Yes, I watched the Superbowl, and of course I paid attention to the commercials. This year I was struck with a particular feeling that was hard to put my finger on, and it was a bit unsettling. I felt a tinge of sadness, as if I was looking at the world through a strange, dystopian lens. But sadness for what, I wonder. Am I changing, or is the ad world changing… is society at large changing? I think the answer is probably YES to all three.

The thing I noticed most was this: Back when I was in school, it seemed like the Superbowl was “the mountaintop” in the ad world- it was where the BIGGEST IDEAS, biggest productions, & most innovative spots were unveiled for the world to see. But the older I get, the more I see things differently. This year I looked at the spectacle not thru the eyes of an ambitious student struggling to understand ‘The Masters’, but as a grizzled veteran struggling to find merit in the (mostly) shallow concepts on the screen. That’s not to say I could necessarily do any better, because it’s like this: You might have the most amazing ideas the world has ever seen, but there’s a machine that was running long before you got your foot in the door. You’d better hope your parts fit into that machine; cuz the machine is damn well not changing for you.  To me, the only thing I still found “big” about most of these ideas was a cartoonish, ‘fantastical’ vibe & fantastic budgets.

I guess it all depends on what your definition of a “big idea” is. I always thought that it should be something that uncovers some small piece of the human condition and then does a fantastic job of explaining how the product provides the solution to (or at least plays some part in) that condition. In this year’s Superbowl, I saw a lot of seemingly “big” ideas that actually don’t mean anything- they just take your mind off of your reality, which might be bland, or painful, or a combination of both. And that’s the whole point, really- people watching the Superbowl don’t want to think about anything more complex that the score of the game, the length of a cheerleader’s skirt, or the size of the beer resting atop their Santa belly.

I’d love to see a collection of “small” ideas that are actually HONEST. I want to be able to personally relate to what I’m seeing on the screen. I want to be able to watch a spot and say, “YES, I understand what they’re going thru!!!” Rather than watch a spot and say “What a bunch of fucking (insert Douchebags, Bros, Yuppies, Trailer Trash, or Assholes here.) I felt absolutely NO connection- intellectual, emotional, or otherwise to about 90% of the advertising concepts that aired during the big game. Honestly, if I ever get really excited because somebody left a tub of Bud Light on my kitchen countertop then the world as I know it has ceased to exist.

Not EVERYTHING I saw during the game was horrible. I did like the VW ‘little kid Darth Vader’ spot. It exhibited some real truth, and did it in an endearing way. I also liked the Audi “Luxury Prison” ad, because I’m a sucker for anything that makes fun of old, rich fuckwads, and/or Kenny G. The Chrysler 200 “Imported From Detroit” spot was well done, but you have to overlook the real life ass-fucking that Detroit took from the very same corporations that “champion” the city now in order to enjoy the TV version of it. One of the ‘fan favorites’ according to the polls I’ve read was the Doritos ad where the dude is taunting the pug with his Doritos. What I saw when I watched the spot was a sadistic little turd hoping to watch his girlfriend’s dog smash his cute little mug against a glass door. And what kind of dickhead would enjoy doing that? I would have liked it much more if the pug chewed the guy’s face off after he broke down the door.

So anyways, IMHO it wasn’t ALL bad, but it was most certainly more bad than good. I thought there was nothing even close to last year’s Google “Parisian Love” spot, which I found absolutely beautiful in every way. That spot was simple and honest. Simplicity and honesty- two things that this year’s crop of ads largely failed to deliver.

- Patrick Buchanan