SEATTLE — Every year, the Super Bowl is a showcase for the best that the advertising industry has to offer. ADVERTISING SEATTLE — Every year, the Super Bowl is a showcase for the best that the advertising industry has to
SEATTLE — Every year, the Super Bowl is a showcase for the best that the advertising industry has to offer.
Everyone will have their personal favorite commercials; here’s a Top 10 compiled by one very rowdy group of 12th Men (and Women) gathered at a viewing party in Seattle’s Central District:
Kia: Laurence Fishburne reprised his role as Morpheus in this tongue-in-cheek sendup of “The Matrix,” with a (literally) operatic climax.
RadioShack: The old-school technology shop enlisted a passel of ’80s personalities — including gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Hulk Hogan and the TV puppet Alf — to clear out dated inventory and update its image.
Beats Music: Ellen DeGeneres is immensely likable to begin with. Team her with a family of dancing bears, boogying to the new subscription-based music-streaming service, and she’s irresistible.
H&M: Soccer star David Beckham ripped off his shirt and then (off-camera) lost his underwear. Every woman (and a few men) at the party wanted to know where to buy whatever he was selling.
Bank of America and (Red): Love the band U2. Loved the exploding-sparks-and-flashlights effects in this music-video style ad, directed by filmmaker Mark Romanek. Especially loved the fact that a big old bank is raising money to fight AIDS.
Ford: James Franco’s epic weirdness brought our high-decibel Super Bowl party to a hush, as everyone strained toward the TV to figure out what the heck was going on. And after all, isn’t that the point?
Coca-Cola: The global soda-pop company won the sincerity sweepstakes, with a multilingual version of “America the Beautiful,” accompanied by images of cross-cultural family bonding. Pepsi’s competing attempt to turn NYC into a collection of giant instruments was clever enough, but didn’t pack the same emotional punch.
Wonderful Pistachios: There was something inspired about the pairing of Stephen Colbert and pistachios: Two nuts together.
Honda: This ad went for the heart and the funny bone with equal success. It started as an earnest plea from Bruce Willis for car safety. It ended with a goofy twist as Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”) clinched Willis in a bear hug that wouldn’t quit.
Chevy Silverado: Hands down the best commercial about bovine lust we have ever seen.
