Hyperbole 2014: Super Bowl 3rd Quarter – Meh

Each year for the past 7, we’ve divided up the Super Bowl and taken a look at the best and worst executions on the world’s largest/most expensive ad stage. Megan gives us her take on Madison Avenue’s third quarter offerings.

Super Bowl Sunday may as well as be Super Ad Sunday for me. I’m much more interested in the commercial breaks than I am watching grown men tackle each other to keep the other from getting a football across a line. But that’s just me.

In the first half, Toyota got my attention with the Muppets, VW made me laugh with rainbows shooting out of butts and H&M did all the women a favor and ran an ad with David Beckham, so I may have been a bit distracted for the rest of the game. Luckily, there were a few gems in the third quarter.

Ads I was just kind of, “meh” about:

Budweiser
I know, I know. I must be a horrible person with no pulse because I would rather see the frogs and the Clydesdales than the welcome home parades. But dang it, that determined Clydesdale gets me every time. I missed him.

Arby’s
Bo Dietl didn’t seem too convinced that Arby’s get’s their fish as fresh as they would like for us to think. Which to me, doesn’t say much for Arby’s other meats and ingredients. This ad was a fail for me.

A little more than, “meh” but not quite a favorite: 

Honda 
I liked what they were trying to do with the funny take on a serious topic but the humor felt a little forced to me.

Kia 
A well executed spot that got my attention. Even better, I do remember the product and the brand. However, the idea that Kia equals luxury is thinking that must have been mixed up in the Matrix.

Axe 
I was surprised to see the, “Make Love, Not War” spot was for Axe but, in hindsight, I should have seen it coming. It’s in line with their other ads, just a softer, more “peaceful” approach.

Favorites: 

Audi
This was a strange spot with a weird looking dog and Sarah McLachlan’s parody of herself (which was awesome). But I don’t remember much else. What was the message? Was there a tag line?

I’m not sure what they were trying to communicate but I’m talking about Audi today, so does it really matter what the tag line was?

Chrysler
Very well done. Nicely shot and edited. I loved the copy and the lines that everyone seems to be talking about: “Let Germany brew your beer and Switzerland make your watch, let Asia assemble your phone.” “You can’t import original.”

Nicely done, Chrysler. Your Ad Agency impressed me but not enough to buy one of your cars.

Intuit and GoldieBlox
This one I wanted to stand up and clap for.

The message of girls being able to do anything they set their minds to is quite a different one than we’re used to seeing during the Super Bowl. It was a refreshing break from the over sexualized messages that seem to be expected. Bravo. This was by far a favorite of mine.

Not sure what the commercials were like in the fourth quarter. The game was a blowout, the half time show fell flat for me and the commercials were just ok. By the time the third quarter was over, I opted for my DVR-ed episode of Downton Abby — which is commercial free.