What's happening this weekend? Oh right it's the Super Bowl. Does anyone even watch the game? We all know the Super Bowl is really about the commercials, the half-time show and pigging out on food. At least those are my reasons for watching. I admit I don't watch sports unless David Beckham is playing. Hey, soccer is very important to us Colombians. Here's what I know about the big game:
It's Super Bowl 44. The big game will be played at the Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens. It's the 10th time it's being played in Miami which in itself is a record. It's the biggest TV event of the year with 100 million viewers.The two teams: New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts and the favorite is the Colts by 4. The national anthem will be sung by Queen Latifah ("America the Beautiful") and Carrie Underwood, and The Who will be preforming at Half Time. That's all I know. I don't have a clue what the players names are, what they look like or what their stats are or anything else associated with football including football lingo except for the word "touchdown." I am aware of what that means.
"THE FOOD"
We all know food is a big part of Super Bowl Sunday. For me it's one of the 2 days out of the year I'll allow myself to eat whatever I please without feeling any remorse after. This weekend the big question at my house:
Can you believe it?! Wing Street Wings are now available here! Seriously it's true! And the HOTTER the sauce on the wings, the better!
I still have yet to decide which out of 3 I will eat. The above price shown is in U.S. The CDN price is $7.99.
"THE SNACKS"
Snacks are of course a must and for me that includes:
Empanadas
Mini Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Not only are these delish but dainty.
Mini Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches.
For my sweet tooth:
Who doesn't love M&M's? I like opening a large bag and pouring them into a bowl and picking them up one by one and having them melt in my mouth and not in my hands. I like the green ones the best and will single them out and eat them first. I've been seeing a lot of ads for Coconut M&M's and wanted to put them in the mix but unfortunately they're not available up here so my regular ones will just have to do.
Once in a while my English side comes calling out so these are a must:
I love these candies or as they are called across the pond, sweets.
And last but not least:
And last but not least:
No explanation needed.
"THE COMMERCIALS"
This year ads are going for 2.8 million for a 30 second spot, down from last year, 3 million. For the first time in 23 years Pepsi will not be running an ad during the Super Bowl itself. FedEx has also stated that they won't buy ad time. Mars Chocolate returns three years after its' controversial Snickers ad that was protested by gay and lesbian groups with two men kissing one another that was pulled one day following the game. The new ad stars octogenarian actors Betty White and Abe Vigoda, with the tagline: "You're not you when you're hungry." Mars won't discuss any more details.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2010-01-28-mars-snickers-super-bowl-ad_N.htm
1 commercial I'm looking forward in seeing:
The Griswolds! Clark and Helen Griswold are back!!
"Clark Griswold evidently has the Wagon Queen Family Truckster all gassed up and ready to go on another vacation, as HomeAway has brought back the Chevy Chase movie character for its first Super Bowl-based campaign. The vacations rental brand will run a :30 spot during the Feb. 7 game's third quarter, hoping to not only drive leads to the home page but also create social media buzz." http://www.clickz.com/3636259
One of the newspapers up here re-printed a list of the "Top 10 Best and Worst Super Bowl ads." I don't recall some of them. Do you agree with both lists. What are some of your favorite commercials? What are your worsts?
My 3 favorites are:
Budweiser Streaking Lamb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FEDvAXWvHU
Justin Timberlake in Pepsi's "Magnetic Attraction"
Britney, Beyoncé & Pink as Gladiator Girls for Pepsi
"TOP 10 BEST SUPERBOWL ADS"
“TOP 10 WORST SUPERBOWL ADS”
10. MASTER LOCK — “Shot Lock” (1974)
One of the first high-profile Super Bowl ads featured little more than a bullet, a padlock and the following words: “On December 5th, 1973, at a rifle range outside of Los Angeles, a high-powered .30-caliber rifle was fired at a distance of 40 yards, to try to open this Master padlock. …” The results were definitely more entertaining than Super Bowl VIII (Miami 24, Minnesota 7).
9. COKE — “Parade Balloons” (2008)
Just when we were convinced that memorable advertisements are a thing of the past, Coca-Cola unveiled this gem near the end of last year’s Super Bowl. Parade balloon versions of Underdog and Stewie from “Family Guy” fight for an inflatable Coke bottle over the New York skyline, but are thwarted when a Charlie Brown balloon shows up and steals the drink.
8. BUDWEISER — “Sleigh Ride” (2004)
Borrowing heavily from a popular “Seinfeld” episode, a flatulent hansom cab horse turns a candle into a flamethrower and torches a guy’s date. (He escapes the danger because he reaches for a Bud Light.) We learned a valuable lesson after putting this on a “10 worst” list a couple of years ago: There are many, many Americans willing to go to war in defense of a good fart joke.
7. E*TRADE — “Money out the Wazoo” (2000)
Most of the dot-com ads were terrible, but E*Trade had two classics in 2000. In this one, a man is rushed into an emergency room and is quickly diagnosed with “money coming out of the wazoo.” Several good one-liners followed. (“Does your husband have insurance?” … “Insurance? He’s got money coming out of the wazoo!”)
6. McDONALDS — “The Showdown” (1993)
Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, two of the most recognizable and popular athletes in the world, engage in an increasingly logic-defying shooting contest for a Big Mac. (“Over the second rafter, off the floor, nothing but net.”) The commercial ends with the players throwing a ball off the John Hancock Tower in Chicago.
5. BUDWEISER — “Frogs” (1995)
With the Bud Bowl and its anthropomorphic bottles and cans becoming increasingly intolerable, Anheuser-Busch needed a new gimmick. The best idea advertisers could come up with: Three frogs sitting on a log and croaking the words “buuuud,” “wiiiise” and “errrr.” Americans predictably loved this ad, which included lizard and ferret-themed spin offs.
4. APPLE — “1984” (1984)
Perhaps the most renowned Super Bowl ad ever, the ad for Apple's Macintosh followed a 1984 theme. An Orwellian scene of lockstep fascism is broken up by a woman in red Dolphin shorts, who hurls a sledgehammer through a theater screen. Then we see this text: "On January 24th, Apple will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like '1984." The ad ran just one more time on television, perhaps compounding its renown.
3. REEBOK — “Terry Tate Office Linebacker” (2003)
Workers at a fictitious corporation who breach office etiquette receive bone-crunching tackles from Terry Tate, a Reebok sneaker-wearing linebacker who barks observations like "Break was over 15 minutes ago, Mitch!"
2. BUDWEISER — “Respect” (2002)
The Budweiser Clydesdales, easily the most recognizable icon in Super Bowl ads, walk across a snowy field and the Brooklyn Bridge before taking one knee in front of the New York skyline where the World Trade Center towers used to be. Budweiser followed this theme three years later with its “Heroes” ad, featuring people at an airport applauding returning soldiers.
1. COKE — “Mean Joe Greene” (1979)
Apple spent more money and the frogs were cuter, but there’s no beating Mean Joe Greene (even though this advertisement technically debuted just before the Super Bowl). Greene meets a kid in a stadium tunnel after the game. The kid offers Greene a Coke, and the player smiles and gives him a jersey. You’re crying just thinking about it, right?
“TOP 10 WORST SUPERBOWL ADS”
10. FRITO-LAY — Dan Quayle ad (1993): For the national launch of Wavy Lays potato chips, much-ridiculed former Vice-President Quayle makes a cameo, with a joke about his inability to spell “potato.”
What failed: Think back to 1993. Other than Heidi Fleiss and possibly Lorena Bobbitt, was there a worse person to associate with your new product than Dan Quayle?
9. SIERRA-MIST — Bagpipe kilt ad (2004): On a hot day, a kilt-wearing bagpipe player breaks off from a parade and stands above an air conditioning grate — mimicking Marilyn Monroe’s famous scene in “The Seven Year Itch.”
What failed: How in the world is cold air blowing on an out-of-shape sweaty dude’s genitals supposed to make you feel like drinking a lemon-lime beverage? The ad would have made more tactical sense if he was drinking rival beverage Sprite.
8. BUDWEISER — “Upside Down Clown” (2003): A clown with an upside-down suit walks into a bar, orders a Bud Light, and pours the drink into his mouth through an opening between the suit’s legs.
What failed: The only thing that works up less of a thirst less than thinking about a bagpiper’s naughty parts is watching a commercial where a clown appears to drink beer through his buttocks.
7. BUDWEISER — “Bud Bowl VI” (1994): The fake football game between anthropomorphic bottles of Bud and Bud Light returns (again) with more predictable goofiness.
What failed: The Bud Bowl had few good ideas from the start. By Bud Bowl VI the commercials were physically painful to watch – with Marv Albert bleating about the antics of a profanity-spewing, break-dancing giant can. Coaches Mike Ditka and Bum Phillips showed up, looking visibly pained to be involved.
6. DIRT DEVIL — “Fred Astaire” (1997): Special effects allow legendary hoofer Fred Astaire to revisit some old dance moves – except this time his partner is a red vacuum cleaner.
What failed: A dead guy dancing with a vacuum? What’s next? Digging up Steve McQueen’s corpse so he can sell the new Ford Mustang?
4. HOLIDAY INN – Sex change ad (1997): A woman at a high school is revealed to be a man, followed by a poor segue that equates her sex change with Holiday Inn’s recent renovations at its hotels.
What failed: On top of being tasteless and insensitive, the ad made almost no mention of Holiday Inn — which in retrospect might have been a blessing.
3. JUST FOR FEET — Kenyan runner ad (1999): A group of mercenaries in a Humvee chase down a barefoot Kenyan running in Africa, drug him unconscious and force a pair of running shoes on his feet.
What failed: The question is: what about this ad didn’t fail? Critics hated the advertisement, calling it racist and imperialist. Just for Feet later acknowledged it was a horrible mistake.
2. BURGER KING — “Find Herb the Nerd” (1986): Burger King urged customers to find Herb, who was supposedly the only person in America who had never tasted the fast food chain’s hamburgers.
What failed: Audience members hated the annoying actor who played Herb (he looked like a balder Rick Moranis), and showed little interest in searching for him at their neighborhood Burger King – even with money involved. While no statistics could be found to back the claim up, we suspect the commercials inspired a new wave of vegans.
1. APPLE — “Lemmings” (1985): One year after the Macintosh is introduced with one of the best commercials ever, Apple introduces Macintosh Office with an abstract film that included a spooky version of the tune “Heigh-Ho” and office workers jumping off a cliff.
What failed: The advertisement — paired with a one-sided Super Bowl that had the 49ers beating the Dolphins 38-16 — was dark, depressing and more than a bit repulsive.
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My loyal and dear readers it's finally Friday.
Whatever your plans are have a stellar Super Bowl weekend.-x
XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess
