As is tradition, the commercials aired during the Super Bowl
garnered nearly as much attention as the game itself:
ADVERTISING AGE: This morning on ABC's "Good Morning
America," AD AGE's Bob Garfield picked winners and losers.
WINNERS: No Fear "Bull Rider" -- "They see themselves as sort of
the next Nike. They're trying to build brand image. This
commercial isn't about sporting apparel, it's about having no
fear. And they certainly have no fear, because they spent a
million dollars and didn't even tell anybody who they are";
Wilson's "David & Goliath"; Lee Jeans' "Support Group";
Budweiser's "Frogs" -- "Simplicity itself." LOSER: Nike's
Hopper -- "Big disappointment" (ABC, 1/30).
USA TODAY'S "AD METER": USA Today assembled 59 volunteers,
chosen by Gallup, and charted their reactions to all the Super
Bowl ads on a scale of one-to-ten. TOP 10: Pepsi's Boy in
Bottle (9.66); Pepsi's Truck Drivers (9.41); Pepsi's Vending
Machine (8.76); Rold Gold's George 'Chutes Into Game (8.73);
McDonald's Super Bowl Buddies Make it to Game (8.50); Anheuser-
Busch's Iggy at Bud Bowl (8.39); Lee Jeans' Vibrating Store
(8.34); Lee Jeans' Mens Jeans on Mannequin (8.17); Budweiser
Frogs (8.02); Bud Light Dog Show (7.94). BOTTOM 5: Quaker State
(5.40); Honda's Keith Haring II (5.33); Ford Explorer (5.31);
Burger King "Used Cars" (5.20); Tylenol (5.17). The Pepsi spots
were produced by BBDO, and the Boy In The Bottle spot was the Ad
Meter's top rated commercial ever (Dottie Enrico, USA TODAY,
1/30).
ATLANTA CONSTITUTION: Jeffry Scott writes, "Instead of
spectacular ads, for the most part, Madison Avenue's finest
dudded through the night like a seamless stream of remorseless
Bud Bowls." High points included Pepsi, "which may yet make Coke
rethink its strategy of leaving the Super Bowl playing field to
its rival" (ATL. CONSTITUTION, 1/30).
WASHINGTON POST: Tom Shales writes the Dorito's Ann
Richards-Mario Cuomo was the only spot "that lived up to its
hoopla." The Pepsi Boy in the Bottle Spot was "creepy ...
hideous and stupid." But Pepsi did score with the truck driver-
diner spot. The Nike-Dennis Hopper ad was a "soggy fizzle."
Shales also notes, "There was a surprising shortage of minority
faces in the commercials that aired during the program"
(WASHINGTON POST, 1/30).
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES: Ernest Hopper writes that Rold Gold's
Parachute ad was "the surprise of the night," but, "in the final
analysis, Pepsi and Lee had the best collection of commercials"
(ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 1/30).
