SUPER BOWL XL

Some ads hit, others miss, all expensive

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published February 6, 2006

At $2.5-million a pop, the ballyhooed Super Bowl ads better be good. Not just good, really good. Good enough to make a fan think twice before dashing to the fridge. Good enough to make a fan consider making that dash during the game instead of during commercials.

Some were. Some weren't. And in between were scads of "house" ads, commercials that either pitched upcoming shows on ABC, network sibling ESPN, or the theme parks and movies under the arm of ABC's parent company, Disney.

Among the ads that sponsors actually bought, there were winners and losers - nothing too racy, probably nothing folks will still be talking about next week. Sure, it's a slam dunk that chimpanzees in business suits are funny. Duh. But spending $2.5-mil for some ads made as much sense as hiring aging British rockers the Rolling Stones for the halftime show in Motown.

Chimps or not, advertisers tried to drive viewers to the Internet. Pepsi pitched brownandbubbly.com, online retailer Overstock.com had a forgettable spot, and GoDaddy.com was back on the heels of last year's talked-about ad. Trouble is, viewers still don't know what GoDaddy.com sells.

Of special note, St. Petersburg-based American Home Health Inc. made its first big splash with a Super Bowl ad introducing its germ-slaying cleaning products, called PS The New Clean. The bit featured a germ-phobic neighborhood clad in those spooky "Boy in the Plastic Bubble" suits. It worked. Here are the rest:

ENCORE, ENCORE Anheuser Busch: Scored with virtually every ad, from slackers worshiping "the magic fridge" to the newly shorn sheep "streaking" at the horse football game to the cute junior Clydesdale. Awww.

FedEx: Caveman office worker battling the problems of caveman office life.

Careerbuilder.com: Chimps rock.

Hummer: Giant city-crushing monsters have a baby, the H3.

MasterCard: Nice nod to actor Richard Dean Anderson, back as MacGyver.

YOU SPENT $2.5-MILLION ON THAT?

Burger King: A dancing chorus line called the Whopperettes was dull, and what's with that creepy Burger King costume?

Cadillac: Is that Escalade ad over yet?

Gillette: Five blades now? Whatever.

Aleve: Leonard Nimoy? In search of a job?

Diet Pepsi: A can of soda gets rich making the "Psshhtt" sound. Viewers make the "Zzzz" sound.

Miss some? Several Web sites planned to show the ads after the game, including http://video.yahoo.com www.video.msn.com, and www.ifilm.com. Want to speak up? Ad agency Pavone encourages viewers to help judge the ads at www.Spotbowl.com.

[Last modified February 6, 2006, 10:17:13]