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Ads OK; YouTube Removes Mystique

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

TAMPA - And the winner of the Super Bowl of advertising is Bud Light, Audi, Pepsi, Planters?

Maybe it's a draw. Although this year's batch of commercials offered a smattering of clever and cool moments, many of the spots were anticlimactic and unable to live up to the "super" hype that preceded the game.

For example, the Bud Light wine and cheese commercial where some guys sneak beer into a gathering of wine snobs isn't nearly as much fun as the non-Super Bowl Bud Light commercial about guys who sneak Buds into an opera.

With advertisers paying an average of $2.7 million for 30 seconds, anticipation was high even though Internet exposure has taken away the thrill of discovery.

At least 17 of the most-anticipated spots were online before the game. The Justin Timberlake slapstick Pepsi ad reportedly had more than 700,000 views on YouTube by Friday.

Traditionally, commercials that air early make the biggest impression and the first two after the kickoff are likely to make everyone's top 10 picks:

In one, Bud Light gives a man the ability to breathe fire. It's cool when he lights the candles on a romantic date. But when an allergy causes uncontrollable sneezing, he scorches the table, a cat and his date's hair.

The second spot, for the high-end Audi R8, spoofed the severed horse head scene from "The Godfather." Character actor Alex Rocco awakens under oil-soaked satin sheets to find the front end of a car in his bed. (Rocco played a Vegas kingpin in "The Godfather.") The words "Old luxury has been put on notice" appear before the Audi R8 speeds away.

Other buzz-worthy commercials that are worth chattering about at the water cooler include:

•A chorus line of lusty lizards dances with Naomi Campbell to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" for the SoBe Life Water drink. Eat your heart out, Geico.

•An odd-looking woman, who puts "Ugly Betty" to shame, uses the aroma of Planters cashews to lure men to the tune of Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Somehow, cashews don't seem so tasty now.

•The Budweiser feel-good moment has a Clydesdale named Hank cut from the wagon team. He makes a "Rocky"-like comeback with help from a Dalmatian. Aw, that's so sweet.

•The slurping of a Pepsi through a straw sucks pop singer Justin Timberlake into a confusing maelstrom of mayhem. Pulled out a door, up the side of a building and into traffic, he bashes into a car door and mailbox post before landing at the feet of teenage girls sipping sodas. The message: every sip brings customers closer to earning prizes at the "Pepsi Stuff" Web site.

•People nod off to sleep until they gulp a jolt of ginseng-infused Diet Pepsi Max. Their heads start rocking to "What is Love?" like the two Roxbury losers, the Butabi brothers (Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan), from a "Saturday Night Live" skit. Kattan has a cameo.

•The Web domain company GoDaddy.com sends millions of men to its Web site after a commercial in which a nerdy guy skips Super Bowl commercials to check out sexy race car driver Danica Patrick unzipping her leather jacket.

•In a FedEx commercial, a lame competitor uses huge, freaky, klutzy pigeons to transport things with disastrous results.

•Bud Light cavemen invent the wheel to transport drinks but can't master the bottle opener. (Bud Light also gives you the ability to fly, but watch out for that jet intake.)

•At a parade, giant helium balloons of Underdog and Stewie (from "Family Guy") duke it out over a Coke balloon.

•E-trade's talking baby pukes and underestimates the creepiness of clowns, but he makes a killing in the stock market.

•A Tide commercial for mytalkingstain.com features a job applicant with a big ugly stain on his white shirt, blabbing gibberish. Viewers are sent to mytalkingstain.com, where they can win prizes.

•A screaming Richard Simmons is caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, but he survives thanks to the swerving ability of Bridgestone tires.

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

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