jtherkal: When I first saw this, I thought it was okay. Kind of funny. Personally, I would have liked to see some sort of giant human trap that snapped and broke the guy’s neck, then we’d see the mouse sitting in his chair, eating Doritos and watching. After doing some looking around, I believe that this is a fan-created ad, winner of a contest put on by Doritos. Alone, as an ad, I would probably give it a lower ranking. But when I look at the larger idea and the level of consumer involvement this probably inspires, B+.
sjbooher: I like this one a lot. Looks like the fans were indeed better than the majority of the pros for this Super Bowl! The product is clearly but not annoyingly shown and the surprise of the mouse attack is funny. Good job. A.
You may want to dial down your volume a bit. For some reason the sound on this is pumped way up.
The Mouth: I don’t remember–nor could I find–the ad my partner was talking about when he created this entry. So instead I’ve posted this Stetson ad as a reminder to anyone who might be stricken by a case of severe EliManningBandWagonJumpingOnicitis; Tom Brady is a hunk. Why, I can’t imagine anything that says “man” more than him whipping down a dirt road in a convertible, blond riding shotgun, with a horse galloping along to boot. A.
The Hawk:
I couldn’t agree more. A.
Here’s the Super Bowl spot that ran for United Way:
I think this is funny. Where Stetson makes Brady look man-a-licious, this animation makes him look like a complete dweeb. I guess maybe the jeans they put Tom in made it unable for him to beat that kid in a foot race? Or maybe it was that bum ankle? And shouldn’t the kid be at least a little chunky to drive the point of this one home? C+.
The Mouth: Is it just me, or is there something gratifying about watching Justin Timberlake get smashed into things and dragged down the street? Call it jealousy–because that would be accurate. I’m surprised they included the part where he freezes outside the window of the shirtless guy in a wig. Creepy and funny, but not something I expected to see from Pepsi. Seems like someone in some meeting would have given that part the axe. And when he gets cracked in the head by a flat-panel TV, that reminds me how much I love TVs. Who’s bringing sexy back now, bitch? And how hard must it have been not to label this the “sucking Justin” ad. I’m just saying…
I get the overall message loud and clear: with every drink you’re closer to Pepsi Stuff. B+.
The Hawk: I mean, to quote the great Dennis Green, “It is what I thought it was!” JT starts right off by saying it’s childish and immature, and I’ll be damned if he ain’t right. Throughout the ad I DON’T get it, and I’m too irritated by the end to care about whatever dumb point they are trying to prove. Nothing like a good crotch joke to really ratchet up the creativity! And isn’t he supposed to be sexy and cool and not a straight cornball? F.
A week or so ago, T-Mobile released the above trailer-style ad as a build-up to the main event, to be shown during the Super Bowl. I’ve loved this campaign from the beginning, and this is more of the same. They make a great trailer, using an authentic voice-over guy and flashing the date at the end trailer-style. The best part is when Barkley’s voice is echoed, saying “My fav five”.
The Mouth:
I could have done without the trailer. I know the story and I’m not any more interested because of it. The only thing it made me think about was how god-awful the Miami Heat are this year. Eat it, Wade.
And then the moment we’ve all been waiting for… D-Wade makes Chuck’s Fav Five, and gets more than he could’ve ever asked for! “Do like popsicles?” “It’s only 2 o’clock here.” “That’s why I don’t eat shrimp.” Hilarious. A perfect encore to a great overall campaign. A+.
The Mouth:
I love Barkley and I like Wade, so this starts off with a lot of positives. The previous campaign has been good and I think this is a great payoff. “You’re not driving through no tunnel.” My only critique is that I still don’t believe in the value of a fav five, what the hell does it do? Free calling to those five people? Their pictures on whatever you call that initial screen your phone stays on? Someone please tell me. That’s not enough for me to downgrade it much, though. A-.
The Mouth: I thought this was cheap. Maybe I have a soft spot in my heart for ugly girls, but something about this didn’t strike me as funny. Someone out there really looks like that. And I guarantee rubbing some nuts on their neck won’t make them more attractive. Also, you know what doesn’t make me want to eat nuts? Watching a horrific troll rub them all over herself. Yuck. D.
The Hawk: Great execution… of a horrible idea! “Hey, I know, let’s make everyone want to puke when they think of our food product!”. Genius! This might have been the worst ad of the night. And does the brand of nuts even matter? Aren’t nuts just nuts? F-.
The Mouth: Do we really have to review this one? It’s forty seconds of talking while we watch a simple black and white cartoon that barely moves. I know that as a writer, I should appreciate a spot like this. Quiet, with a well-written VO; but during the Super Bowl, all it gets is a big, fat yawn. F.
The Hawk: Big, fat yawn is right. If more than 2% of viewers managed to sit through the beginning snooze fest, then I’d be amazed. The most egregious offense to me, is that it has the look, tone and feel of a financial/investment ad, and I HATE financial investment ads. F.
Holy smokes, what a colossal blunder this was. What is the logic behind having a drug dealer, who is kind of likable, tell you his business sucks? Before you jump on me, I get it, the message is to parents, that they should watch their medicine cabinets. But you know who else was watching the game? Kids. Kids who heard, “if you want to get high for free, quit paying your dope dealer, all you need are some of your parents’ pills.” I mean, maybe we should also have also told parents, “you should especially not leave OxyContin, Valium, Zanax, Adderall, and Vicodin lying around, because when you take those, you can get a really nice buzz.” Why not pass out lists of prescription drugs at schools? That’d be about as effective. Whatever happened to showing a kid with brain damage from drug abuse or a mom crying at a kid’s funeral? Stop trying to be so clever. A down on his luck drug dealer is not going to win the war on drugs, idiots. F.
The Hawk: Ha, I liked it, of course. At least the first time. But I didn’t pay full attention — I thought it was just saying, “don’t blame the drug dealer for your kids doing drugs, blame yourself”. Seems like that would have been a good message. Still, maybe this will still open the eyes of some parents? But the Mouth may be right, and it may open the eyes of just as many kids. Hmm… I’m not a parent, nor have I done drugs, so I’m not even close to the target demographic here, so it’s too close to call. I’m going to take the cop out and go with C.
sjbooher: Aren’t there already too many advertising lizards? Is Michael Jackson really who you want as the voice of your campaign? And if he isn’t controversial enough, why not use a model, Naomi Campbell, that has personally kept a few dozen criminal defense attorneys in business over the years? Is the SoBe name ever actually mentioned in this spot? Why are the lizards better dancers than Campbell?
Although this is mildly entertaining (I like the colors, music and the lizards with grills), I think they could have done a much better job. D.
jtherkal: Maybe if this was on during Project Runway or America’s Next Top Model, but during the Super Bowl? It seemed entirely out of place, which perhaps was the goal, since I remember it. My first instinct was that it was terrbile, and rewatching it hasn’t done much to change my mind. However, I disagree with my associate on his disapproval of Michael Jackson. That’s old-school Mike and the people love him. I also like the part where the lizard eats the bug–trials of life. C-.
Update — sjbooher: I’m starting to develop a weird obsession with this commercial. But before I get to that, let’s run down Miss Campbell’s legal history (thank you Wikipedia): –In 2000, she pleaded guilty to a 1998 assault on Georgina Galanis, her then assistant; Campbell had assaulted Galanis with a telephone in a hotel room and threatened to throw her out of a moving car. –In March 2005, Campbell allegedly slapped assistant Amanda Brack and beat her around the head with a BlackBerry personal organiser. –Italian actress Yvonne Sciò has claimed Campbell left her “covered in blood” after an altercation at a Rome hotel. Sciò claimed: “She punched me in the face. She was like Mike Tyson.” –On March 30, 2006 in New York City, Campbell was arrested for allegedly assaulting her housekeeper with a jewel-encrusted mobile phone, resulting in a bloody head that required several stitches –On October 25, 2006, Campbell was arrested in London on suspicion of assault; she was released on police bail. –On January 16, 2007, Campbell pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless assault against her maid Ana Scolavino
Have you heard enough? How in the hell does she get an ad deal? “Drink our water. You’ll want to beat the shit out of people!” Athletes (think Kobe Bryant following rape charges) are vilified the instant they so much as sniff a court case, almost always losing any endorsement deals. What is so unique about Naomi? This stuff is fairly recent, and I’m not aware of any resurgence/transformation she’s undergone. I’m not even sure over half the people who saw this recognized her, so they could have easily used some other hot young thing.
But maybe they saw what I’m beginning to see, as my odd fascination with this ad grows. Once it comes on, I can’t turn it off… Do I love to hate it? Is it so bad it’s good? It’s something… and I can’t figure it out. It makes me feel weird. Something about her dancing is not quite right… and I like it? Is she a lizard woman? Either way, since one of the lizards eats a grasshopper, they should’ve had her beat the hell out of someone with a cellphone!
04/03/2008 — Update to the update — sjbooher: It’s official… the first IRateAds.com grade change! Check it out.
Following in the footsteps of Monster.com, CareerBuilder gets in on the Super Bowl action with two memorable spots. They deliver a very clear, easy to follow message–even though each message is different. The overall tagline “start building” is okay, but doesn’t really inspire me the way Monster’s “your calling is calling” does. I guess at the end of the day, CareerBuilder will always be Monster’s little brother. And they didn’t do anything here to tell me why CareerBuilder is different or better than Monster. In fact, if you weren’t paying attention, it’s possible you might have thought that these were ads for Monster.
Follow Your Heart — B+
The Mouth: This was the better of the two. I love seeing that little heart plop down onto the keyboard. You know exactly what’s going on and it’s still fun to watch. For some reason it felt sort of flat at the end, but it still worked for me.
The Hawk: Watching this ad, I had no clue what it was for. A new horror flick? A heartburn medication? Oh, maybe a job board. After it all comes together, the message is clear… if you can stomach it. This is gross, crude and makes me cringe. They made the food the boss is eating look like the cooked organs of his other employees It also seems like they should have used a man for the employee, as right when the heart is coming out, I’m thinking something is up with her boobs. Weird and bad. F.
Spider Eats Firefly — C+
The Mouth: I would have liked to see them develop the heart as its own character. There’s thousands of ways that you can follow your heart regarding your career. Instead, they deliver a different message, that “wishing won’t get you a better job.” True. But this commercial won’t convince me to use your site.
The Hawk: Let’s face it, they wanted to use “Wish Upon A Star”, Disney wouldn’t let them, so they came up with a lame, but cheap substitute. Weak. The song is bad and I’m happy when the spider eats that stupid bug. Like The Mouth said, when you think Super Bowl advertising and job boards, you think Monster, so they would be better served to get their name out there right away. There is no evidence of the service being advertised until I’ve stopped caring. F.
The Mouth: The music drives, the suspense builds, it’s a mystery…who is driving this little car? The headless horseman? A ghost? A baby? Or maybe the car is driving itself? From the beginning it caught my interest and I was surprised–though not really excited–when Napoleon stepped out of the car. I don’t know if it really sells the Garmin device effectively. We had a Garmin the last time I traveled and it wasn’t all that great. Overall the ad was pretty good–and they capitalized on the growing popularity of the mini-horse! Unless that was a pony. B-.
The Hawk: I didn’t get this one. Napoleon? Huh? Was this targeting the large foreign audience tuning into the Super Bowl? Somehow I don’t see the American masses finding this interesting. The music annoys me, as well. At least the show their device being used, effectively. D.