Roxanne DeAngelo
Staff Writer
From cars to Rap singers and even a miniature version of Darth Vader, this year’s Super Bowl commercials were quite entertaining. According to Reuters, a thirty second spot during the Super Bowl cost 3 million dollars. This price hasn’t changed much in the last few years, but with the economic downturn it’s quite a lot of money. I have gone through and reviewed the most talked about commercials in hopes of picking out the top ten and placing them here in order.
1. Volkswagen: Young Darth Vader practices the dark side of The Force
Everybody should have seen this commercial, which involves a little boy running around his house in a mini Darth Vader costume, trying to use The Force. He fails at everything of course, but thanks to his dad, this kid’s imagination will just keep getting bigger! At the end of the commercial, mini Darth Vader runs outside to try and start his father’s car. While his parents watch from the kitchen they startle him by pushing the remote starter. Out of all the commercials this one received the most attention; they picked a famous character and utilized him in the best way possible.
2. Doritos: House sitter brings back grandpa from ashes
I wasn’t expecting the ending of this commercial at all. At first while the house sitter is reviving the fish and plants he let die, a sense of “wow, this isn’t funny” comes over you. Then he drops the ashes of his friend’s grandpa all over the floor. Ha, serves him right. When I saw the surprised look on the homeowners face, I was expecting him to start yelling, but instead he gets excited because his buddy just brought his grandfather back from the dead with “magic Dorito crumbs.”
3. Doritos: Pug goes for chips
In an attempt to make a mockery of his girlfriend’s pet pug, the guy in this commercial decides to shut a glass door and tease the poor dog by offering him a Dorito. At full speed the pup is heading to what we think to be disaster, but instead he knocks the door down on top of the guy and steals himself some Dorito deliciousness.
4. Bud Light: Guy throws party while dog sitting
Next in line to the pug, a house of really smart rescue dogs pull off an adorable party for their dog sitter. Serving alcohol and catering to everyone’s needs probably wasn’t what the owner meant in the beginning by saying “their smart and will do whatever you ask,” but it works. You just have to wonder why people love dogs so much, they could be in any advertisement and we eat it up.
5. Audi: Kenny G
This failed escape from an old luxury prison was well thought out and deserves a lot of props. At first it’s a little silly, but just like any good story it builds up to the climax and finishes with a sarcastic ending.
6. Bridgestone – The Beaver
I don’t know why I put this down at 6th place since it was great all around. The animated Beaver in this commercial escapes certain death at first, due to the brand of tires on a car. This more than grateful Beaver in turn, decides to save the life of the guy that was driving the car by knocking down a tree blocking the road to a flooded river where a bridge once stood.
7. Snickers: Chainsaws
This commercial stars Richard Lewis and Rosanne Barr. The two are playing the whiny counterpart to their real selves. Caught slacking off on the job, Richard gets a Snickers and is able to return to normal while Rosanne isn’t so lucky. It was quite funny and followed the normal structure for Snickers’ commercials.
8. Coca-Cola: Coke tames a Dragon
This CG animated commercial involves a battle between two groups of rivals. One has the upper hand by using a fire-breathing dragon while the other uses their wit. The defending group rolls out a Trojan like Ice Dragon with a secret weapon inside, an ice cold Coca-Cola. The Dragon takes the Coke product and instead of being able the breathe fire he is turned into a fireworks display!
9. E-trade Baby: Baby gets a suit
The E-trade baby is always cute, but I have to say this time around he wasn’t too funny. While Enzo is taking the baby’s measurements for a new suit, E-trade baby is just sitting there making fun of him. Thankfully Enzo can retire thanks to the fantastic portfolio he was able to build with E-trade.
10. Chrysler: Eminem
For some reason or another I was told this commercial was a favorite too. I’m not putting it down, but it wasn’t that appealing. You hear talk about what it’s like to live in Detroit while images of the city flash by and then images of Eminem. He ends up at an auditorium with a singing choir, all he says is “This is the motor city, and this is what we do.” I don’t know about you, but it wasn’t that great. No big turn around, but well thought out as far as the images and clips that were used.