Super Bowl Ad Review – Worth Watching?

We’re going to read a lot the next couple days about the Super Bowl. Yes, probably a little about Peyton Manning, the Colts and the weather. But likely a lot more about the ads in between plays – how good they were, which will be remembered (good and bad), and what it all meant.

It was actually fun watching some of the real-time blogging going on during the game, as some pundits offered instant reviews of each spot. A quick recap of one is here, as well as a March Madness-style competition among MSNBC readers to choose the best ad.

In general, I was a bit disappointed this year. Not a ton of creativity across the board, and far less viewer interactivity than I expected. Despite a couple fairly well done consumer-generated ads (for Doritos twice, and also for the NFL), I expected more brands to use their $2.6-million Super Bowl ad to kick off a longer “Web 2.0-style” campaign, getting viewers (and ultimately Web site visitors) engaged in a longer brand experience.

Alas, the brand that tried hardest to do this was Snickers, who produced one of the worst Super Bowl ads in recent memory.

Other ads worth noting:

Bud Light: Always good for a good laugh, they had several ads featuring a wide variety of punchline types. The ads that played best were (surprise, surprise) animal ads.

Careerbuilder: Thank goodness the monkey ads are gone, and the “office survivor” theme was entertaining. I could watch those ads over and over, and likely discover each time a new, highly creative element deep within the ad. Things like the post-it outfit, the three-ring binder hat, etc. All very clever, and well targeted.

Snickers: Bad, bad, bad. Not worth any more words.

Nationwide: Great use of Kevin Federline. I still can’t believe they talked him into doing this.