Best, Worst Super Bowl Ads

Megan Fox is great, but most ads are in 'meh' territory
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2010 6:39 AM CST
Updated Feb 8, 2010 7:19 AM CST

It's a rare year when the Super Bowl itself eclipses the ads, but 2010 was such a year. Bob Garfield declares in Advertising Age that most of the spots were skippable and asserts he is "totally pro-TiVo." His picks for a few of the (relatively speaking) best and worst:
The good (3.5 or 3 stars):

  • Audi: This spot about overzealous eco-police is "very funny for all the obvious reasons."
  • Chrysler: The company figured out a way to "reach manly men without bullying girly men" in a spot selling Dodge Chargers.
  • Budweiser: The 15-second spot for Select 55 offers "no horses, no babies, no jokes. Just 15 seconds of interesting news."
  • Denny's: It's overdone, sure, "but the public doesn't care about novelty." The chain successfully promoted its free breakfast Tuesday, and people will line up.

  • Hyundai: An ingenious use of Brett Favre to promote a warranty.
  • Motorola: A Megan Fox-fueled "teen masturbation joke" that's actually funny, "even sweet."
The bad (1.5, 1, or 0 stars):
  • Budweiser: Didn't do so well other than the Select 55 spot. "Unfathomably unsurprising, unimaginative, unfunny, and unhelpful for the brand."
  • Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret: The tag is funny; the spot is a "tortured ripoff."
  • Boost Mobile: Features the "pitiful, majorly unadorable geriatric version" of the Super Bowl Shuffle.
  • GoDaddy: "More T&A from these infantile, repulsive Neanderthals. And not a molecule of taste or wit. A national embarrassment."
For the complete list, click here. You can also watch Google's ad or David Letterman's promo. (More Megan Fox stories.)

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