Every year, many people look forward to the Superbowl ads with much eager anticipation. It becomes just as much fun to watch to awful commercials (water cooler fodder) as it is to watch the best ones. So, without further adieu, and in no particular order, I present what I feel is a list of the best commercials from the 2007 Superbowl.
Nationwide Insurance: K-Fed Rollin’ VIP I chose this video because love him or hate him, this guy shows he can laugh at himself. The writers were clever and funny, and very little dialogue was needed at all to present the humor, tie in the celebrity with the product, or promote the product. It was easy to tell what the product was and to hear the name being said in the commercial: both good things to have in a commercial that costs millions of dollars to make and air. Kudos!
Blockbuster Mouse I know many people may find these characters annoying, but I love the clean humor and the funny gags. James Woods and Jim Belushi do a great job with the voice work in the commercial, and the CGI work is fantastic. The commercial was so funny I almost missed that they were promoting their Total Access program that is similar to Netflix. The mouse squeaking like my own computer mouse does on occasion only added to my own chuckles at this simple but amusing commercial. The punch line is the best punch line of all the commercials aired during the Superbowl.
GM Car Wash Dudes I love this because of the poke at last year’s Godaddy.com car wash ad, and the way that it was shown in a funny light, rather than with sexual overtones. It was only that I got to replay the video and listen closely that I realized what was being promoted was the Chevy HHR. The appearance of the ‘Naked Cowboy’ fit in very well with the New York scenery and the partially undressed men. Even the reason for why the men were surrounding the car and washing it was explained very plausibly in the commercial. That is no easy task, but the writers of this commercial managed to do just that.
NFL Its Hard to Say Goodbye Even though it is a bit misleading with the appearance of Brett Favre at the end, it is still a touching, clever, and cute way to end the NFL season. I actually know people who really do seem to go into a depression between the end of the Superbowl and the start of Pre-game Season in August. By the way, according to his official website, Brett Favre will be back as a Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
Bud Light Slapping While I am not a fan of slapping, I chose this ad because it illustrates how dumb things become part of our culture and don’t always go over so well with those who are not ‘in the know’. The ending of the commercial was the highlight of it for me, and made the whole thing incredibly funny. Perhaps more people will think twice before passing along dumb new trends. Or not.
Fed Ex Ground Delivery Don’t Judge Clever displays of judging things by their names. Even Mr. Turkeyneck’s name elicited giggles because of the way the commercial was formatted and presented. The Eileen and Joy characters are the ones I found to be the other most entertaining name portrayals.
GM Robot Advertising their 100,000-mile warranty, the robot star of the commercial reminded me a great deal in manner, noise, and build to ‘Number 5’ from the movie Short Circuit. How could anyone not love the character or the commercial? Clever and cute, this commercial is one that really stands out in my mind as worthy of a ‘best’ title. I know some had a problem with the robot dreaming that he was driven to suicide from his imperfection at work and being fired, but there are just as many who did not see it that way, and I am one of them. The message was about their quality control standards, so the dream, or rather, nightmare of the robot, tied in beautifully.
Bud Light Rock Paper Scissors A clever and extreme twist to the age-old game of Rock, Paper, Scissors; this commercial was a hoot! It was very well done, well written, and even featured a ‘low-five’ to the gentleman on the ground. I really laughed that even though ‘paper’ beats ‘rock’, ‘rock’ still won. Competitive people everywhere got inspired! I am just glad the writers wisely avoided ‘scissors’ in the commercial. I think that would have taken all the humor right out of it.
Will next year’s crop of Superbowl ads be better or worse? While many of the commercials this year were lame, there were also some very bright spots which next year’s advertisers will be hard-pressed to beat.
