Super Bowl XLII Commercial Play-by-Play: The 18 to 24 Demo Perspective

Sunday’s Super Bowl viewers were treated to a thrilling game as well as some of the best commercials I’ve seen in years. I was unable to catch the game on television so for fear that I’d be out of the loop; I consulted the Internet to see what aired. The Super Bowl commercials can be viewed on a number of sites including MySpace, Firebrand, Hulu and YouTube but my favorite place to watch the ads was AOL Sports which grouped the commercials according to the quarter in which they aired.

The first quarter kicked off with the Bud Light “Breathe Fire” commercial, which I thought, was just plain silly. Hoping the brand would redeem itself, I found “Wine & Cheese Party” a letdown. As a woman and a Bud Light drinker, I was disappointed in the portrayal of the women in the ad- fawning over wine and cheese as the men smuggle in bottles of Bud Light and retreat to the kitchen to drink them. The second quarter featured “Language of Love” which I just didn’t “get.” The third quarter’s “Ability to Fly” was based on the same concept as “Breathe Fire.” The “Wheel Suck” commercial was slightly more entertaining but I thought it was a bold move to use cavemen after FedEx used cavemen in a Super Bowl ad two years ago and Geico’s cavemen ad campaign was successful enough to warrant its own (albeit failed) TV show. Sure, cavemen are funny, but they’ve been done before. The “Jackie Moon” commercial, featuring Will Ferrell, advertised Bud Light as well as New Line Cinema’s Semipro. Thanks to Ferrell’s celebrity status, it was the best of the Budweiser ads.

I was initially confused by Diet Pepsi’s “Nod Super” ad, which featured people nodding off to sleep. I wondered why the brand would use Haddaway’s “What is Love?” given that it is indelibly linked to the Saturday Night Live Sketch, “Night and the Roxbury.” A few seconds into the Diet Pepsi commercial, I realized that this was exactly their intention and a weak one at that. But I’ll admit, I’m biased towards Coca-Cola. Naturally, I thought the Coke “Jinx” ad was classic, playing on the expression “Jinx, buy me a coke,” as well as timely considering the upcoming election.

The Pepsi “Magnetic Attraction” commercial featuring Justin Timberlake aired during the second quarter. It almost won me over in the last few seconds but I thought they could have done more with Justin Timberlake and I wished there was more Andy Samberg especially since it’s been a while since he flexed his comedic muscles on Saturday Night Live.

The first quarter’s Dell “Red” ad annoyed me since I’ve been privy to a bad Dell user experience. While I am a big fan of the Red campaign, I’d much rather buy a Red iPod than a Dell computer. Thankfully, Dell only purchased one spot this year. Apple, unfortunately, purchased none and that’s probably because the brand didn’t have to.

Planter’s “Perfume” ad aired during the second quarter. It was Planter’s only commercial and I found it both funny and memorable. Without realizing, I bought cashews on Monday. Coincidence? Maybe.

Two different E-Trade “Baby” ads aired during the third quarter. Both entertaining and informative, it was probably the ad mentioned most when I asked friends and colleagues about what they thought of this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

Hands down, my favorite ad this year was Tide’s “Talking Stain” which had me laughing out loud and clicking “replay” over and over.

Coming in a close second for my favorite commercial was Victoria’s Secret’s “In the Mood For Love” which was simple and seductive, just as any good ad should be.

Nina Spezzaferro writes weekly for JackMyers.com.

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