Superbowl Sunday 2009

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Yes, once again I will be blogging on the Superbowl, talking mostly about the commercials. I’ll be using this entry space right here and we’ll go live at 6 PM EST. As for the outcome of the game, since most of the pundits are giving it to Pittsburgh although allowing it will be close, I–contrarian that I am–predict that it will be the Cardinals in a blowout. Something like 35-7.

PAD

5:58 EST: And we’re live, eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the first commercial. Commentary will be elow the cut line.

6:01: When did the opening to the SB turn into “American Idol?”

6:02: Kind of sounded like “Addicted to Love.”

6:04: Sprint, launching with a phone ad. Makes the iPhone look pretty lame in comparison; you can’t get a whole stadium out of your iPhone.

6:06: Don’t be an asterisk. Somewhere, Roger Maris is sobbing softly.

6:11: boy, i sure didn’t see that that was going to be a State Farm commercial. I’m not even sure how it connects. Best Buy: Little wienies, check.

6:12: God, for a minute I thought the kid was going to jump off the roof. Other than that brief moment of terror, cute ad for Universal.

613: Stephen King should sue for the Dead Zone.

6:13: Ariel says the boy’s bowling team likes to chant “five dollar foot longs” with a gesture toward their crotches.

6:15: Kathleen is prepping our 3-D glasses for the “Monsters vs. Aliens” ad.

6:16: Faith Hill needs a hat with a huge bow on it.

6:18: Hey! Great! If either of the teams is going down hard, Sully can land them.

6:19: Oh God. Poor Jennifer Hudson. What a place to make her first major public appearance. It’s so hideous what she and her family went through.

6:21: Nailed it.

6:22: Doctor Who is in GI Joe? Cool.

6:24: Best house ad for NBC ever. Wrong on so many levels, and yet so right.

6:27: if Roethelsberger’s name were any longer, they’d have to continue it on the back of someone else’s jersey.

6:28: That’s it! It’s over! Arizona’s won! Man, that was fast.

6:29: Sorry, my bad. I’m informed that apparently they’ve only won the coin toss. Apparently there’s more to the game after that.

6:30: Wow. That was a boring Hyundai commercial.

6:31: My understanding is that neither GM nor Fed Ex are going to be running commercials due to the current economic situation. If so, that’s a shame. Looks like we’re counting on the beer commercials for the true entertainment. That and the Puppy Bowl.

6:32: They just showed the faces of all the Steelers. They went by pretty fast, but I think Ruben from “Survivor” is playing for them.

6:36: Kath thinks I know a lot less about football than I do, so she says stuff like, “A 38 yard gain is good” as if I don’t know that. I’m hardly an expert, but I know SOME stuff.

6:38: So the Steelers get a run. Tough first inning for the Cardinals.

6:39: And the beer companies come through. Great Bud Lite ad that actually takes advantage of the economic downturn.

6:40: I think I need to run that Audi commercial back to fully appreciate it.

6:42: Oooo. Apparently the recently instated review rule indicates that it wasn’t a home run. Or something.

6:44: Is it just me or are there more commercials this year that we have no freaking idea what they’re about until the very end? Unto every generation, a slayer–and Pepsi, apparently–is born.

6:44: A magic eight ball in the crotch. Some jokes just never get old.

6:50: Conan O’Brien is God and Bud light scores again.

7:02: Great ad for Mr. Potato Head. Unfortunately I can’t remember what the product being advertised was.

7:03: Grease Monkeys. How did I miss coming up with that pun?

7:04: Wonder when the Watchmen ad is going to be on? Anyone see the new toys? I picked up the first set of action figures today.

7:05: “Land of the Lost.” Okay. I can’t wait twenty years for the big screen “Space Cases” movie.

7:07: Three years of ads and I still have no clear idea of what godaddy.com does.

7:09: Slapstick rules this year. I still won’t drink Diet Pepsi, but I like the commercial.

7:10: Did the Obamas see the Pedigree Adoption commercial?

7:10: Boy, that was unfortunate placement. I thought the Bud commercial was another one for why you should own a dog.

7:13: Disney could take that Budweiser commercial and turn it into an entire feature film about a lovestruck horse chasing its beloved.

7:14: Remember about fifteen years ago when Harve Bennett proposed the idea of doing a Star Trek Academy first year film with a young Kirk, Spock et al and everyone went nuts and the idea was summarily rejected as the worst notion ever? So…who’s looking forward to this May, hmmm?

7:22: I don’t know what was up with that MissionG thing.

7:23: Cars.com. Cute.

7:35: Well, I’ll always know how to pronounce Hyundai now. Reminds me of that Japanese car commercial where there’s a table filled with Japanese executives coming up with insane names for the next model of car. One of them suggests, with great pride, “Skunk!” That was Larry Hama.

7:38: “Up” seems dubious to me. Then again, so did “Cars.”

7:39: The weakest Bud Light Commercial, but even the weakest Bud light is better than the best of many others.

7:42: Death and Taxes, together again.

7:42: “No one wants to see you naked.” That has to hurt.

7:47: Second in a series of commercials of the many ways that Cheetos can be used to demolish your enemies. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

7:55: I have on my 3-D glasses since the commercials are going to air in a few moments. The world looks trippy.

8:00: Monsters vs. Aliens continues to look like way too much fun. Chuck in 3-D promises to be great. And most impressively, the Steelers pants are just way more exciting when viewed through 3-D glasses.

8:04: In case anyone’s interested, the kitty halftime show is on on Puppy Bowl.

8:06: And the Heroes commercials just get better and better. Let’s hope the series matches that level of inventiveness.

8:07: I wonder if the players in the locker rooms have the coaches trying to tell them what to do and the players are all saying “Shut up! It’s Bruuuuuuce!”

8:10: I ran back the “Heroes” commercial because Kathleen was out of the room. Can someone tell me who the blond guy who showed up was and they said, “I knew he was one of us!”

8:21: See, this is what the World Series needs. For the seventh inning stretch, it goes on for twelve minutes and everybody gets to come down onto the field.

8:22 Great Shatner impression.

8:23: LMAO syndrome. Beats the hëll out of those ads for P.A.D.

8:36: Here I thought the Coke ad was an ad for video games. i feel like I’m constantly behind the curve tonight.

8:37; I think the waitress at Denny’s is going to wind up sleeping with the fishes.

8:40: So if you win two challenges,you get a third challenge? is it just me, or is football starting to sound like “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”

8:41: You know, they really should just make a Clydesdale feature film.

8:42: Don’t go into the pimped out fridge. Always good advice. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t go into ANY fridge if you can help it.

8:57: And another Transformers movie. So two years from now do we get “GI Joe Vs. the Transformers?” ‘Cause I’d pay serious money to see that.

8:59: Is the Career Builders commercial over? Because I was really getting a headache from it.

9:00: Peter and the wolf with bugs? Okay. So far I think the Pepsi commercials are better, although Coke tastes better.

9:11: I wonder if Joe Torre’s new book is going to contribute to Derek Jeter’s “edge.”

9:17: Okay, THAT was a good Coke commercial.

9:18: I’m not sure what cash4gold.com was going for, but considering the well known financial disasters of both Hammer and McMahon, that was quite possibly the single most depressing commercial I’ve seen tonight, if not this year.

9:23: Vizio. The first ad addressed directly to the President. I wonder what product could have appealed directly to Bush.

9:25: GE. I’m almost surprised that they didn’t lift footage of Ray Bolger to go with his voice and graft it onto the new backgrounds.

9:27: Hulu. An alien plot to take over the world. That explains so much.

9:33: What the hëll? They lifted an entire SNL sketch and dropped it into the Superbowl? And yes, that really was Richard Dean Anderson.

9:54: And I STILL don’t know what godaddy does, but I’m becoming more interested.

9:55: This game is close. if they tie it, it could go into extra innings.

10:10: Oh well. Aside from the fact that the score and the winning team weren’t what I guessed, I was close. Then again, I’m overwhelmed by a sense of not caring very much. To me, football is the thing that signals the end of baseball season.

10:16: After giving it some thought, I’ve decided my favorite commercial was the Alec Baldwin Hulu commercial, followed by the Doritos fortune telling commercial. And the Heroes football game was right up there.

76 comments on “Superbowl Sunday 2009”

  8. Har har! Toyota used tne nonword “functionality” in a superbowl commercial. Dorks.

  14. PAD: Okay. I can’t wait twenty years for the big screen “Space Cases” movie.

    That makes at least two of us!

  19. PAD, 15 years ago, Braga and Berman had not quite started the evisceration of the franchise with bad episode after bad episode. Now anything that could wash away the stench of Voyage and Enterprise are welcomed.

  20. I’m a little nervous about just how uninterested my students are in a new Star trek film, an lack of interest bordering on hostility.

  21. 6:01: When did the opening to the SB turn into “American Idol”?

    That’s how NBC introduces each Sunday Night Football game: that song with new lyrics each week about that night’s game. I’m surprised they stayed with the pattern for the Super Bowl. It’s not my thing; I Mute it or change the channel. (How much is it not my thing? The first year NBC did Sunday Night Football, each week’s song was by Pink. I *like* Pink, and I still didn’t want to listen! I don’t feel any particular way about Faith Hill, who’s done it the last two years, so I’m even less inclined to listen.)

  22. Second in a series of commercials of the many ways that Cheetos can be used to demolish your enemies. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

    Halftime, I’m headin’ to the store for some Cheetos.

  23. 7:47: Second in a series of commercials of the many ways that Cheetos can be used to demolish your enemies. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

    I cringed more than a little, myself. Lot of damage to people this year so far in the ads…

    But I’m chuckling about “Up,” so that’s a good sign. (Ed Asner’s had DECADES experience as a grumpy old man! Perfect casting!)

  25. …and even after a year, I still have no idea what the name of the product actually is.

  26. That was some really great 3-D for television. In HD, at least, it really popped nicely. And when I took a few looks without the glasses I was surprised at how well it looked. This blue/amber combo is as good as I’d heard.

  27. Is it me or is the Boss’s vocals not coming through clearly? Like someone has his mic half muted.

  29. “Can someone tell me who the blond guy who showed up was and they said, “I knew he was one of us!”

    John Elway

  30. Okay someone on the mixing board just woke up with dancing in the dark, now I can hear him clearly over the music.

  34. 7:07: Three years of ads and I still have no clear idea of what godaddy.com does.

    Webhosting. I use them; lots of space and bandwidth at (afaik) a good price. But, yeah, it would help if they would actually advertise their product/service.

    As for the Star Trek film, nothing will get me excited for it.

  35. Okay, THAT was a good Coke commercial.

    Yeah, but I think next week it’d be made by Harrison…

  40. I wish someone would bring back Find Herb the Nerd.

    Ed McMahon and MC Hammer…part of me feels bad that they’re doing it, then I feel good that they’re getting work, then I realize that’s pretty sad, and I feel bad again…

  41. Holy crap! We have a real slug fest of a game going here and not a shut out! Go Cardinals! Go Pittsburgh! Give us some overtime!

  44. If you go over to Hulu, you can see all 3 of the MacGrubber “commercials” they were aired during SNL last night. RDA saying “Your a sell out” is hilarious.

  45. Yes, Jayne Seymour is still beautiful, but that Open Hearts Jewelry thingy she’s hawking looks just like an ÃSS!

    Gorgeous women can always get someone to humor even the silliest of ideas.

  46. I’ve already seen the SNL MacGruber skit (on Hulu, which I agree had the best commercial of the night). However, the fact that they played it again during the Super Bowl as a regular commercial is absolutely hilarious in itself.

    As of a couple of days ago, NBC had a few commercial slots left. Usually they’re all sold out by Thanksgiving, but this year they had trouble selling them. I imagine the last minute sales pitch had NBC begging PEPSI and even offering to make the commercial for them. I’m thinking this was the last minute result.

  47. I’m thinking this was the last minute result.

    Well, on the whole, the commercials have generally getting worse year by year.

    At least this year it doesn’t look like we have any really controversial ones like the two last year – the robot who got laid off, and the two guys getting too close.

    Next year, I’d just like one of these ad agencies to come to me with one of their commercials. Then I can just tell them their commercial sucked, take the $3 mil for myself, and save the rest of the world the agony of having to also watch said crap. 🙂

    And the Heroes football game was right up there.

    I liked it until the end when Elway flies in like Superman. Considering how people treat him in this city (Denver), and considering how much I hate the Broncos, I think could hear Elway’s ego getting bigger.

  48. Posted by Christopher Walsh

    But Jason Statham’s Audi commercial made me happy.

    That guy on the bike should never have been able to stay that close around even one corner.

    But I’m chuckling about “Up,” so that’s a good sign. (Ed Asner’s had DECADES experience as a grumpy old man! Perfect casting!)

    It’s been pointed out that the character strongly resembles Spencer Tracy.

  50. “Hudson nailed it. She deserved better than the Karaoke Glory instrument quality behind her. Put her with an orchestra next time and LOOK OUT.”

    Didn’t she lip-sync it?

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