Ads left a LOT to be desired

[Kapaibro]

Super Bowl ads draw more fire for insensitivity

Television advertising standards came under fire again this week after several groups called some Super Bowl commercials offensive and demanded they never be aired again.

Advertising experts also gave poor reviews to many of Sunday's Super Bowl commercials, which cost as much as $2.6 million for a 30-second spot, saying they fell short in terms of creativity and sophistication.

Complaints from community groups have gone further, with several demanding spots run for General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet and Masterfoods USA's Snickers be withdrawn.

GM became the subject of sharp criticism when The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention complained about the insensitivity of a commercial by the automaker that showed a factory robot leaping from a bridge after it was fired for a making a mistake.

The group said in a statement the commercial "is offensive to the tens of millions of survivors of suicide loss nationwide. In its carelessness, it portrays suicide as a viable option when someone fails or loses their job."

GM said the spot was not intended to offend anyone.

"Advertising during the Super Bowl brings instant critiques, both positive and negative," it said in a statement. "We have no plans to change the spot."

Super Bowl spots have been under closer scrutiny since the 2004 National Football League championship game, when an outcry over Janet Jackson's exposed breast during a half-time show led to criticism of crude ads during the game and ignited a debate over indecency standards.

This year's advertisement by Masterfoods, a unit of privately-held Mars, showed two auto mechanics locked in an accidental kiss while eating a Snickers candy bar, then ripping out chest hair to prove they are "manly."

"The makers of Snickers and its parent company at Mars should know better," the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement. "If they have any questions about why the ad isn't funny, we can help put them in touch with any number of Americans who have suffered hate crimes."

Masterfoods said that while feedback from its key customers had been positive, it would nonetheless pull the commercial.

"We know that humor is highly subjective and understand that some people may have found the ad offensive," the company said in a statement.

Kelly O'Keefe, executive education director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter, said he wanted to see more marketers take creative, sophisticated risks.

"But I think a lot of people have mixed up taking risks creatively and taking risks that offend people," he said.

"This was a year where a lot of things didn't hit the mark," said O'Keefe. "A few laughs and a whole lot of groans."

Even before the Super Bowl aired on February 4 on CBS, drawing the third largest U.S. television audience ever, the National Restaurant Association called an ad featuring Kevin Federline as a fast-food worker demeaning to the industry.

The commercial by Nationwide Financial Services had not even aired when the group called for it to be dumped.

O'Keefe said sensitivity to the ads can be taken too far, and noted that given the size of the audience for the broadcast "there is probably very little we could do that wouldn't create offense by some group."

CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told a conference this week the network turned away millions of dollars worth of ads it deemed unfit for this year's game.

In one case, he said, the network discussed changing the wording of a film critic's endorsement of the feature film "Hannibal Rising" to remove the word "terrifying."

[mdawg2009]

I didnt like that robot one that was pretty stupid. I liked the one with the beard come over, the rock paper scissors one, the blockbuster one, the go daddy one, and the snickers one.

[NameUsedBefore]

Loved the Snickers one and the CareerBuilders (I always love their commercials).

[CinnaManMan]

Reading about the little science experiment to see what parts of the brain were affected by each commercial and the scientist said something about the economy, I can tell you why they were uneasy:

THEY DIDN'T WANT THE ROBOT TO DIE! I was friggin like: NOOOO!!! Don't die you little not so cute robotic arm! Then it commited suicide! Yea, cute things dying will give negative responses you quacks!

[Kapaibro]

Mouse Click’ spot touting online rentals features rodent-on-rodent violence

There were two Super Bowl winners: The Colts, and the mouse.

Blockbuster’s first-quarter commercial featuring longtime computer-generated pitchmen Carl and Ray (the former a rabbit, the latter a guinea pig) easily ran away with the popular vote on MSNBC.com's highly unscientific readers poll.

As of this afternoon, the spot led the field of 32 ads with 18 percent of the vote. Budweiser's "Rock, Paper, Scissors," was a distant second with 12 percent. More than 80,000 readers cast votes.

The Blockbuster ad features the duo attempting to access the company's new Total Access online rental service by clicking and dragging a mouse. The cheese-eating kind, not the one cubicle drones have their hands permanently fixed to. They don't succeed, with Ray finally yanking it up by the tail saying, "We didn’t plug it in," and the abused rodent quickly responding, "Don't even think about it."

The ad, dubbed "Mouse Click," was an important part of the campaign to get out news about Total Access, said Margaret Landis, Blockbuster's vice president of advertising and customer communications.

"We really had a big venue like the Super Bowl in mind. … We really wanted to wait for the right time," she said. "What better way to talk about online rentals than with Carl and Ray?"

James Woods is the voice of Carl, Jim Belushi is Ray and mouse (he hasn't been given a name yet) is played by Bob Goldthwait. Carl and Ray made their debut in a 2002 Super Bowl Blockbuster spot that won numerous industry awards.

The ads have proved a hit with viewers as the characters are "very entertaining, unexpected and lovable. People always say, 'I can’t believe they said that.’ They’re just fun," Landis said.

She said the company would consider creating another mouse spot: "We'll see, if reaction is as positive as it is today, possibly."

MSNBC.com readers voted by using our unique brackets format, which allowed them to advance ads to different matchups, or simply vote for the best one.

Rounding out the top 10 were Budweiser's "Dogs," Nationwide's "Federline," Snickers' "Manly," Bud Light's "Slap" and "Class," Doritos' "Checkout," GM's "Robot Arm," and Coca-Cola's "Vice."

[BroncoManiac_69]

And I think they should stop showing the commercials BEFORE the Superbowl.

I saw like what? 1/4 of the commercials a week before the SB.

Agreed. The previews etc. take away the surprise factor.

I liked the Sierra Mist one when the guy asked his karate class what they should do if someone took their Sierra Mist. A few silly answers and then the lady says "rip their arms out of their sockets?" He says "better" Then the other lady says "bash em in the face with a lamp?"

LMAO!

[xX-Bronco-Xx]

And I think they should stop showing the commercials BEFORE the Superbowl.

I saw like what? 1/4 of the commercials a week before the SB.

[xX-Bronco-Xx]

My favs too but Snickers really went out there with that one. I liked the gorillas at the zoo.

I expected more but mostly I grade them overall at a C+

Ha I remember the Gorilla one!


That smile just absolutely got me laughing on the floor.

[BroncoManiac_69]

Blockbuster mouse, Bud Light hitchiker/rock-paper-scissors, and probably the Snickers one.

Man, it stirred up the old ****-phobes!

My favs too but Snickers really went out there with that one. I liked the gorillas at the zoo.

I expected more but mostly I grade them overall at a C+

[sbutk]

That Doritos one with the check out counter couple was funny. "We need a clean up at register 7"


As was the Bud Light ax murderer.

CareerBuilder.com had a solid day.

I can't even remember most of the others.

The face slapping one was weird.

I dunno about that, their monkeys were 100X better.

[Jared]

That Doritos one with the check out counter couple was funny. "We need a clean up at register 7"


As was the Bud Light ax murderer.

CareerBuilder.com had a solid day.

I can't even remember most of the others.

The face slapping one was weird.

[sbutk]

The Fan's Super Bowl ad was the one right after the 2 min warning in the 2nd half. It was the one of all the fans putting away their gear after the season was over i believe. You know, the raider fans with their crazy outfits high five each other, the redskins man is slumped in his chair, the Bears fan is taking his fan chair to the garage, the colts fan washes his horse that was spraypainted with the colts logo on it....

Something about the season being officially over now and everyone looking forward to next season. It was a bum commericial. There were a lot better ideas, some funny and some creative. I cant believe they chose that one. I guess it fit alongside all the other ones.

Gotcha, thanks.

[xX-Bronco-Xx]

The english class thing for Bud Light was funny.

"When someone asks you for a Bud Light you say?"

"Me no speak english!"

[sbutk]

Why would anyone want to watch commercials!? Isn't that what we all hate all season? I watched the first 3, saw how lame they were and then skipped through the rest of them with my nifty tivo!!

Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but Super Bowl commercials are an exception. ...I was under the impression most people felt this way.

[The Dark Knight]

The Snickers one was just stupid.

If you are going to do gay humor, try to at least be funny while your doing it.

Otherwise you're just doing it for shock value.

Which I think was their true intention.