2009 Super Bowl Ads - Complete Instant Micro-Blog Analysis

I live micro-blogged all of last night’s Super Bowl ads on Twitter.com/JakeCrocker. Below you will find the complete transcript of my immediate gut analysis and commentary of each spot in 140 characters or less. Each spot was analyzed based on their ability to intrigue the viewer while conveying the benefit of what was being advertised while endearing the brand to its target consumer.


GI Joe Movie - typical action packed movie promo, well done, movie will do well if it's as good as this preview

Ronald McDonald House - Little girl donates a penny, pulls the emotional heart strings and guilt’s you into donating yourself

Hyundai Genesis - Hyundai trying to position itself as cheaper high performance vehicle, good message in this economy

Hyundai Genesis Coup - All about high performance, good follow from the last one, will drive a lot of traffic to the website

Bud Light - guy gets thrown out window for suggesting budget cuts start w/ Bud Light. Timely humor but not really that funny

Angles and Demons movie promo - good will peak interest of those whole liked the da Vinci code and do well at the box office

Audi-guy from the Transporter movies moves through time while changing cars. Good effects, Audi a sleek, high performance car

Pepsi-Dylan and Will-I-Am sing Stay forever young. Goes after the younger demo, connects to the past, always the drink of the young

Doritos - Guy looks into crystal ball and asked for Doritos, then uses it to break vending machine. Mild humor, no selling point

Bud Light - Conan O'Brien convinced to do German TV spot. Funny, but not sure what it has to do with drinking beer

Year One movie promo - not sure what this is about, Jack Black and the guy from Super Bad are back in time doing something funny.

Toyota Venza - pushing design and personal functionality on what looks to be an average car. Less than compelling

Bridgestone - Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head are navigating curvy mountain road. Interesting, shows tire performance. Good

Fast & Furious movie promo - looks like the original cast is back after 2 blah sequels. Should excite fans of the first one.

Castrol-Monkey mechanics in the garage, nothing to do with motor oil. Monkey's are over used, no selling point, only mild humor

Land of The Lost movie promo - Shows classic Will Ferrell humor, his fan's interest will be peaked.

Doritos - shows good things happening when you eat Doritos, getting hit by bus when you don't. Good humor, not showing real benefit

GoDaddy.com-guys watching Danica Patrick in the shower on the web, says web site unedited. Good, will drive huge traffic to the site

Pepsi Max - Good physical humor of guys doing guy stuff, says it's diet cola for men. Funny, will appeal to men

Pedigree-Shows wild animals and how they don't behave like dogs then says get a dog, help us help dogs, pet adoption, great message

Budweiser - Clydesdale retrieves branch after the dog retrieves the stick. Nice ad, continues Clydesdale ad tradition

Budweiser - Clydesdale escapes to track down lost love. Awww, horse love, emotional and sweet. continues Clydesdale tradition.

Star Trek movie promo, Wow! Completely changes the image of Star Trek, will appeal to mainstream audiences, not just Trekees

G finally revealed as Gatorade, a little too esoteric, goal to drive traffic to missionG.com

Cars.com, pushing the message of car buying confidence as even the overachiever is nervous about buying a car. Good ad, good build up

Hyundai Genesis, touting 2009 car of the year award by showing pissed off competition. Good ad, brings credibility to the brand

E-Trade-continuation of cute talking baby campaign with message of take control of your investments in tough times with etrade. Good

UP movie promo, shows caliber of Disney-Pixar animation, not sure what the movie is about other than a floating house

H&R Block-Death mad at his accountant because he did not double check taxes like H&R Block does. Interesting, conveys benefit. Good

Teleflora.com - Well done shows benefit clearly, hand delivered flowers are much better than box delivered. Good intro to new brand

Cheetos-Apparently pigeons like Cheetos and Chester Cheetah is evil. Not a good campaign, in no way endears consumers to the brand

Monsters vs. Alien 3D movie preview. Shows animation quality and story line well. Good cross promo for Intel

SoBe - Ballet dancing players break into hip hop with SoBe Lizards and characters from Monsters vs Aliens. No product benefit at all (I got an instant reply from SoBe on this once claiming their goal was just to get people to talk about the spot. I disagreed with this tactic, if you advertise a product you should get them interested in the actual product)

Coke-Animated characters mix with real people, share Cokes with the tag open happens. Interesting are they promoting be open minded?

Bridgestone - Jump around on the moon with Bridgestone tires, except tires are stolen. Funny, shows their tires go anywhere I guess

Denny's - mob bosses get cute breakfast, breaks into time for a serious breakfast at Denny's. Good humor, nice message

Monster.com - Moose head in bosses office is really full Moose with rear in employee's face on other side. funny, good message.

Budweiser - Great grandpa Jake the Clydesdale comes to America from Ireland and tried to find his calling pulling the Budweiser wagon

Race to Witch Mountain movie promo, movie starting The Rock. Might have to see that again to understand what it's actually about.

Careerbuilder.com - Well done! Reinforces message about hating going to work over and over that's almost but not quite annoying

Coke - insects steel Coke from guy. Good brand reinforcement ad Great effects!

Frosted Flakes - Promotes their charitable efforts to reseed playing fields across the country, asking viewers to vote online. Nice!

We seem to have run out of commercials, all local spots and NBC promos now. This game has had an unusually high number of breaks in action

Hyundai - promoting their assurance program, says if you lose you income then you can return the car. Nice program, ad to the point

Coke Zero - Troy Polamalu playing classic Mean Joe role, Coke brand managers interrupt because of brand infringement. Well done!

Cash4Gold.com-Ed McMahon & MC Hammer sell their gold items online. Well done, almost the perfect commercial, funny and clear message

Vizio- Basic ad about the their simple, value priced flat panel TVs. Message clear but spot fails to grab attention

Taco Bell-Guy meats girl at party, waist no time calling her asking her to dinner at Taco Bell. Is speed the message here? Not sure.

GE - promotes their smart grid technology using the TinMan from the Wizard of Oz. Interesting, did they need to buy a SB spot for this?

Hulu-Alec Baldwin is an evil alien trying to turn brains to mush by beaming TV programs to computers. Good product demo and funny!

GE - Kid captures the wind in a jar promoting GE's wind energy initiatives. Good, but GE should have saved their $3 mil. (I was reminded later that GE owned NBC, who knows how much they paid)

Pepsi - Macgyver parody Macgrubber pokes fun a product placement. Great example of bad advertising, poor execution of weak idea

BL Lime - making a summer bubble in the winter and staying in a "summer state of mind". Good message, good effects. Well done

GoDaddy.com - Danica appears in familiar trail scene from spot a few years ago, talks about "enhancements". Good traffic driver spot

Transformers 2 movie promo, looks a lot like the first Transformers. First one was great so that spot should get everyone back in.

Super Bowl final: My votes for best ads go to: #1 Careerbulder.com, #2 Cash4Gold.com and #3 Hulu


Jake Crocker is the President and Chief Strategist at Crocker Strategic Marketing, he can be reached at Jake@CrockerStrategy.com