While the New England Patriots and the New York Giants faced off on the field, about half of the more than 110 million U.S. viewers expected to tune in to Super Bowl XLVI were interested in another big battle: the super showdown among the advertisers.
For big-name brands that could afford the average $3.5 million it cost to run a 30-second commercial, the large audience was a massive opportunity to make an impact. Here are some of the ads that scored big:
—Pepsi’s “King’s Court”: Pepsi revealed a medieval set where Sir Elton John was king, quickly dismissing a joker with “No Pepsi for you” for doing cartwheels and singing a rendition of Nelly’s 2002 hit “Hot in Herre.” Then “X Factor” Season 1 winner Melanie Amaro stepped up to impress John with her vocals.
Amaro sampled Aretha Franklin’s classic 1965 hit “Respect” and impressed John enough to elicit a response of, “All right; Pepsi for you.” But Amaro had some good diva training from the “X Factor” and replied: “No. Pepsi for all.”
—Chevrolet Silverado: While the game pitted the Patriots against the Giants, viewers during the first half got a sense of a Detroit-made feud between automobile brands Chevy and Ford.
In Chevy’s Silverado spot, the world had suffered apocalyptic destruction as “predicted to occur this year by the Mayan calendar” and the survivors, in their pickups, met up to assess the situation. Unfortunately, a friend named Dave, who drove a Ford truck, didn’t make it.
—Audi’s “Vampire Party”: Set to Echo & the Bunnymen’s song “The Killing Moon,” Audi demonstrated how powerful its headlights are — “Daylight, now in a headlight” — when a vampire pulled up to a party under the stars and obliterated his blood-sucking friends with the car’s LED lights.
Unfortunately, “Twilight” and “True Blood” hit their pop culture peak about a year ago. And perhaps it’s fitting that the lone surviving vampire predictably went up in flames as the one-minute spot came to a close.
—Coca-Cola Polar Bears: The adorable Coca-Cola polar bears starred in a couple of different spots during the first half, the second being a fun ad titled “The Catch.” During the one-minute long spot, one of the bears had a bottle tossed his way from a group of his friends. But the polar bear ended up bobbling the bottle along the ice, through a crowd of other thirsty polar bears before making a last-second grab.
—H&M’s Beckham Bodywear: There definitely was one Super Bowl ad designed for admirers. Swedish retailer H&M introduced its Beckham Bodywear line with a sexy 30-second black-and-white ad featuring international soccer superstar David Beckham in a variety of poses while the Animals song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” played.
—Skechers “Go Run Mr. Quiggly”: Last year, Skechers recruited Kim Kardashian. This year, the shoe brand went with a little French bulldog named Mr. Quiggly. One of the funnier spots during the first half , Mr. Quiggly was lined up in a race against a bunch of purebred greyhounds. With four red Skechers on, however, the li’l critter sprinted past the competition before skidding toward the finish line and crossing it doing the moonwalk while Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing” played.
—Chrysler “It’s Halftime in America”: Chrysler’s 2-minute halftime spot featuring Clint Eastwood was one of the night’s most emotional ads. Following last year’s Chrysler 200 spot with Eminem that kicked off the “Imported From Detroit” campaign, the new commercial featured Eastwood giving an inspirational message to the country while iconic images of everyday Americans were shown.
Eastwood’s distinctive growl captured the gritty essence of blue-collar workers of Detroit, but his message wasn’t solely about the Motor City. The film legend gave a speech about how the people of Detroit “almost lost everything, but we all pulled together.” He spoke about finding a way to win during tough times, how Americans can survive and thrive by working together.
Source: MCT Information Services
