Super Bowl Sunday was yesterday. An unofficial American holiday where family and friends eat, drink and watch the biggest football game of the year, or more importantly, watch the best commercials of the year. So in case you missed it, here is a short recap on the 2013 Super Bowl commercials this year and what our marketing agency thought of them
Let’s first start with cinema.
This year we had several commercials focused on upcoming movies.
- Iron Man 3 – Robert Downey Jr. once again plays his role as Tony Stark – a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, who has a nighttime job of saving the world as Iron Man. For all you comic book fans out there, it looks like War Machine is finally going to make an appearance in this film. Also, Kudos to the creators of this commercial for getting a little chuckle before the epic scenes start flashing.
- Fast and Furious 6 – Another movie that incorporates Vin Diesel with hot girls and hot cars, including what looks to be a prototype of the batmobile.
- Oz the Great and Powerful – A movie that branches off the Wizard of Oz storyline. This time it stars the Wizard himself (played by James Franc) and how he came into the land of Oz. This version seems to be more of an epic adventure with lies and deception than one of friendship and virtue, compared to the original.
- The Lone Ranger – Disney’s portrayal of the classic action hero, the Lone Ranger. Once again, Jonny Depp plays a somewhat mentally unstable, secondary character. However repetitive this role is for him, he’s still going to give nothing but gold.
- World War Z – a thrilling adventure starring Brad Pitt who is trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.
- Star Trek into Darkness – Captain Jim Kirk of the Enterprise and his crew return in this new action/adventure sequel. The commercial reveals little of the storyline but shows a great deal of thrills.
Now let’s move on to those commercials that made us laugh . . . or at least tried to.
It’s seems to me that every year the Super Commercials are getting less and less funny. I don’t know if this is because back in the day when they were funny I was 8 or companies are just out of ideas. Luckily, this year we had more good commercials than bad ones.
- Miracle Stain – the Tide Company pokes fun of the craze that started when someone’s burnt grilled cheese looked like Jesus Christ. This is one of my favorite commercials. I feel like any typical football fan would act the same if this happened to them, all the way up to Montanaland.
- Lifeguard - Another brilliant commercial, this time by Axe. I think the only thing that could have made this better is if the lifeguard was David Hasselhoff.
- Viva Young - Who doesn’t think grandparents partying is funny? The song We are Young playing in the background makes it even better.
- Next Big Thing – Samsung uses Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd to advertise their “Next Big Thing” Pitch. Although I’m happy that Samsung has stopped attacking Apple with commercials, I’m upset with how lame this commercial was. It’s just two very funny comedians ranting about very dumb things. A good effort, Samsung, but it’s a failure.
- Teddy Bear Prison - I don’t know if I find this funny or just dumb. You decide for yourself on this one.
- Save It! - The baby is back! BOOM!
This year, to our surprise, many companies decided not to pitch a funny commercial but instead one that’s very sentimental.
This is probably due to Clinton Eastwood’s moment of greatness last Super Bowl. So here are the commercials that tugged on the heart strings.
- Security Camera - Coca-Cola shows us that despite war, crime, and the Jersey Shore, this world is still good.
- Farmer - When I first saw this commercial, I pictured Will Ferrell saying, “Farmers are the backbone of this nation,” like from the movie "The Campaign".
- Whole Again - Yeah America!
- Brotherhood – I don’t know what this commercial is suppose to prove, but it made me want to cry a little bit.
Finally we have these two that get their own special category.
- Soda Stream Effect - Not really funny or sentimental, but the special effects are cool.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQTyxNTQTtk - Oh dear, God! What. . . What is this? No. No. No! Please brace yourself before watching this commercial. You may be disturbed.
Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.