2008 Super Bowl XLII Commercials: 1st Half

Bud Light – Breathe Fire
A guy is having dinner with a girlfriend. Voice over talks about the refreshing taste and superior drinkability of Bud Lite, “… and now the ability to breathe fire.” The man breathes onto the candles and lights them. Then finds that he is allergic to the cat and begins sneezing fire everywhere. “Ability to breathe fire is no longer available… endless refreshment remains.”

Mildly funny but no real meat or substance. Good for a chuckle, but that’s about it.

My rating: 3 stars

Audio R8 – Godfather
A guy wakes up wakes up covered in grease, pulls back the covers to find old luxury car body parts in the bed. “Old luxury just got put on notice.”

I loved this commercial. It left me wondering at first, but it all came together. A perfect parody of the Godfather.

My rating: 5 stars

Diet Pepsi Max – What is Love?
Scenes of people falling asleep in various life situations. Pepsi Max rolls in and then suddenly everybody wakes up a bit overactive.

This was a fun commercial and also very funny. Great situations to see people sleep in and good tunes.

My rating: 5 stars

Salesgenie.com – Sales Lead
Animated ad of ad yelling at employee to double his sales. He goes to salesgenie.com and wins salesman of the year award.

Yeah, this was just bad. I suppose it makes its point, but I’d pay $3M not to ever see that commercial again.

My rating: 1 star

Bud Light – Wine and Cheese Party
Guy shows up to low-key party with a big block of cheese. After he greets the women, he goes to the kitchen where the other guys are. Turns out the cheese just hides a six pack of Bud. The other guys pull out their party gifts, each hiding their own Bud Light.

Clever commercial and good for a decent chuckle.

My rating: 3.5 Stars

Under Armour – Athlete Training
Guys working out in various intense and abnormal “industrial type” situations. Man then addresses the crowd. Under Armour “the future is ours.”

Good visuals, but near completely lame. They couldn’t come up with anything better? Certainly doesn’t make me want to buy their product.

My rating: 2 stars

Bridgestone
Squirrel in road starts screaming at approaching car, clip to other animals screaming including woman in car. Car then swerves around the squirrel and all is good.

There really was not substance to this commercial. All eye candy with only a moment of substance.

My rating: 2 stars

Gatorade G2 – Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter gets out of the cab and starts walking down the street. Wherever he goes, “the game” follows him.

I just wasn’t down with this commercial. Didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the end certainly didn’t tie it all together.

My rating: 2 stars

GoDaddy – Danica Patrick
People at a Super Bowl party, one guy is at the computer waiting for the commercials. He goes to GoDaddy.com to see the Danica Patrick commercial which won’t air on TV. Everybody rushes over to view it.

I’ll admit my bias right now, there has never been a GoDaddy commercial I liked. This, though, was the worst. A commercial to promote a commercial. Lame.

My rating: 1 star

Dell – Red
Guy walking down street carrying a Dell laptop. Everybody notices him, pats him on the back, and congratulates him.

A red laptop earns slaps on the rear by other men? I think I’ll stick to drab gray.

My rating: 1 star

FedEx – Pigeons
Employee solves all of the company’s shipping problems with pigeons equipped with GPS and night vision. For the big stuff he’s got oversized pigeons. All hell breaks loose and boss says they’ll use FedEx.

This was one of the funnest commercials of all. Great visuals and effects and really drives the point home.

My rating: 5 stars

Cars.com – Deathmatch
Guy gets his car quote at cars.com on his way to the dealership. His “plan b” was to have the dealer fight Klondore in a stone circle death match.

Good effort with a great ending, but the concept just didn’t click with me.

My rating: 3 stars

Tide to Go – Stain
In an interview guy has a stain on his shirt that is mumbling over him. The interviewer can’t take his eyes off the stain, which is obviously distracting him from hearing what the interviewee is saying.

Gotta love a talking stain. The more I watch this the funnier it gets. And it’s so true, one little thing out of place and that’s all anyone can “hear.”

My rating: 4 stars

Budweiser – Rocky
Dog trains a Clydesdale horse to the theme of Rocky. One year later, the horse is ready to join the Budweiser team.

This just didn’t do anything for me. What is this commercial about and why do I care?

My rating: 1 star

Toyota – Corolla
To prove how quiet the inside of the Corolla is, a guy is put inside with a group of sleeping badgers. Outside cannon fires, but the badgers don’t wake up… until his cell phone rings.

Point made and mildly funny, but not much more.

My rating: 2.5 stars

Garmin – Napolean
Car zooms through Europe getting directions from a GAPS map system. It’s Napoleon.

I remember last year’s Garmin commercial. This year’s wasn’t as bad but still pretty dumb overall.

My rating: 2 stars

Career Builder – Heart
Woman sits at computer when her heart jumps out of her chest into her boss’s office and tells him it quits. “Follow your heart.”

We all want to quit our jobs at times, but sometimes following your heart isn’t the smartest thing to do. Still, it’s a compelling commercial.

My rating: 3 stars

Life Water – Thriller
Naomi Campbell taks e a sip of Life Water, and a lizard follows just to get a splash of it. They all start dancing to “Thriller.”

You’d think that Namoi Campbell dancing is enough to carry a commercial, but it’s not. The song is a classic, but dancing lizards do nothing for me.

My rating: 2 stars

National Office of Drug Control
Drug dealer on corner talking about how business is slow. His customers don’t need him because they get high for free from the parents’ medicine cabinet.

I liked this ad. It makes the point about kids getting into the medicine cabinet, but I think they could have targeted a wider audience.

My rating: 3 stars

Yukon Hybrid – Mountain Top
Animation of man pushing rock up hill. Voice over asks why push, change, grow, or dream. “Never say never.”

Somebody please fire this ad agency, now. The voiceover is good, the commercial is just bad.

My rating: 1.5 stars

Bud Light – Students
Foreign students try bad pick up lines to pick up women. Nothing works except for Bud Light.

Nothing really new or original here. You knew the ending just as soon as it started.

My rating: 2 stars

Planters – Unibrow
Overly made-up ugly woman gets all kinds of attention from guys around her. She rubs planters cashews on herself, and it’s irresistible.

This one gets better with each viewing. Who would have thought this was a Planters commercial? Very clever.

My rating: 5 stars

T-Mobile – Barkley/Wade
Charles Barkley finally adds Dwayne Wade to his Fave Five and bombards him with calls all hours of the day.

Are they still doing these commercials? I guess points for originality is out. It’s funny though.

My rating: 3 stars

Pepsi – Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake is at a bar and suddenly gets pulled away by a mysterious force. The force is someone sucking a Pepsi through a straw. “Every sip gets you closer to Justin Timberlake.”

Lots of eye candy along the way, and the end pulls it all together.

My rating: 4 stars

Doritos – Mouse Trap
Doritos are used in a mouse trap. As he waits, a man in a giant mouse suit jumps through the wall and beats him up.

Good setup with a great payoff. Quick and dirty. I loved it.

My rating: 4 stars

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