Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Lame Ads No Longer Must-See TV During Big Game

Remember when Super Bowl commercials were memorable? The advertisements used to be so awesome that they would be water-cooler fodder for weeks after the game. Well, those days are long gone. I guess all the good ideas got used up because the last few years have been terrible.

Before we delve into the possible reasons for this decline, let's take a look back at one of the most creative Super Bowl commercials of all time.

Now that's entertainment. I mean three frogs saying Budweiser? You can't not enjoy that. Hopefully whoever developed that original idea was well compensated after it took off.

Unfortunately, it appears the golden age of Super Bowl ads has passed us by.

What used to be must-see television has become a perfect time to grab another drink or use the bathroom because the chances you miss something noteworthy are extremely low. I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed what are supposed to be elite advertisements.

So, what happened to cause this downfall?

First and foremost, expectations got out of control. The standard was set so high during the late 1990s that people are now expecting greatness every single year. That's a lot of pressure for a group of people with only 30 seconds to work with.

Instead of only having to meet a relatively low threshold to be considered a great commercial, now the bar has been raised so it's almost impossible to leave a lasting impact like the Budweiser frogs did.

Then there's the issue of originality. There just isn't enough outside-of-the-box thinking going on with today's ads. It seems like every time a new commercial airs it has some type of connection to one that's been successful in the past.

If an ad is going to stand out nowadays, it's going to take a company willing to take a chance on something fresh and unique. The same reinvented ideas just aren't catching the attention of the American public anymore.

Hopefully marketing executives have learned from the failures of recent years and have much better things in store of us on Super Sunday this year. Don't get your hopes up, though. We'll probably get more of the same junk once again in 2012.

It's a disappointing trend that doesn't seem to be turning around anytime soon.