My Favorite Super Bowl 44 Commercials: What Were Yours?

superbowl44
by Ryan Paul Thompson, Dalton Social Media Strategist

The Saints have earned their title as Super Bowl champions, and have captured their first Super Bowl title in franchise history. It’s an amazing journey that contains a story of achievement, not just for the Saints, but for New Orleans, and for anybody who has ever been the underdog.

But, this isn’t a sports site! This is the Dalton Agency! You came here to talk about what’s going on in advertising and marketing, so let’s talk about the commercials! Those were my favorite Super Bowl 44 commercials. I’d love to hear about yours! Leave a message about your favorite #SB44 commercials, or what you think about the ones posted here, in the comments below.

Google: Search On

I absolutely loved this commercial. Extremely simple, but incredibly powerful, much like how our everyday uses of Google are. I wouldn’t be surprised if they revisit this theme and tie it into mobile later on to strengthen the Android brand later on. Powerful storytelling, simple graphics and great music show you don’t have to spend millions on execution to get a winner.

Motorola: Megan Fox Photo

Speaking of mobile… I loved this commercial. However, I’m a little disappointed that Motorola didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to create some type of mobile photo sharing contest involving Megan Fox and Facebook. Also, Motorola.com has a generic landing page with no Super Bowl tie in right now, which is going to lead to a lot of users going to the site after watching the Super Bowl ad, and then leaving the site without ever seeing the phone they were interested in. Surprised that more spots didn’t use their big investment to engage more people in the social online space. Huge opportunity missed.

Doritos: House Rules

That kid has one of the best slaps since Rick James slapped Charlie Murphy.

Dante’s Inferno: Go to Hell

As a gamer,I’m happy to see any presence of the video game industry at the Super Bowl. However, as somebody who has worked in the marketing sector of the gaming industry, I’m shocked that EA neglected to put a url of their website on this commercial. The game drops this week, and they are still giving away pre-order gifts to push sales. This was a big missed opportunity from a digital standpoint.

* On a tangent, my favorite game trailer ad is still Gears of War’s, “Mad World” spot.

Mars’ Snickers: You’re Not You When You’re Hungry

Betty White,  thank you for being a friend. One of the best spots on the night. Humorous and clear on the product benefit. Pat and Kevyn liked this one too.

Vizio: Forge

Vizio has made great use of internet memes, utilized great timing in pushing using 3D with the whole world still being hot on Avatar, and has capitalized on Apple  and the web industry making app usage a part of our daily lives. I actually want to purchase a television again. But does this mean I’m going to have to wait for my television to boot up?

Although their “Generations” spot did evoke Pepsi in a lot of people’s minds. Not a great idea when spending 2 million dollars on a :30 spot.

Bud Light: Voice Box

I don’t know of one scenario where I wouldn’t want my voice Auto-tuned. Do you?

Coke: Hard Times

It’s thinking like this that continues to keep both Coke and The Simpsons culturally relevant. Although in fairness, this spot did get slammed a bit on line. But that’s what’s interesting about discussing the spots for the Big Game, everyone has an opinion. What’s yours?

  • Jason: I want that Doritos samurai costume.
  • Charmingly understated, the Google Parisian love ad is my favorite. A week before Valentine's Day too, of course! I'm a sucker for clever forms of storytelling and Google subtly pulls at your heart strings by revealing a love story...all through their iconic search bar.
  • I'd have to agree. Besides telling a compelling story, the ad was a great demo of how Google works and because it turned your TV into a giant Google page, was also a great branding and reinforcement of the product. Great Stuff!
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Karen,

    I think everybody's in agreement on the VW spot. Man, I should have listed that one, too. That's what happens when you try to post super late, your brain starts to go.jk

    What's weird is, I seriously never heard of the punch buggie game until I was in college. I know....I lived a sheltered life.
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Erik,

    The VW spot with Stevie was awesome, I'll try to find it and link to it in the comments.
  • I agree with the google and snickers spots. However you overlooked two spots. The VW spot with Stevie Wonder. Punch buggie red !
  • Karen Lake
    Dalton Gang,

    I thought the Dorito commercial killed it for entertainment value because kids do what they do...protect what's theirs, especially a favorite food and their momma.

    Google was the big winner. Simple to follow storyline. It took the viewer throught a process...digital progression and, as others have said, connected us emotionally to the content.

    Another commercial I thought hit it outta the ballpark was Volkswagon. Who doesn't remember playing the hitting game and calling out the color of the VW as a kid? What else did you do when the parents threw you in a car for 6 hours to grandma's house? It's a game that's multi-generational. Timeless.

    Thanks for asking our opinions.

    Be well.

    /K
  • Pat
    Lovin' the Snickers spot. No, I do not advocate the knocking down out senior citizens. The "You're not you when you're hungry" campaign could be a great series.

    Check out the online spots leading up to the VW Punching spot. Meet Sluggy Patterson the creator of PunchDub. http://www.youtube.com/user/volkswagen
  • Jason
    Doritos killed it, literally, with the chip "Chinese star". Don't know why but that really made me laugh.

    The ugly truth about how real people look without clothes on in the career builder spot was classic. That would be a difficult office to work in for sure!

    Thanks to Volkswagen: Punching people is fun!
  • My big winners were:

    Snickers.
    Featured product benefit and Betty White. Great ad.

    Google.
    Connecting with emotions is a powerful tool. And very smart for a service that people take completely for granted. Also impressed how it stood out among commercials that cost probably ten times what it did to produce. Simple ideas are more powerful than a huge production budget.

    Volkswagen.
    Leveraged a kid's traveling game to great effect. I wonder how many people are going to get slugged today when someone sees a VW?

    However, I was surprised more companies didn't use all the focus to do something that could engage their customers online or in the digital space. Homeaway.com tried (hopefully their "Vacation" short, with Chevy Chase, will go viral, but the rest of the ones that did just used pretty girls as "bait" to get people to come to their site.
    Huge missed opportunity, IMHO.

    Great game though.

    Have fun,
    Kevyn
    Executive Creative Director, VP
    Dalton Agency
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