Marketing 101: Best 2009 Superbowl Ads

Overall, there were very few great commercials during this year's Superbowl.
Most of the ads seemed like they were inspired by the TV show Jackass with guys being hit or thrown out of the window, (I was expecting Johnny Knoxville to come on TV to introduce the commercials).

Other commercials were either crude (what was the deal with that Teleflora.com ad?), pointless like Pepsi's commercial featuring Saturday Night Live's MacGrubber character, (how is this unfunny show still on the air?) or sad like Ed McMahon and Hammer's commercial for Cash4gold.com, (Hammer's money problems has been well documented, but how did Ed McMahon lose money after being part of “Star Search”, “Bloopers” with Dick Clark & “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson?!? )

Luckily there were a few commercials that hit the mark:

First up is Audi's fantastic commercial "The Chase" with Jason Statham (Transporter), where he is being chased during the 70' 80's, 90's and today, followed by Miller High Life's funny one second commercial featuring the delivery guy Windell Middlebrooks simply yelling “High Life”, (which proves you don't have to spend three million dollars to sell something).

Although Budweiser are starting to overuse their successful horse campaign, (how many horse commercials did they have last night 20??), they did introduce a new wrinkle with the touching "Love Story" which featured Marvin Gaye & Tami Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
GoDaddy's commercial with Danica Patrick was interesting (click here for their baseball ad that was “Too hot for TV) and finally Taco Bell's "The Move", where a guy moves a little bit too fast on a woman he just met in a bar was pretty funny.

Here are a few more non-commercial observations:

The game between Arizona Cardinals and The Pittsburgh Steelers was great (sorry Cards). Faith Hill's "America's The Beautiful" was sensational, Jennifer Hudson's "Star Spangled Banner" was moving, (but not better than Marvin Gaye's) and Bruce Springsteen was proof positive that you can be near 60 years old and still be a great entertainer, (what younger artists today could rock a stage past 50 years old like Springsteen, Prince, Al Green, Tina Turner and The Rolling Stones?)

Springsteen's lively performance proved that long as you are doing something that you love and live life to the fullest, maybe you too can also still have "Glory Days" like "The Boss".

2009 Superbowl ads:

Audi "The Chase" featuring Jason Statham (Transporter)



Budweiser Love Birds (Daisy, Horses)



Miller High Life 1-Second Ad



Taco Bell Smooth Moves