NEW YORK – Cartoonish violence ruled the day at the annual knockdown competition among advertisers Sunday, as Bud Light, Diet Pepsi, Michelob and Sprint all used physical gags to hawk their wares at the Super Bowl, the most-watched television broadcast of the year.
Borrowing inspiration from Buster Keaton, advertisers used mauling bears, flying dinosaurs and even action movie star Jackie Chan to wow viewers with sight gags.
Others went against the grain, such as soap brand Dove, which sent a tender message about self-esteem among teenage girls, and Toyota, which celebrated a bilingual father and son who switch easily between Spanish and English.
Some of the memorable ads:
* In a spot that was reminiscent of the classic short film “Bambi Meets Godzilla,” a hapless caveman is squished under the foot of a giant dinosaur, a final insult after being fired for not using FedEx to deliver an important parcel: The fact that FedEx hadn’t been invented yet just wasn’t a good enough excuse.
* Amber Bock, a brand of Michelob, harkened back to a classic Super Bowl spot featuring Terry Tate as an “office linebacker.” A game of touch football goes awry when a petite female player is floored by a vicious tackle, but she gets her due later in a bar with a decidedly late hit.
* Bud Light, one of the biggest heavyweights of the Super Bowl every year, had an interesting multipart ad featuring a guy who cleverly disguises his fridge stocked with beer from his thirsty friends with a secret revolving door that places the fridge in his neighbors apartment. Hilarity ensues when the neighboring kids start worshipping the “magic fridge.”
* Diet Pepsi got into the act as well with a stunt movie gag starring Jackie Chan and a can of Diet Pepsi. Everything seems to be going fine with the movie shoot until Diet Pepsi’s stunt double, a hapless can of rival Diet Coke, is squashed.
* Ameriquest Mortgage came through with an effective but slightly disturbing ad, this time with a pair of doctors who use fully charged defibrillator paddles to zap an errant fly hovering over a patient. The patient’s wife and daughter get a scare when they walk in and hear the doctor declare: “That killed him.”
* Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame appeared in a spot for the painkiller Aleve. Facing a convention of Star Trek loyalists, Nimoy is able to do his fabled Vulcan open hand, split-finger salute only after a dose.
* No sound was necessary to understand what’s going on in the ad for Full Throttle, a new energy drink from Coca-Cola Co. Family guy unloading groceries ditches his wife for a motorcycle, lured in by the sight of a huge truck carrying the energy drink. Mad Max-inspired vehicles, sumo wrestlers, and other signs of manliness line the streets. A wimpy vehicle powered by competitor Red Bull is, naturally, run off the road.
* Burger King was back in the bowl after an 11-year absence. The fast-food maker put on an elaborate, Ziegfeld follies-esque show with show girls dressed up as burger ingredients.
* Sprint scored laughs with a goofy spot featuring a guy in a locker room who touts the “crime deterrent” ability of his mobile phone – by hurling it straight at the head of another guy after tempting him to try to steal his wallet.
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