It's the 2013 Hyperbole! Bring on the 3Q ads!

Third Quarter of Super Bowl 47 had to be the most exciting in many years, unfortunately it was due to the record tying punt return, the black-out delay and the attempted 49er’s comeback…not so much on the ads side.
I think the goal of Super Bowls ads is to introduce, entertain and/or promote corporate good will more than to sell the product or company. So, I’ve written my entry in a little different fashion than the other quarters’ writers. I’ve broken the spots into those categories.
Introduce:
Redd’s Apple Ale – Other than the cameo by the Father of Relativity, I think this execution was bland. Just bland.
Blackberry – While this spot was fairly creative, I still feel like it was expected. I mean, they’re supposed to be a tech front runner, so obviously their spots are going to showcase that aspect of the brand.
Axe Apollo – Pretty clever and creative, I’ll admit. Throw in the option to get the viewer involved and I am hooked.  Doesn’t everyone want to win a chance to go to space and come back a hero?
Mio Fit Water Flavor (aka “The Tracey Morgan spot”) – Mio really tried to use humor as their hook here, but I found it to be uninventive and lacking originality. I mean, Tracey was really just yelling at me to use the product. What’s inspiring about that?
Entertain:
E-trade – My favorite! Baby go BOOM!  This is the 6th year for a new E-trade Baby spot during the Super Bowl, and while it may not be the funniest of their comprehensive lot, it’s still funny enough to capture my attention.
Gildan – Oh, the lengths a man will go to for his favorite t-shirt. Toss in a good dose of humor for a pretty entertaining recipe.
Speed Stick – Don’t sweat it, handle it.  I loved the play on words with the visual here. The gentleman handling the female lingerie with aplomb, and humor really amplified their tag line and hit it with an unexpected twist.
Budweiser – Voodoo Man, Zoe Saldana, a recliner and a 6-pack Bud Light…talk about original! I really dug the tag too (“It’s only weird if it doesn’t work”).
Kia Forte – Robots do kick a**, literally, in this spot.  Another great advancement of a tag line. I thought this spot really worked to advance the brand AND promote one particular product, which is hard to mesh into one stand-alone spot.
Axe Apollo – See above. Nothing beats an Astronaut.
Corporate Good Will:
Not many of this option in the 3rd quarter, to be frank.
Jeep – Nice casting with Oprah’s voiceover. Touching coming home moments of our service men and women….you really can’t go wrong there.
Lincoln – Not as touching as Jeep but Jimmy Fallon was a great touch.
I didn’t mention my fourth category above, but I’d like to add it anyway…
Just Plain (Vanilla), or Just Plain Bad spots:
Subway – Too many celebs trying to be funny, none of whom worked it in a convincing way. It took me a couple of views to get their message. And “Febru-any?” Ugh.
Pistachios – They turned Psy and his viral video into a bad spot with “Gangnam Style” dancing pistachios. I’m sure he was paid well, but I, for one, will be glad when his 15 minutes are done.
Beck’s Sapphire – Singing fish. What was the point? Apparently I missed it.
Century 21 – Not necessarily bad, but not compelling at all. Just Vanilla.
And finally, I noticed a continuing trend, which is that Nerds are still the new cool.