Kia Adds Yellow Bikini to Sock Monkey, Muno, Robot, Teddy and Mr. X

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You've seen the teaser for Kia's first Super Bowl commercial, right? We've seen the whole thing. Sorry, can't link until it airs during the third quarter.

It's not bad. It's fun. But it's really just a longer version of the teaser. No real surprises. Well, except for maybe a lady wearing a yellow bikini in a hot tub. You know. These are the things marketers have to do to appeal to the stereotypical block head who watches the Super Bowl, right? But the ad does end with a focus on family. No, not that kind of focus.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-10    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2010



Mullen and Radian6 Want You to Play Brand Bowl

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Once again it's the battle of the Twitter Super Bowl hashtags. Last year, there were about four that played prominently. In fact, we had one of our own. Can't even remember what it was. And we don't care. This year, we're letting someone else do all the work. An agency with, unlike us, an army of talented creative and technical people who can put stuff like Brand Bowl 2010 together.

So make sure you leave a tab handy in your browser for Brand Bowl. You can see how the ads rank based on tweets and other metrics. You can log in right from the Brand Bowl page and barf your Super Bowl commercial opinion for all to see. Oh, and there's a sweet link to Hulu where all the ads will be house once they air.

So for this year's Super Bowl Twitter hashtag, we're putting our money on #brandbowl. Sorry #sb44, #sbad, #sbads, #sbads10, #superbowlads, #admeter, #superbowl and all the rest of you.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-10    
Topic: Social, Super Bowl 2010



12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12. 8, 4, 2, 1, Gatorade

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It's a journey. It's a math problem. It's a religion. It's American football. It's a Super Bowl commercial! Well, not really. It's just a pre-game commercial but still.

This Gatorade commercial is a creative collaboration between NFL Films and Smuggler director Henry Alex Rubin (he of Whopper Freak-out, Adidas Brotherhood and Murder Ball), and is voiced by Common (Terminator Salvation and American Gangster).

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-10    
Topic: Super Bowl 2010



So Here's the Brett Favre Hyundai Super Bowl Ad

It's kinda fun. Poking fun at things. The dude is old! And yea, we have no idea what Favre's career will look like in ten years but Hyundai wants us to know your car will still be under waurentee. Here's the outtakes and here's the Facebook page. Hmm. Blueberries. GPS balls.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-10    
Topic: Super Bowl 2010



Best Super Bowl Voiceovers, Nivea Donates, Brand Barfs

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- Check out Whose Voice is That? It's all about celebrity voiceovers and they've just posted a Super Bowl commercial roundup that looks at ten classic Super Bowl spots making great use of the narrator and/or voiceover.

- "The Real Men and Women of Madison Avenue," an exhibit that celebrates the contributions made to American business and to popular culture by the real stars of Madison Avenue, is coming to San Francisco for its first public showing outside of New York City at the Academy of Art University's 79 Gallery on New Montgomery Street February 24, 2010 for a one-week showing.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb- 5-10    
Topic: Cause, Industry Events, Social, Super Bowl 2010



Run For Cover, Chickens! Denny's Is After You!

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If you're a chicken, get out of town. Take a vacation. Hide. Tell your boss you have jury duty. On Tuesday, Denny's will be after your egg-laying ass because it needs a LOT of your unborn babies for its second Free Grand Slam Day. You might want to go hide with a a few renegade chickens who plan to hide out in a basement during the Denny's chicken slaughter and find out how you can disguise yourself and maybe, just maybe, avoid being forced to pump out baby after baby for the pleasure of egg-loving humans.

You can thank FILTER Creative Group for putting you in this unfortunate situation.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 5-10    
Topic: Super Bowl 2010



CBS Stands For Corporate Bull Shit

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Really. It does. According to Raging Grannies who whipped together a little anti-CBS sentiment for the networks decision to accept the Tim Tebow ad but not ads for other causes such as MoveOn or The Light.

The women sing, "CBS - Corporate Bulls Shit , they won't take ads from Moveon or The light , but take three million from right-to-life, they're hypocrites that won't give a voice to womens choice"

Good stuff.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-10    
Topic: Super Bowl 2010, Video



Super Bowl 2010: Kia Teases, EA Awaits Hell, GoDaddy Bores

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- Here's two teasers (one, two) for Kia. And there's a collection of postcards on Flickr as well.

- Unless you're a hardcore gamer, you're gonna look at the EA Hell Awaits commercial and go, huh?"

- And here's the "News" commercial from GoDaddy in which Danica Patrick gets the usual probing treatment from an anchor. It'll air in the 4th quarter.

- Here's yet another list: The 15 Most Brilliant Super Bowl Ads. Which is entirely subjective, of course so it really means nothing.

- Supposedly this is the world's largest website. CCCP Amsterdam created.

- Someone thinks snow ball throwing should be part of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

- More Minnesota Lottery goodness.

- From Cultivator, New Belgium Brewing Co. "Beer Rangers" in scout-like tan-and-olive from will appear in print advertising, online, and in person at bars and retail outlets, starting February, to introduce Ranger IPA, a new India Pale Ale described as "hoppy, citrusy, with pale and dark caramel malts"

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-10    
Topic: Super Bowl 2010



Why I'm No Longer Excited About Super Bowl Advertising

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As Sunday approaches I sit here with mixed emotions about Super Bowl advertising. Should I care because it's my job? Should I just enjoy the game like the rest of the world and boycott the lame ass idiocy that attempts to pass as advertising? Why can't I get excited this year?

Perhaps it's that I've written about so many Super Bowl ads over the past eight years, I simply can't get excited about seeing the same old stupidity over and over again. Go Daddy? Oh please. Another "men are idiots" beer ad? Gag. The eTrade babies? Make it stop!

Perhaps it's that I've heard everything there is to hear and viewed everything there is to view before the ads ever hit TV. There used to be an anticipation for something NO ONE could EVAR see until it appeared during the game. No longer. The ads are everywhere. And not just for journalists and bloggers. Many marketers toss there stuff up on YouTube well in advance of the game. So all that goes on inside my head during the game is a running commentary, "Yup, seen that. Predictable. Seriously? Yup, knew that was coming. Yup, that's as stupid as I thought it would be. Danica Patrick. Yawn. Guy throws a phone across a locker room. Check. Beer babes wrestling. Oh wait, that was pretty good! The Clydesdales. OK, not bad. Man sneaks beer into party under giant cheese wheel. Oh for fuck's sake. Talking babies. Talking animals. Monkeys. Can't wait until this fucking game is over so I can go back to watching some decent programming with ads that don't try so hard they shoot themselves in the foot before they end up in the can."

Perhaps it's laziness. Why go to the effort of blogging/tweeting/tagging/commenting/uploading ads when everyone else is doing the same thing. We used to care what Bob Garfield said. Does anyone give a shit any longer? Does anyone give a shit what what I have to say? And, no, I'm not equating myself to Bob Garfield. But does anyone really care what I have to say about the ads? Why is my opinion any more important than anyone else's?

Perhaps it's scheduling difficulties. I'll be stuck at a conference Monday after game day. While the rest of the world is blogging and bitching about the ads, I'll be slinging some mindlessly irrelevant blather on a panel about social media. And who really gives a shit about that? Super Bowl ad commentary or social media platitudes. It's like choosing between getting my left eye poked out or my right.

Maybe it's because the world has become so politically correct, the chance of me seeing anything interesting is about as likely as my chance of ever writing for Advertising Age. Giant breasted women in bikinis mud wrestling? Those days are gone. A gerbil shooting out of a cannon? Nope. A hot girl that says "throw it to me. I'm gonna be wide open?" Too offensive. Suicidal robots? Never. A Snickers kiss? Not a chance. A Salesgenie ad featuring Asians and Indians? You know the answer to that one. In our quest to become sensitive to everything, we have become a risk-averse, spineless, humorless nation afraid of everything.

OK, whatever. Follow me @adrants or @stevehall. I'm sure I'll have something ridiculously irrelevant to say about the ads during the game. And I'll be drinking. So it could be good.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-10    
Topic: Opinion, Super Bowl 2010



CBS Says No to Golfers With Heads Up Their Ass For Super Bowl

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Seems everyone wants to be GoDaddy these days. With yet another Super Bowl approaching, more and more advertisers are releasing the "banned" versions of their commercial online where standards and practices aren't so stringent. Now it's kgb's turn.

kgb is an SMS service that lets people text questions and get answers so they don't end up looking like an idiot in front of their friends. Or, in the case of this commercial, with their head up their ass.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 1-10    
Topic: Strange, Super Bowl 2010