The Super Bowl isn’t even here yet, but some of the ads airing during the game are already out in their entirety.
In years past, advertisers guarded their commercials for game day with the utmost secrecy. That’s not the case anymore, as several companies — including Volkswagen, Century 21, Taco Bell and Mercedes-Benz — are already out with full-length ads. Other companies, like Gildan, Kraft and Anheuser-Busch, have released teasers to hype up viewers for the Super Bowl.
Paul Chibe, chief marketing officer at Anheuser-Busch, explained the merits of a teaser, saying, “It’s a great way to pique people’s interest.” Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed also said that the goal of releasing a teaser was to make people say, “Shh, shh, shh. Here comes the ad.”
The young actress who appeared in Republican Pete Hoekstra’s racist Super Bowl ad has come out and publicly apologized on her Facebook page. 21 year-old actress Lisa Chan regrets her involvement in the commercial but offers no explanation for why she would place herself in such a vile video to begin with.
As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions.
It’s good to know that she recognizes — albeit after the fact — what an awful, harmful commercial this is. But honestly, it still leaves me with about a thousand questions. How did she get involved with this job in the first place? What did she know going into it? What was her reaction when she saw the finished ad? What was her reaction to the reaction?
If Clint Eastwood sounded like Obama, it’s because the GOP has ceded optimism to the Democrats…
I admit it: Chrysler’s “Halftime in America” Super Bowl ad reminded me of President Obama’s best recent speeches. Actor Clint Eastwood, the face of rugged American individualism, talked about “tough eras” and “downturns” and “times when we didn’t understand each other,” but then declared:
But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right, and acted as one. Because that’s what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one…
This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it’s halftime America. And, our second half is about to begin.
“I was, frankly, offended by it,” Rove said on Fox News Monday. “I’m a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.”
Rove wasn’t the only Republican who tried to cast the Chrysler ad as essentially payback to the president for supporting the bailout that kept the domestic auto industry alive. Michelle Malkin tweeted her horror Sunday night: “Agh. WTH? Did I just see Clint Eastwood fronting an auto bailout ad???”
Now, Clint Eastwood is no Democrat – he voted for John McCain in 2008, has been a Republican for most of his life, and now describes himself as having “libertarian” leanings. It’s hard to imagine he’d lend his name to an openly and intentionally pro-Obama ad. Chrysler has denied any political motive behind the Eastwood ad.
The flap over the ad confirms the GOP’s serious branding problem: The problem for Rove and the rest of the GOP is that their party’s narrative has become relentlessly negative, pessimistic and uninspiring. They’ve left the language of optimism and resilience, higher ground and common ground, to the Democrats, and lately President Obama has grabbed every opportunity to employ that language.
Rove is essentially complaining that anyone using rhetoric of resilience and tenacity, or suggests “we all rallied around what was right, and acted as one” sounds like a gosh-darn … Democrat. That’s good news for Democrats. There’s more good news in recent polls showing that Obama is winning back at least some white working-class voters with his feistier message of economic populism. The president’s approval/disapproval ratings have been dismal with whites who make less than $50,000, with his approval dropping into the low 30s and disapproval up in the mid-60s regularly over the last two years.
At $3.5 million per 30-second pop, Super Bowl ads have to be pretty memorable to make it worth advertisers’ while. About half of this year’s advertisers decided novelty wasn’t as important as early buzz, releasing talked-about spots featuring everyone from Ferris Bueller to Jerry Seinfeld to Darth Vader. But other companies waited until the big game for the “big reveal,” to varying degrees of success. Here, six of the commercials that broke through all the dogs, talking babies, and half-naked celebrities to win the hearts, or at least admiration, of critics:
1. Chrysler and Clint Eastwood’s “Halftime in America”
Following up on its Eminem-promotes-Detroit ad in last year’s Super Bowl, Chrysler enlisted Clint Eastwood for this year’s “Imported from Detroit” halftime commercial. Neither Detroit nor America can be “knocked out with one punch,” Eastwood growls. “We’ll get back up again and when we do, the world’s gonna hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it’s halftime, America. And our second half’s about to begin.” Eastwood’s “stirring pep talk” simply “made us want to pump our fists… and buy a Dodge,” says Chuck Barney in the San Jose Mercury News. “When Clint Eastwood speaks, people listen.” A dozen ads went for “the lump in the throat” this year, but only Eastwood delivered, says David Hinckley in the New York Daily News. Judge for yourself:
2. Chevy’s apocalypse–surviving Silverado
Chevrolet takes the prize for the “only world-ends-in-2012-themed ad of the night,” showing its Silverado trucks surviving the Mayan apocalypse while lesser trucks get crushed, says Seth Stevenson at Slate. And there’s a “nice touch with the raining frogs at the end.” Aside from the “if you do not own a Chevy Silverado, you will die” message, says Jon Bois at SB Nation, this was “one of the better Super Bowl ads of the year,” with its “simple gag and top-notch production value.” Check it out:
3. Samsung’s mockery of Apple fans
For its Super Bowl ad debut, Samsung took its teasing of Apple fanboys (and girls) to a new level. In the 90-second spot, a massive crowd of “the Apple faithful lose the faith” after one look at the Galaxy Note smartphone — a device over which they immediately (and musically) go gaga, says Chris Matyszczyk at CNET News. The best part, says Kelly West at Television Blend, is at the end, when after a joyous musical interlude by The Darkness, only “one man is left standing (or sitting), unimpressed.” Watch:
4. An explosive Avengers trailer
“You can’t have Super Bowl commercials without including a few trailers for the biggest, loudest, explosion-est movies of the upcoming year,” says Sean Keeley at SB Nation. And I’m “pretty sure The Avengers qualifies in all three of those categories.” Plus, the black-cat-suited Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow in this star-studded superhero ensemble blockbuster, will certainly draw more than the usual comic book nerds, says Mof Gimmers at Heckler Spray. Otherwise, if the trailer is anything to go by, “The Avengers film is going to be pleasingly dumb.” Judge for yourself:
5. Skechers’ moonwalking dog
“Canines were everywhere” in this year’s Super Bowl ads, “but none of them shined as brightly as Mr. Quiggly did for Skechers footwear,” says Barney in the San Jose Mercury News. Quiggly, an “adorably cocky little French bulldog,” uses his sneakers to beat greyhounds in a dog race, “but the pièce de résistance was his moonwalk across the finish line. It had us howling in delight.” Watch Mr. Quiggly run:
6. Budweiser’s Canada-only “flash fans” ad
“Budweiser is responsible for the greatest commercial of the 2012 Super Bowl,” but it certainly isn’t any of the clunkers it aired in the U.S., says SB Nation‘s Jon Bois. In a two-minute spot that only aired in Canada, recreational hockey teams in Ontario are surprised by a flash mob of fans, and “the players are so damned happy about it.” It’s not jokey or ironic — just a case of doing something really nice. “I have to call this commercial the best of the year.” Bud erred in only running this in Canada, saysTelevision Blend‘s West. “I can’t seem to get through it without tearing up.” Check it out:
The Rachel Maddow Blog says that Clint Eastwood won the Super Bowl! The way people are talkingabout it (she has more than 90 comments on this title alone) she may be right.
It’s interesting that Clint Eastwood, a Republican who supported John McCain in 2008 and most recently, Herman Cain touts the regrowth of Detroit and the auto industry’s comeback. I was under the impression that one of the biggest faux pas ever committed by a Republican is to tout any Obama successes.
Granted, Eastwood never mentions Obama in the commercial because it is really a centric commercial, however, most folks know that the GOP was adamantly against a bail out for the auto industry from the time The President proposed it. So it only stands to reason that some GOPers will not be too happy with Eastwood’s Chrysler commercial.
In the following Reganesquetitled Super Bowl commercial: It’s Half-time in America, Eastwood and Chrysler appear to have a hit Super Bowl commercial on their hands…
