Congratulations New York

I was definitely in the NY camp for the 42nd Super Bowl but never really thought the Giants stood much of a chance. The Patriots were just so strong. But the NY defense was up to the challenge and held New England to only one touchdown for most of the game. And while a mostly defensive game isn't the most interesting game to watch, it did allow for New York to hold on and then make an amazing finish with Plaxico Burress catching Eli Manning's final pass with less than a minute left in the game. While I was really hoping that NY would win the game, I was sure that final drive would end in failure. I was very happy to be wrong!

Now that we've finished the obligatory chit-chat about the game, what about the commercials? For the third year in a row I was very disappointed. There were only 4 that I liked and one was solely due to the special effects: the Sobe lifewater one with the dancing lizards was stunning in high def. I don't know if it worked as well on regular tv but in high def the animation was amazing.

Another favorite was the Fed Ex commercial in the first quarter using the giant pigeons. Cute! Fed Ex is developing a good tradition for their expensive ads. The caveman spot a couple of years ago was outstanding too. A franchise that's lost all inspiration, on the other hand, is Budweiser. I know a lot of people still like their commercials but I think that given how much money they spend, that Bud is too derivative of other work. Their spotlighted ad this year, where they pull out their Clydesdale and Dalmatian icons, was just a rip-off of the Rocky movies and not very well done at that. If a drug company is going to spend that much money on commercials you'd think they'd come up with better stuff. That is a cute Dalmatian tho. Bud Lite is getting early buzz on several of their creative ads, the one with fire breathing was my favorite but while I liked the beginning with the candle lighting, the darker actions later in the commercial ruined it for me. The other Bud Lite ads were similar in that they all emphasized the negative whether involving flying men or stupid cavemen. The Geico cave-fellows should sue over the Bud Lite commercial with the wheel used as a platter and big rock as a bottle opener.

My other two favorites were both for eTrade, an online broker, and both featured a baby talking in a quasi-adult voice. Normally ads like that annoy me but this time I thought it very well done with zingers at the end of both commercials. Nice work. From what I've seen online tho, I seem to be one of the few that liked them. Oh well. Others viewers probably found the Planter's Peanuts commercial in good taste. *shudder*

So, what was YOUR favorite commercial? (or two or three...)