So Super Bowl XLIII has come and gone. Congratulations Steelers on winning. As much as I enjoyed the game, let’s be honest, I was watching it for the ads. I tried something new this year. I actually didn’t want the game in real time. Instead I opted to TIVO the game, but watch and read the stream of tweets from the people I follow on Twitter. The experience was amazing. By the time the game was over and I started watching the game on delay I could nearly contain my excitement.

I’m not going to dissect every commercial. People like Steve Hall at Adrants do a much better job than I ever could at doing that.  You can see every one of the commercials here,here or here.  I though NBC did a great job of continually reminding viewers they could see the ads and vote on them at Hulu.

A few notes I want to make before I get into the ads:

1. Once again advertisers missed the point.  Most (not all) did not leave enough time in their commercials for viewers to see what they should do next.  Some didn’t even include a URL.  That would have been passable if advertisers had invested in paid search.  Nearly every single advertiser elected not to invest in paid search.  That’s a complete oversight and massive mistake in today’s Google dominated world.  Major exceptions to this were Cheetos, Hyundai, and GoDaddy.
2. 3D is big.  Well, people are trying to make it big.  From NBC house ads promoting that the next episode of Chuck would be broadcast in 3D to Sobe running a 3D commercial, it seems like 3D is the next big thing of the day.  Makes me really happy that the team at Colle+McVoy was ahead of the curve when we launched Snowdin last year.
3. I’m amazed the no one took advantage of owning the official Super Bowl web site.  It just seemed like a no brainer to me.  Cadillac had some presence as did a few other advertisers, but on the whole no one decided to make a splash.
4. Brands/companies clearly were not prepared for the surge of traffic to their web sites.  Several sites were down or slow to load.  Hyundai and Denny’s were the worst for me.
5. We are still feeling the effects of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl situation 5 years ago.  Last year we had a safe choice in Tom Petty.  Before that it was Prince, The Rolling Stones, and Paul McCartney.  I love The Boss, but it would be nice to see a more ahem youthful and progressive act.  Give me Coldplay or The Killers.

With that out of the way, let’s cover some of the ads:

Teleflora

This was the ad that made me rewind and watch it again about 6 times.  To call the copywriting edgy would be an understatement.  Just watch and enjoy.

Hyundai

Wow, I’m impressed. This brand has come a long way. When the Hyundai Genesis first came on the scene I took some notice. I even considered it as a new car, but I never test drove it. After seeing the ads for the Genesis Coupe I’m ready to test drive. That’s an ad that worked. There presence throughout the game was great. Hyundai ran a few different ads, with my favorite one being this one:

Go Daddy

Of all the advertisers they had the best connection to web. Just watch how long they hold the final frame. They give you more than enough time to read the URL and place it into memory. The call to action is fantastic and fits perfectly into their brand identity.

Bridgestone

This is probably my favorite ad of the entire Super Bowl. I have Bridgestone tires and love the brand. In full disclosure I also have several Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters at my desk. So it’s possible I’m biased. However, I just happen to think Bridgestone does a great job of delivering the product benefit (eg stopping power) in a manner that sticks out and is memorable.

E*Trade

While the ads themselves were ok, what really caught my eye is how well E*Trade integrated the web. For starters the main message on their home page was a call to action to view their Super Bowl ads. Thank you for not making me hunt the web to find it. They also launched a Facebook Fan Page for the E*Trade Baby just before the Super Bowl. On the page you could watch the baby ads in HD quality. Very cool.

Coke

The Avatar commercial was funny especially when you consider how many people have them on their plethora of social networking and community sites; like Twitter. I checked out 2nd Life because it seemed like such a logical tie in for the ad, but alas nothing there. Kinda bummed me out.

Doritos

Doritos had a few ads in the Super Bowl. The first one that ran was very Bud Light feeling. The toilet humor just didn’t seem true to the Doritos brand.

On the other hand, the 2nd spot called the Power of Crunch was very cool and very Doritos.

Bud Light

Yes, the ad is very Bud Light, but I just feel like it’s in poor taste given the current economic climate. Something about throwing a guy out the window for offering up a way to cut costs just seems wrong.

Audi
I’m split. This commercial is much better than last year’s Godfather rip off. I love the integration of Jason Statham. He’s a perfectly casted fit for the ad. But, just like last year it takes too long for the payoff. Also, there was NO URL insertion of call to action. Just strange.

Pepsi

Sigh. Where to start. Well, the first thing to say is, Pepsi, please stop glomming on to Obama. From the logo to the ad campaign for Refresh Everything has been Obama-centric. This ad could have been awesome. But, the payoff takes too long. It’s not till you get to the final few seconds that you realize it’s a Pepsi commercial. That’s a lot of money to spend for such little branding. Maybe they thought the inclusion of Will I. Am (the huge Obama supporter) was helping build the brand by conjuring up memories of Obama’s campaign. I love the remix of the Dylan song and wish they made it available for purchase/download.

The Brand Formally Known As Gatorade

What are they doing with this brand? You are killing years and years of brand awareness and equity. Seriously, you are calling the brand “G.” I’m not making this up. The change is so dramatic they are running Super Bowl ads that help explain what “G” is. I’ve watched the ads and I still don’t know “G” is.

Denny’s

Question: What happens when a poor creative concept meets a great message? Answer: You get a mediocre ad. For a good portion of this ad I thought it was for Reddi-Wip. The message though is awesome. They are giving EVERYONE a free Grand Slam. That’s gonna drive a lot of foot traffic to the store. If the breakfast experience delivers it’s a huge win. If it underwhelms this ad was like throwing gas on a fire.