Not So Super Bowl

The biggest advertising venue of the year put 100 million eyeballs on puppets, puppies, and patriotism. Even though the actual game was lopsided and many of the multi-million dollar ads were reruns, marketing this big deserves some gushing from the Hydrant.

The Toyota Muppet carjack was more Sesame Street music video than car ad but was nostalgic for the baby boomers demographic. The Go Daddy ad featuring a hand puppet entrepreneur quitting her job on national TV was a fresh concept for a company whose ads are often over-sexed and under-relevant.

Sadly (or happily for canines) the game went to the dogs in every quarter. Even the Budweiser Clydesdale fell for a cute little puppy. The Cheerios’ ad featuring an adorable six-year-old who holds her dad hostage for a puppy touched young parents, and the young cowboy who rides his oversized dog to rescue the Doritos entertained Bowl-watching families. Audi’s comical commercial featuring a computer-generated Doberhuahua got all the buzz, but its connection to cars was dubious and the CGI bizarre.

Patriotic ads abounded. I smiled during the cartoon Peanuts’ piano-playing Schroeder banging out the National Anthem for MetLife, the NFL’s hands across America while reading the Preamble and the Budweiser “Coming Home” ad featuring Lt. Chuck Nadd. Coca Cola’s “It’s Beautiful” commercial attempted to tug at our American heart strings with a rendition of “America the Beautiful” sung in eight languages. Strangely, this innocuous tribute to multiculturalism unleashed an age-old “We speak English in America” sentiment on Twitter.

Although the game wasn’t much of a competition, it was a satisfying evening for Seahawks fans. Seattle’s victory is sweet for our client Stroum JCC in Seattle and Mercer Island. For you we say, “Congratulations on your first Super Bowl victory!”