I usually only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Yes, really. I’m not interested in sports much these days. But I had things to do yesterday, and missed most of them. Allah didn’t. The good ones are all over on Hot Air, and so is Billy Joel singing the Star Spangled Banner.
Update: And the New York Times analyzes the ads, and proclaims them to have Iraqi subtexts.
More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.
It amazes me what a Rorschach test these commercials seem to be. And here we thought all they were doing was bringing our attention to the products so we would buy them. And I detect a note of nostalgia here:
During other wars, Madison Avenue has appealed to a yearning for peace. That was expressed in several Super Bowl spots evocative of “Hilltop,†the classic Coca-Cola commercial from 1971, when the Vietnam War divided a world that needed to be taught to sing in perfect harmony.
Coca-Cola borrowed pages from its own playbook with two whimsical spots for Coca-Cola Classic, “Happiness Factory†and “Video Game,†that were as sweet as they were upbeat. The commercials, by Wieden & Kennedy, provided a welcome counterpoint to the martial tone of the evening.
Ah, to be young and innocent again, standing in a field, holding hands, and singing “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony).” Like the New Seekers did.
It’s bad when you start to think that football is more entertaining than the commercials. This year I used the following word to describe so many of them: depraved.
In one way or another the commercials this year reached the lowest common denominator.
Which made us all wonder (me, mom, F.D.-my spouse) does Madison Avenue really think we’re all SO stupid?