In less than a week, one of the most awaited annual moments in sports history will arrive. Yes, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is coming soon, but that’s beside the point. On Feb. 6, millions of people across the world will tune in to Fox and witness some of the best commercials of all time.
The Super Bowl will be great: The game provides a decent matchup and Tom Brady could join the likes of Joe Montana on Sunday. Terrell Owens, whether he plays or not, will be in the spotlight and will add to the entertainment factor of the game. All things considered, however, the advertisements will make even the biggest blowout fun for all.
In years past, Super Bowls have been mediocre at best. Only two of the last 12 Super Bowls have been decided by less than a touchdown. Take, for instance, Super Bowl XXXVII, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced the Oakland Raiders, 48-21. The Bucs were up 20-3 at the half and the Raiders never showed any sign of a comeback. However, despite the disappointing game, the ads were excellent.
Some especially good Super Bowl XXXVII ads: the debut of the commercial in which two models wrestle in a pool to decide whether Miller Lite is better because of its great taste or the fact that it is less filling, and the Pepsi ad with the Osbournes and the Osmonds.
Without these breaks from a boring game, what would we do? Critics say the commercials are a distraction, that they disrespect the game. They also don’t want to lose focus on the game because of a bunch of tasteless $2 million ads. They ask the question, who wants to be bothered by a bunch of stupid ads during the biggest game of the year?
I do. Is there any other time when you can look forward to commercials? Normally, I dread ads because they are stupid, preposterous and distasteful, not to mention that they are unworthy of my time.
Super Bowl ads are clever; they aren’t meaningless 30-second spots. They are miniature movies, brilliant works of art that are all unveiled to the world in one glorious afternoon. And this year will not disappoint. I can’t wait to see how the Miller Lite vs. Bud Light ad campaign continues, and I’m sure both companies will play off each other nicely with those referee ads.
The average cost for a 30-second spot this year is $2.4 million; with the big name companies choosing to go for minute-long spots, an ad this year could cost almost $5 million. No wonder these ads are so good — who wants to spend 5 million bucks unless you think the ad will work wonders for your product?
Someone at E-Trade Financial had the right idea in an ad from four years ago, one that I would call my favorite of all time. In this priceless spot, a chimpanzee wearing an E-Trade shirt dances on a trash can for 25 seconds with “La Cucaracha” playing in the background. After the chimp’s spectacular solo, the screen reads, “Well, we just wasted 2 million bucks. What are you doing with your money?”
Although E-Trade was just going for some cheap laughs over a dancing monkey, they had a very valid point: We know that these prices are ridiculous, but it’s all in good fun.
Ad companies spend the whole year trying to come up with a commercial that will never be worth these insane amounts, so why not just have some fun?
With all the work and money put into these ads, I have very high expectations, and come Sunday, we will all get to see whether all that hard work paid off.
So, whether Donovan McNabb hooks up with Owens and the Eagles fly away with a blowout, or Brady sets up the Patriots for a second Adam Vinatieri field goal to win, this game will be worth the hype.
Barring a nipple-flash by Paul McCartney during the halftime show, the game should go smoothly, and even if the Patriots or the Eagles are up by 30 at the half, I will enjoy myself on Sunday — and so should you.