Best ads from Super Bowl 2012
The Super Bowl is all done and a team from North America won. But as well as some sort of sporting event, it’s the world’s biggest advertising showcase. See the best of them right here… and please tell us what you think.
Saturday morning cartoons come alive in this ad for MetLife. There’s also some great extras starring Yosemite Sam and Snagglepuss. Rating 7/10
When I’m confident I have a slight rise in my step… This guy from Cars.com gets a second head out his back. Rating 4/10
Doritos ran a competition letting fans vote for which ad would run in the Super Bowl. This won. Thoughts? Rating 5/10
Budweiser have always made a mark on Superbowl Sunday, the croaking frogs, ‘the wazzup’ guys. Now the beer co celebrates good times in America’s history, beginning with the end of prohibition. Rating 6/10
Another from Chevy, this time for the brand’s Silverado truck. Slightly unsettling that at the end of the world is just men, trucks and twinkies, but it’s a great ad. Rating 8/10
Prudential Financial, spending money on ad spots, not ads. Rating 3/10
What is M&M‘s “milk chocolate” a euphemism for? Rating 7/10
Getting the blood pumping, Hyundai‘s Genesis shows some cheek. Rating 7/10
Suzuki‘s Kizashi gets cool with 50 Cent and some huskies. Rating 6/10
Chrysler, Detroit and America goes on the defensive for the poor old car industry with coach Dirty Harry during halftime. Rating 8/10
Coke‘s polar bears are back with one a New England fan, the other a Giants fan. Coke has different ads to run periodically depending on the game’s results. Concept rating: 8/10, execution of the ads, Rating 4/10
NBC are making sure you know all their new shows. Howard Stern to judge NBC’s America’s Got Talent… sans porn star guests presumably. Rating 4/10
And just when we thought we’d seen the last of Deborah Messing, she pops up in Glee for adults… I mean Smash. Rating 6/10
Shoe company Skechers falls somewhere between so bad it’s bad and so bad it’s good. Rating 4/10
So if you miss Smash, find it in Hulu‘s Hulubratory, with Stan Marsh, Paris Hilton and Arrested Development’s Will Arnett. Rating 6/10
Audi achieves the hat-trick – vampires, comedy and a greta soundtrack. Rating 9/10
Go Daddy demonstrates that there’s nothing wrong with tacky for selling stuff. Rating: 4/10
David Beckham also flashes the flesh for his underwear range. Rating: 5/10
Honda persuaded Matthew Broderick to create this ode to Ferris Bueller. Mumbrella rates it: 8/10
Volkswagen was the hit of 2011 with the cute Darth Vader kid. This time round it’s cute dogs. And Star Wars. Rating: 8/10
Volkswagen‘s teaser for the ad was pretty good too. Rating: 8/10
Lexus forgot to have an idea with its ad. Rating: 2/10
Acura has uncovered the little known fact that as well as being the front man for the Greater Building Society, Jerry Seinfeld usaed to be funny. Rating: 7/10
Teleflora doesn’t actually state that if you send flowers to your woman you’ll get a shag. But it certainly implies it. Rating: 6/10
E*Trade goes the cute route – and no doubt inspired by the minor commercial success of A Few Best Ben, goes with a baby as a best man. Rating: 6/10
Pepsi Max resurrects Regis Phillbin for a cameo as a Cola Zero driver is caught preferrign the drink. Rating: 4/10
Toyota Camry goes with a great ad about reinvention. That has just about nothing to do with the product. Rating: 7/10
Another for Camry… Romeo’s story is probably most touching. Rating 4/10
Chevy goes for a heavily telagraphed gag (with a nod to an ancient YiouTube meme) about a graduate who mistakes his gift. Rating: 6/10
Chevy also gets chucked out of a plane. And bungee jumps. Which is clearly a product attribute well worth demonstrating. Rating: 8/10
Fiat 500 features a man who can’t distinguish between a car and a sexy woman with foam on her breasts. Rating: 6/10
And that’s not the only lame Chevy ad. There’s spy kids too. Rating: 3/10
G.I Joe: Retaliation Joe is back… and he’s actually Bruce Willis. Rating 5/10
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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George Clooney voiceover for the 2nd Chevy ad?
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Don’t forget the Chevy Apocalypse – my favourite of the night.
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My favourite has been Chevy’s epic Silverado ad which has a great Barry Manilow soundtrack while their car outlasts the end of the world as depicted by the Mayans.
Another favourite is Best Buy’s phone innovators ad, partially because I’m a geek but also because it does a great job highlighting influential people that have improved our daily lives through smartphone technology.
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Oh and the worst have got to be Go Daddy and Samsung.
Go Daddy’s ad is their usual sleazy tripe, but it also features a QR code at the end for a split second. Really? This is the age of the hashtag, and who is going to scan a QR code on their TV.
Samsung’s ad promotes a stylus as a key feature of their phone to try and outgun Apple. Have they forgotten how easy it was to lose a stylus from the Palm Pilot?
A QR code on a TV for a split second is as useful as a stylus for a phone.
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Yawn… if that is the best of what the US can muster…. Then we are all doomed.
The end of advertising is drawing to a near……
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One thing I’m not getting about that Fiat ad is that they seem to be implying owning that car with being in a relationship with a woman who looks like she’s about the hurt you one minute but then flirting with you the next.
I was under the impression that one of the issues with Fiat’s of old was concerns about reliability.
So, I really begin to wonder if its such a great idea to kind imply that the car might be a bit temperamental and moody
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You’ve been very generous with most of those scores.
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didn’t mind the VW (return of the dog). Decent execution of a SMP [leaner, healthier, faster Beetle. Any recent Beetle owner will get it cuz it was such a pig (fat dog) to drive].
Naked M&M was funny too.
All the others were either OTT, or mind numbingly boring.
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Geesuz. Really?
What’s happened, has the collective social media budget pulled all the creative talent from the TVC department?
Loved the idea behind the Coke spot, thought the Chevy stunt was cool for ‘bigness’, didn’t mind the Fiat for the legs and actually really liked the Camry reinvention. Got the point across very nicely.
But for the budget for most of those? Fark what a waste.
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Underrating the Chevy ‘graduate’ ad. Simple humor that will have massive appeal to the target marget. Remember, it’s a football game.
Although the ad for Madonna back catalogue on iTunes was probably the most effective!
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Camry is awesome. Exactly what a Superbowl ad should be: big and entertaining. Hilarious spot. Oh, it made a point too. Unlike most of the other droll car ads.
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Liked the Clint Eastwood one – got a lump in my throat, but remembering it was for Chrysler is hard…
There were a lot of shite ads this year.
The coke zero delivery man secretly liking the pepsi max made me laugh and conveyed the pepsi max is better message well.
I don’t get the coke polar bears – seems kind of boring.
The Chevy Silverado end of the world conveyed the long lasting message, but depressed me watching it with its end of the world message and visuals
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If you want to see which brands really won the Super Bowl of advertising, check out this analysis: http://www.dachisgroup.com/201.....-big-game/
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