A Look at the Best And Worst of the Super Bowl XLIV Commercials--Links Added

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints. You finished what has been a magical season for the Saints by winning the franchises first Super Bowl, and have brought hope to a city that felt hopeless after the devastation and destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

Now that I have taken care of the obligatory congratulations to the new champions, let’s forget about Drew Brees, his 288 passing yards, two touchdowns, and MVP trophy, and talk about the other big story of the Super Bowl---the commercials of course.

Here are the Super Bowl XLIV Commercial Superlatives.

Funniest: Doritos, Jalen Smacks Mom’s Date

In a year with quite a few good entries in the funniest category, little Jalen slapping and telling mom’s date not to touch his Doritos or his mom takes the cake.  Well done Doritos.

Runner-up: Snickers, Betty White and Abe Vigoda

Least funny attempt to be funny: Doritos, Anti-Bark Collar

Shortly before hitting gold with little Jalen, Doritos laid a big egg with the anti-barking collar.  This is a prime example of a complete swing and miss in the funny department. 

Runner-up: Bud Light, Plane Crash Party

Best in the non-humor category: Flo TV, The Who-My Generation

Right before The Who’s halftime performance, Flo TV launched a commercial featuring The Who’s classic My Generation that chronologically showed actual footage of many of modern history’s most important events.  The result was a well-timed and well-constructed advertisement.

Runner-up: Google, Searching Through Life

Best Celebrity Cameo: Snickers, Betty White and Abe Vigoda

In what also registers as one of the funniest commercials of the night, the body of a guy playing tackle football with his buddies in the mud is overtaken by Betty White due to his poor play.  Once he powers up with a Snickers, he returns to his former self.  The spot ends with Abe Vigoda, having taken over the body of the quarterback, getting tackled into the mud. 

Runner-up: Volkswagen, Stevie Wonder and Tracy Morgan

Most creative: Coca-Cola, The Simpsons

Coca-Cola continued their trend of releasing light feel-good commercials with their Simpsons commercial.  The commercial told the story of Montgomery S. Burns overcoming financial woes with the help of the characters of the Simpson, and a Coke of course.

Runner-up: Flo TV, The Who-My Generation

Strangest: Monster.com, Beaver Playing the Violin

Monster continued their trend of releasing odd commercials with a spot featuring a violin playing beaver who finds fame using Monster.com.  Just plain weird.

Runner-up: Dockers, We Don’t Wear Pants

Commercial that left you thinking, what?: Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret, Dolphin People

I am not quite sure what they were shooting for here.  In this confusing spot, people jumped and flipped like dolphins for the reward of either an Emerald nut or a piece of Pop Secret popcorn.  The trainer’s odd green suit made things that more difficult to understand. 

Runner-up: Census 2010, Snapshot of the World

Most ridiculous: Career Builder.com, Casual Fridays

Casual Friday was a ridiculous, but also very funny commercial.  The commercial centered on the one guy in the office who refused to follow the casual Friday rules set forth by his company.  What made the commercial a great combination of odd and funny was that this company’s casual Friday meant undies only.  On a side note, did anyone else notice the back-to-back pants free commercials when this one was followed by the Dockers spot?

Runner-up: Doritos, Dorito Warrior

Most Worthy of No Comment: Focus on the Family, Tim Tebow

Runner-up: Taco Bell, Charles Barkley Rap

Best New Movie Trailer: Robin Hood

In a year with no standout movie trailer, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood takes home the award.  Russell Crowe stars in what looks to be an epic version of the story of Sherwood Forest’s finest.

Runner-up: Alice in Wonderland

Commercial that simply needs to go away: Budweiser, Clydesdale and Longhorn

I thought it was over.  I though Budweiser finally realized that the Clydesdale and Dalmatian commercials were never any good.  Then, with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter, it happened.  This one was about a Clydesdale and a longhorn that were friends as foal and calf, and the strength of their friendship as they grew to be stallion and bull.  It was as bad as it sounds.

Runner-up: Go Daddy.com, all of them

Best Overall: McDonald’s, LeBron, Dwight, and Larry Legend

What started as a fun dunk off between LeBron James and Dwight Howard, a remake of the classic Jordan and Bird McDonald’s commercial, took a turn a turn for the funny at the end when Bird made an appearance, prompting James and Howard to question, “Who is that?”  “I have no idea.”  Very good indeed.

Runner-up: Doritos, Jalen Smacks Mom’s Date

Worst Overall: Bud Light, the whole lot of them

Bud Light continued to disappoint with another round of ridiculous attempts at humor.  From the Bud Light House to the Plane Crash Party, Bud Light really dropped the ball this year.

Runner-up: Budweiser, Clydesdale and Longhorn

Final Grade: B

The night started off very quickly, with the LeBron/Howard commercial airing right before kick-off and Jalen Smacks Mom’s Date and Betty White and Abe Vigoda both airing during the first quarter.  Things slowed down after that, but there were some nice ads throughout.  All-in-all it was a pretty good Super Bowl’s worth of commercials to compliment what was a very good Super Bowl.

What was your favorite Super Bowl XLIV commercial? 

Which commercials that I left out deserve recognition on my list? 

What final grade would you give the Super Bowl XLIV commercials?