Like many people, I look forward to the Super Bowl to watch the commercials. On Sunday, February 7, 2010, several companies unveiled commercials at Super Bowl XLIV. Honestly, it was a little underwhelming. For the first time in more than 20 years, Pepsi didn’t have an ad in the Super Bowl roster. Many companies directed you to their website to see complete commercials. In general, it took a lot of digging to find advertising gems.
House Rules
Doritos “House Rules” commercial was one of the funniest commercials Super Bowl commercials of the night. In the commercial, a man arrives to a home and pretty woman invites him inside. The woman introduces the man to her son, who is playing a video game. A bowl of Doritos sits on the coffee table, and the man tries engaging the kid in a conversation about the video game. He grabs a chip and the kid claps him in the face. The kid tells the man that the two rules of the house are to stay away from his momma and stay away from his Doritos. It’s funny because a kid may act negatively to a strange man taking his mom on a date.
Underdog
Doritos “Underdog” commercial features a man sitting on a park bench enjoying his chips when a dog wearing an anti-bark collar approaches him. The man taunts the dog with chips, telling the animal he’ll give him a chip if he speaks. The dog steps away from the man and removes his collar and sneaks behind the man. The puts the collar around the man’s neck, barks and steals his bag of chips. The dog barks when the man tries grabbing the bag and runs away. The commercial is funny because it’s like the dog gets revenge for being taunted by some silly person.
VW: Punching Game
The Volkswagen Punch Buggy commercial presents a lot of people playing the punching game. The array of people includes children, paramedics, two women jogging, and even two Amish men riding in a horse-drawn carriage. The commercial is pretty basic until the end. At the end of the commercial, musician Stevie Wonder punches Tracy Morgan in the arm. Tracy Morgan, surprised, asks how Stevie Wonder can do that. The ending makes the commercial funny. The commercial also plays on a cultural element. It reminds me of a friend of mine who always does the punch buggy game, even though she’s a 30-year-old woman.
E-Trade: Jealous Girlfriend
The E-Trade commercial shows the baby from the company’s other commercials talking explaining why he didn’t call his girlfriend. He tells her he was on E-Trade all night working on his portfolio. The jealous girlfriend asks him if he was with “that milk-a-holic Lindsey.” Another female baby emerges from the side. First of all, the babies are just so cute. I like the part when the baby boy howls. Unlike a lot of companies who have commercials during the Super Bowl, E-Trade remains true to its image. Simple commercials sell their products. E-Trade uses the baby as its spokesperson and it works.
Snickers: Betty White
The “Snickers: Betty White” commercial has veteran actress Betty White playing football with some younger guys and one of them tackles her. A woman on the sidelines gives her a Snickers bar. When the camera pans back, Betty White is now a young guy. At the end of the game, one of the players is actor Abe Vigoda. The commercial ends by saying, “When you’re hungry, you’re not yourself.” I think Betty White is such a cute little old lady, and she is game for anything she thinks is funny. I like the simplicity of the commercial, proving you don’t have to be over the top to be funny.
For the most part, the Super Bowl XLIV commercials were duds and too many men in underwear. However, these five commercials were the gems among coal. The reason they worked was because they remained simple.
Source:
2010 Super Bowl Commercials, NFL FanHouse, http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/
