Super Bowl XL, second quarter

First, let me get my primary prejudice regarding the Super Bowl out of the way: I tend to have a problem with any sport in which the game is talked about for longer than it's actually played. That peccadillo of mine doesn't make me a big fan of football. In case you're wondering—or engaging in your own prejudices—it's not a chick thing; I still consider Game 6 of the 1986 World Series to be one of the greatest moments in my life. But let's move on. Not to overlap—or potentially disagree—with Tim, but here are my minimal impressions of the ads in the first quarter. 1) There's no law that says the food seen in fast-food advertising needs to be—I don't know—anatomically correct, but the burger in the Whopperettes commercial looked like a chunk of asphalt. 2) Doesn't FedEx know that dinosaurs pre-dated cavemen? 3) Leonard Nimoy was much better in the Priceline ads playing opposite William Shatner. 7:56 p.m. SPRINT: This spot for the Sprint cell phone with the alleged "crime deterrent" feature is the absolute epitomy of what makes so many Super Bowl ads suck. Cheap laughs, a little slapstick violence. Great. Leaves me scratching my head. 7:41 p.m. OVERSTOCK.COM. We get it. The whole thing about Overstock being “all about the O” is a sex joke! Hahaha. 7:38 p.m. GILLETTE FUSION: I don't have a comment; just another question: Was this pseudo-scientific commercial meant to be humorous, or are these people serious? 7:35 p.m. GODADDY.COM: Way too much has been said about the GoDaddy ads, so let's leave it at this: What the hell's the marketing strategy? 7:26 p.m. FORD HYBRID SUV: I'm still a sucker for Kermit. There. I've said it. Using the K-man—or the K-frog—in this commercial brings a playful, touchy-feely approach to promoting the car. 7:20 p.m. Mission Impossible III: Even if Tom Cruise is a wacko, it's hard to go wrong with a Mission Impossible trailer. DOVE: It's really brilliant for Dove to take its "Campaign for Real Beauty" in this direction, during this game. It acknowledges that women and girls actually watch the Super Bowl, and also that they (we) have self-esteem issues that don't have to do with weight. One quibble—perhaps a by-product of when I worked at J. Walter Thompson—is that the song “True Colors” was used for quite some time by Kodak in a campaign created by JWT. I spent most of the Dove commercial wondering if I was watching a Kodak spot. 7:18 p.m. CAREERBUILDER: It's a little hard not to get slightly disappointed with oneself at laughing at anthropomorphized chimps, and yet I can't help myself. The return of the chimps was definitely helped by the new soundtrack: "C'mon Feel the Noise." Brilliant. CADILLAC: Finally, a Cadillac ad that does not include Led Zeppelin. Not that the band can ever redeem itself. SPRINT: Very smart of Sprint to offer the Rolling Stones performance for download at their music store. I bet most people didn't even know Sprint had a music store. 7:12 p.m. BUDWEISER: I guess we've gotten away from ads showing troops just back from Iraq walking through an airport to applause from the civilians. Fictitious exchange at Budweiser Super Bowl XL creative meeting: Client—"How do we follow up that patriotic spot form last year?" Agency—"Streaking lamb at a football game in which the players are horses." Client—"Genius!" ESPN MOBILE: OK, so in this commercial, this guy is walking through the world, completely oblivious to everything, while watching sports on his phone. I know that as a nation we're headed that way, but frankly it scares me. And one bonus comment, recorded during the third quarter: How dumb is the Democratic National Committee to make a fundraising call to my house during the Super Bowl?—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

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Super Bowl XL, second quarter

Catharine P. Taylor

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Catharine P. Taylor