The day after…

This year’s Super Bowl provided plenty of drama even without any wardrobe malfunctions. Something like 40 ads were aired that day, all of them watched, not all of them remembered. Which ones did you love, hate or just thought were weird.

The ones I liked and why…

I have to say that as a beginner to the madness that is Super Bowl ads, I was expecting a lot of highly creative work – the cream of American creativity I expected. What I did find was more like the cream of American slapstick humour which I have been desensitised too. That being said, here’s my Super Bowl top 5: -

1) E-Trade ‘baby’ ads – a talking baby giving you financial advice with a funny twist at the end. It’s good because the message is not lost on the humour and you will definitely remember the ad.

2) Pepsi’s Timberlake ad – seeing Justin Timberlake getting thrown around would make anyone smile. But the ad also effectively gets a simple message across – every sip gets you closer to Justin Timberlake mp3s, etc….” Watch for the crotch shot towards the end!

3) T-Mobile’s ‘Hi Chuck’ ad – maybe it’s the fact that I have been a basketball fan since the days of Sir Charles Barkley or Chuck, but I just thought this ad was great. Having him put up-and-comer Dwayne Wade into his T-Mobile’s fave five function showcases the product in a funny but believable light.

4) Audi’s ‘Hood’ ad – spoofing all-time great scenes from famous movies can be a no-no but here Audi is able to tap on the Godfather reference and connect with its target audience.

5) Go Daddy Danica’s exposure ad – this spot didn’t run on Super Bowl because it was rejected for being too crude. But they ran a spot directing viewers to its site where they hosted the ad. It’s funny as hell but you still get the message in the end.

So 97.5 million viewers saw the New York Giants' last-minute win over the New England Patriots making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever and second biggest event in American television history. And it has proven once again to be a TV event where just as many people watch the ads as they do the program.

Of course there were plenty of crap ads out there and to keep this post short I wont go into them – please feel free to comment on which ones you hated though – one thing that was interesting about this year’s Super Bowl was that it featured only one beer ad and four for either soft drinks or flavored water.