointed by the commercials. I’m sure it’s partly related to the state of the economy, but most spots didn’t live up to the iconography of the Budweiser Frogs from 1995 and Monster.com’s “When I Grow Up” spot from 1999.

That said, there were a few stand-outs during last night’s game, so here are my Top 5, with a runner-up.

Runner-up Teleflora- “Rude Flowers”

My friend called me when this spot aired, and she was laughing so hard she couldn’t get words out.  I have to admit that I didn’t think it was that funny until the tulips shouted “No one wants to see you naked!”

5. E-trade- “Babies”

I like that E-trade is continuing to develop this campaign.  It’s cute and communicates the point that E-trade is easy to use. The addition of the second baby was a good move.  Baby #1 was getting a little too “wall-street” for his diaper.

4. Hulu- “Alec Baldwin”

Hulu did well with this spot. It was clever and memorable. It borrowed a little too heavily from Men in Black, and was long-winded, but I suppose when you’re spending millions for seconds of air-time, you want to squeeze out every last second of dialogue.

3. Doritos- “Bus”

I laughed uproariously when this spot aired.  Doritos make all things possible, except avoiding being hit by a bus.

2. Careerbuilder- “Hate Work”

Anyone who’s ever hated their job or felt disrespected by their co-workers related to this commercial.  The writing was genius and the editing was spot-on.

1. Bridgestone- “Mr. Potato Head”

I must confess, I didn’t immediately remember that this was a Bridgestone commercial. But I remember laughing hysterically when Mrs. Potato Head’s mouth bounced down the embankment. And when she ripped off her normal eyes and plugged in the angry ones, I almost choked on a tortilla chip.

So, what did you think about this year’s offerings? You can view all of the Superbowl XLII spots here: http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/

What are your favorite commercials, and why?

Tags: commercials, Super Bowl, television

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 am and is filed under Marketing Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.