Congratulations to Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, and the other Indianapolis Colts. I like my winners to win…I can’t get with the whole underdog thing. Sure, I empathize, and I know everybody feels good when the little guy wins (or the guy who can’t seem to get a first down), but I see no point in trying to be the little engine that could. We never hear if that little engine ever made it again…and what if that was the one great thing that happened to it and all it ever did from then on was live on its memories, never getting past that one moment, and constantly haranguing anyone within earshot with its one story of glory? Reruns are only good if you find something new with each retelling. But that’s not my main point today, and I am probably missing several points about the whole underdog thing at any rate, so on to my real rant: Why I Just Don’t Care About Super Bowl Ads.
Actually, very few commercials, Super Bowl or otherwise, reach the forefront of my waking world, which may be a bit hypocritical since advertising is huge part of how I earn my chicken croquettes. But I see no reason to watch the Super Bowl just for the ads (though I did keep it on for the actual football) in an age where information is easily disseminated in various forms and is readily available whenever is most convenient for me. I know it’s a heavily watched event and that the commercials have become an annual ritual for a lot of people as well. But how effective is it really? The only reason to watch is so you aren't totally clueless when you chat with your coworkers the next day, who are probably watching for the same reason. Here at GO, we are fans of the kind of football where you actually use your feet (being an international design unit and all), so none of us planned to watch the game. (Although I did because all the other channels just assume that you aren’t watching them and run crap during those 3–4 hours.) And if I were really interested in the commercials, I probably could have found them online before the game, Gizmodo has them up right now, and I’m sure they'll filter through to my consciousness whenever I watch TV. But the only commercials I actually remember are usually those done by Crispin Porter because they are (a) annoying, (b) ubiquitous, and (c) occasionally good (their leeches/Anti-smoking/Anti-drug one—ed. because they didn't even do that one good one I liked, so good on you, whoever does Above the Influence). But am I going to buy Bud just because I like their commercial? No, because if I want to drink a beer, I want to drink a good beer. If your product sucks, your product sucks, no matter how much money you throw into primetime advertising. Let’s not forget that the message is just as important as the means and the manner through which it is distributed.