sjbooher: And one more time… say it with me, now… SCREAMING CHICKENS!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A+.
This is two consecutive years of Denny’s greatness. Nanerpus! Can we get a Screaming Chickens/Nanerpus collabo up in here?
jtherkal: I think I can make that happen. Give me a few days. The Nanerpus has lasting power, as that song is STILL my phone ringtone.
Ahhhhhhh! you’re eating my unborn children! B+.
sjbooher: Strictly on the strength of Lamar Odom, the official player of L.O.N. A+. It’s actually probably too all over the place and did not reach the full potential of the idea. And honestly… what % of people watching this broadcast could even recognize Lamar Odom? And is T-Mobile pissed? Fave Five? 5 Buck Box? $5 Footlong? I do like “it rocks blocking shots, on guys with dreadlocks”, though. And even though I would never eat there, if at all possible, it does make me want to eat Taco Bell.
jtherkal: It’s rocka flocka flames lebron flocka james! I don’t even know what that means or why I’m saying it here, but I like it. When I first watched this during the game, I wasn’t paying attention and because I had seen and hated the poetry ad, I thought this would get an F. But this ad was 1000 times better. I like the song, I like Charles’ delivery, I like the randomness. As for Lamar, you’re too wrapped up in your basketball expert world. Get with the Karshadians! Rob’s Dream Factory! Lamar’s gone mainstream. B+.
sjbooher: I thought about the Kardashian factor… but I’m still not convinced. I need a poll conducted.
sjbooher: Good song, good comedy, good idea taking advantage of “green marketing”. For the non-Fox News set, it’s cool to be green right now, and this campaign capitalizes on that. A.
jtherkal: The song is enough to push it up past a C, which in this year’s crop makes this an automatic top ten. A police anteater? This was waaay better than I thought it was going to be, having seen some sort of preview before the Super Bowl. I don’t know if I’d remember which car company did it. Although if I was rich enough to afford an Audi clean Diesel, I might have paid more attention. B+.
sjbooher: My initial reaction: “Ohhhhh… we’re Emerald Nuts… we’re so bizarre. Fail.” But I take it all back. This nut/popcorn mash up was so bizarre that it sticks in my mind. What is going on? Why are Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret featured in the same ad? No idea, but I have been thinking about both products as a result. B+.
jtherkal: Here’s a story. Two snack brands owned by the same company. Company approaches agency. “We need to feature both of our brands in one ad.” “Sorry that doesn’t work.” “Too bad.” Creative brief confuses creatives. Creatives come up with strange solution that they think will get killed. Solution sells. Awesome + Awesome = A.
sjbooher: So wait a minute… Google is a website where you can type things into a box, and it points you to other pages? Revolutionary. Apparently this has been available online for months, and people love it… so who am I to judge? C-
jtherkal: Yeah, these have been around for awhile. They’re nice little videos, and I think in the Super Bowl clutter, this stood out. However, your sarcasm is well placed. Google doesn’t really need to advertise their search service. I think they have so much money they just can’t figure out what to do with it all. Spend on. B+.
sjbooher: At first I wrote, “Completely unmemorable”… But I think that’s because I was on beer 4, entertaining guests, playing with my 5-month-old, and logging all these damn ads! What could grab my attention over all that? Oh yeah… Megan Fox in a tub. Now that I watch it again, this is awesome, and completely memorable. Perfect Super Bowl Ad, to me — a known product re-emphasizing their product with a little star power and comedy. A+.
jtherkal: A nice way to showcase the cars and say absolutely nothing about them. Nothing like making a blind joke in a car ad. It’s not like they’re going to boycott your product. And until I went back and payed closer attention to the end line, I thought they had a flaw in their slugbug logic. But they did say ‘It’s a whole new Volkswagen and a whole new game.” B+.
sjbooher: Beaver violinist? Good, clean fun, minus the woman-as-only-a-sex-object at the end. B-.
jtherkal: Monster typically has great Super Bowl ads. I don’t think they were far off here, but I think they could have had the jokes work a little harder. And I can’t knock a beaver for getting some ass at the end. That’s just how a beaver violinist rolls. Don’t hate. B+.
sjbooher: Funny. B+
jtherkal: Really? Funny? If you’re going to redo a classic, you have to come a little stronger than that. Not only did I not think it was very funny, it’s annoying to the point that I’ll change the channel next time it’s on. Ditka saved this one. D.
sjbooher: Betty White = star of the show. Who is that old guy at the end, though? B-.
jtherkal: Old ladies getting tackled never gets old. And the idea that you’re not yourself when you’re hungry is a pretty fun one. I can see a few more coming out in this series. B+.
sjbooher: I’m not even sure if this technically qualifies as it was pre-kickoff, but I’m including it. Nice little remake of the O.G. Jordan/Bird McDonald’s H.O.R.S.E. ad. They captured the spirit of the original but tweaked to cater to LeBron and Howard. And nice little joke at the end with the guys not recognizing Bird. B+
jtherkal: I’m not a huge fan of remakes, but you can’t deny true star power. There’s nothing really wrong with this commercial, but there’s nothing spectacular. It’s sort of like we’re playing horse. You give it a B+, so do I. No letters. B+. Next.