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Tonight's Game Plan Also Calls For Some Super-Wacky Ads

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

Updated: 02/01/2008 07:44 pm

TAMPA - Pop star Justin Timberlake will take pratfalls for Pepsi. Fitness nut Richard Simmons will work up a sweat for Bridgestone tires. And Anheuser-Busch will tell viewers that drinking Bud Light gives you special powers such as X-ray vision and the ability to breathe fire.

These are just some of the wild and wacky advertisements coming up tonight during Super Bowl XLII on Fox.

Anticipation runs high on the one night of the year when the commercials are as much a part of the viewing experience as the action on the football field.

Advertisers have forked over a record average of $2.7 million to purchase 30 seconds of airtime during the game's broadcast, which gets under way at 6.

That's up slightly from last year, when the going rate was $2.6 million. Advertisers have invested millions more in developing and producing the spots.
Media experts say advertisers have a heightened interest in making a good impression in this year's Super Bowl partly because of the television writers strike.

"With doubts about the Oscar telecast taking place and the shortage of scripted series, the Super Bowl has become one of the few opportunities to reach a mass audience," says Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Calkins is part of an annual Northwestern research project that analyzes and rates Super Bowl commercials for effectiveness. He says there seemed to be a letdown last year in quality and the effectiveness of the commercials.

"But this year the major brands are back in the game, and it appears that they will be pushing the envelope creatively," he said in a telephone interview.

Add the extra buzz created by the possibility of the New England Patriots making history with an undefeated 19-0 season if they beat the New York Giants, and the Super Bowl becomes an even bigger deal for advertisers.

The audience is expected to top 90 million, and Fox has sold out the 63 spots that were available, with 90 percent of them gobbled up by November.

Calkins says the Anheuser-Busch ads are expected to top the viewers' favorites again this year. The king of beers also is the king of commercials. For nine consecutive years, Bud ads have topped USA Today's viewers' picks of best commercials.

"It would be news if they didn't have the most popular commercial," Calkins says. "They buy the most time and run more commercials than anyone else."

The beer maker bought four minutes in this year's game, a minute less than last year. The company also locked down a four-year extension of its deal with the NFL to be the only beer distributor advertising in the Super Bowl.

Some of the eye-catching commercials include:

•A sentimental Budweiser spot has a dejected Clydesdale cut from the brewer's legendary wagon team. But "Thunder" makes a comeback with a kindhearted Dalmatian as his trainer. Reportedly, test audiences gave this one the most favorable reaction in the history of Bud's Super Bowl efforts.

Anheuser-Bush spokesman Bob Lachky says it tells a good story at a time when there is a lot of cynicism and negativity in the culture.

•Audi will spoof the severed horse head scene from "The Godfather" to tout its $100,000-plus R8 sports car with the tag line: "Old luxury has been put on notice."

•All the Bud Light commercials go for humor, including one in which some blue-collar guys sneak beer into a snobbish yuppie wine-and-cheese party.

•Another Budweiser commercial has cavemen using the newly invented wheel to transport beer. Let's hope no one gets a sitcom out of this.

•A completely silent 60-second Pepsi and Lay's Potato Chips commercial has two deaf pals, communicating through sign language, coming up with a clever way to find a friend's Super Bowl party.

The Pepsi product and Lay's chips are shown in the ad, but the message is devoted to raising awareness of the American deaf community. It is part of the company's "Performance With Purpose" goodwill campaign.

Also, '70s rocker Alice Cooper will be selling Bridgestone tires; the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter will be drinking a new Gatorade product called G2; and a flashy ad for Unilever's Sunsilk hair care products features images of Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe.

One 30-second commercial that Calkins says could generate water-cooler chatter is GoDaddy.com's "Spot On," featuring Indy car racer Danica Patrick in a tight leather jacket that she unzips suggestively. The Internet domain provider has a short history of provocative Super Bowl commercials.

Victoria's Secret also turns up the heat with its first Super Bowl commercial in nearly a decade. A plug for that special Valentine's Day gift will feature model Adriana Lima and a football.

Calkins notes that historically, the best and most effective Super Bowl commercials have come from Anheuser-Bush, PepsiCo and FedEx.

PepsiCo already has created a major buzz for the stunt-filled Timberlake spot, in which the pop singer is pulled over, under, up and into various objects by the magical force of a $1 billion giveaway. Pepsi drinkers are told they can earn points for "Pepsi Stuff" by going to a Web site.

The soft-drink giant also has enlisted Missy Elliott, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes and Macy Gray to help sell Diet Pepsi in a commercial that throws a nod to a "Saturday Night Live" skit about a night at the Roxbury.

At least eight upcoming films will be pitched during the game, twice as many as last year. Included are the superhero movie "Iron Man," Will Smith's hapless superhero flick "Hancock" and Adam Sandler's newest goofball effort, "You Don't Mess With the Zohan."

Also, Will Ferrell's character from the upcoming basketball comedy "Semi-Pro" will be in one of the Budweiser commercials.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com. Keyword: TV, to vote on the best Super Bowl commercial and

discuss your favorite.

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