My friend Kirk was in this one! He was the shirtless guy at lunch who reaches over to take the salt (He was also the guy who drops off the mail towards the beginning, but you can’t see his face in that shot, just his hairy belly).
I was at a Super Bowl Party with him and his wife when it aired. It was both creepy and cool.
P.S. - Isn’t being the show that premieres directly after the Super Bowl typically supposed to be a big prestige thing? Undercover Boss is the best they’ve got…?
Now some of them are showing up.
You’d think they’d have them ready. I mean, the site said “immediately after the Super Bowl” and I had to wait until 9:30 before they even started showing up… and they’re still not all up.
I figure, they have the spots before the big game… they could have them programmed so they would just need to (more or less) push a button and they’d be up.
As usual, those of us in Canada missed all the commercials. I understand the need for the networks to divide ad revenue across international lines, but honestly–we’re so tied economically and culturally with the US that I’d say that it wouldn’t damage our culture if, for three hours out of one day a year, we can watch what Americans are watching, commercials and all.
Instead, we got endless promos for the Olympics, and how we’re all cheering for Canada, and if we’re not, we should be. Somebody must have slipped at one point, because we got one Budweiser ad, featuring a Clydesdale and a longhorn steer in a humorous little vignette about how the steer wishes he could join the Bud team of Clydes. But other than that, it was all Olympics, Olympics, Olympics.
After the Google ad I turned to my wife and said something like, “Google has transformed our lives, hasn’t it?”
So I guess Google has reached the same point in our culture as Coke. Coke doesn’t sell you on Coke. It just reminds you that Coke is still out there and as wonderful as you remember it being. (Pepsi tries to sell you on Pepsi. That says it all about the companies.)*
If that is what a Google ad is supposed to do, then that ad was superb. And cost-effective, since they could bring that puppy home on a budget 10% of some of the others. Nobody will remember the ad tomorrow, though, so it’s not really a Super Bowl ad, one that’s meaningless unless you talk about it all week. As a campaign it’s miles better than Microsoft’s Bing ads, which you have to see to disbelieve.
Well, here’s the Snickers ad anyway.
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Pantsless must be a new thing for 2010. My friend posted a link to this Bud Light commercial on Facebook the other day, and I watched it. I thought it was a Superbowl commercial, so I cringed thrice when I saw the other pantless commercials tonight (assumed I’d missed the airing of this Bud Light one).
ETA: Didn’t anyone see the National Lampoon’s Vacation ad with Beverly D’Angelo and Chevy Chase? I saw a promo for the ad on some show like “Entertainment Tonight” and was looking forward to it. For some reason, it was as comforting as Coke to see these two reprise the roles. You can see the ad and the full 15 minute “movie” here.
Thanks, Johnny! That sure would have been better than hearing (yet again) how Buddy Whatzisname (or L’Amie Quelqu’une) was going to do their best at the Olympics and we should watch, because to do otherwise means we’re not loyal Canadians.
You know, I really don’t think my commitment to this country hinges on whether I watch Betty White and Abe Vigoda in a single, 30-second Super Bowl commercial, or yet another Olympic promo like we’ve had for the past ten months. Again, thanks, Johnny.
WT Bloody F was that Charles Barkley/Taco Bell thing? Please tell me it was supposed to be ironic… or something.
De nada. I think Abe Vigoda is a hoot.
Good question. Maybe they were trying for a loose Dr. Seuss vibe with the box/rocks thing?
I was thinking it was a partner video to the Tebow ad… show you what an abortion really looks like.
This is surprising - I’d have thought most ads were shown throughout (Anglophone) North America. Does this mean that Canadian ad campaigns are completely different from American ones, even for American companies? What’s the point of this?
I was just horrified at how some of the ads (one was that walk-around TV thing with the woman making her man carry her bra and the other one was for Dodge Charger) told me that women hate football and men are weenies if they do what women want. What year is this again?
I liked the Snikcers, the Coors house, but especially the Dennys ones. In space no one can hear you BRAAWKKKK!
Yeah… that didn’t so much offend me as it puzzled me. I’m sure companies do market research, but I wondered if someone from the Mad Men ad agency era worked on these spots. They were very… stereotypical. I mean, is it possible that some women out there might be in the market for a Charger?
Crap year for ads, and I miss the old eTrade baby.
Google hit a home run. Memorable ad that will be on my mind whenever I’m asked about my favorite commercials ever.
Everyone else either struck out or drew a walk. Worst year I can remember. I think I laughed once, and it was for a guy covered in Doritos (Which wasn’t funny, just stupid enough to be ridiculous and comical).
Final scorecard: there were none of the ads that I am itching to see again now that the game is over. For me, that’s the indication of a good Super Bowl commercial, desiring to see it again, and again. This year, I’m left waiting for next year’s ads. 
Man this series of commercials was bad. Good thing the stupid game was entertaining… 
The silently screaming spacewalking chicken drew the single biggest laugh of the evening at my house.