MattCreamer.com

The only downside to going to the Super Bowl is not seeing the ads in the context of the game. I just plowed through all the spots, posted here on AdAge.com, and have pulled together my thoughts on the five best and worst.

The Best:

1.  Careerbuilder. The jobs website had a few ads in the game,  the best of which is the one where a grim, desk-bound woman’s (computer-generated) heart crawls out of her chest and goes on to quit her job for her. Besides taking the whole follow-your-heart thing quite literally, the ad creates a striking and somewhat disgusting image and connects it to clear message about work life and, of course, the brand in question.

2. E-Trade. Allergic as I am to kids in movies, TV shows and commerical, the pair of E-Trade spots that dubs an adult trader dude’s monologue over a baby pictured speaking into a webcam about how easy it use to do trades really work. Best snippet of monologue: “Me and the boys were talking about what to do with the extra coin. I said I’m renting a clown.”

3. SalesGenie.com. Who would have thought that a bit of animated, borderline offensive ethnography as written by the CEO of a sales lead-generation company would actually work? Against all odds, the adventures of two Chinese-accented pandas named Ling Ling and Ching Ching and an Indian salesman named Ramesh (who speaks in a cartoonish Apu-like accent) are kind of engaging and surprisingly cute, despite all of the sociological sophistication of an old Warner Bros. cartoon. I’m not sure why the company would stray into such potentially offensive territory, but I’m glad they did.

4. Bridgestone. Speeding on a dark road, a driver avoids a deer and a lurking Alice Cooper, but a third potential target sets up a cosmic dilemma: Whether or not to run down the excruciating  human sight gag that is Richard Simmons. The driver chooses to just buzz the tower. Weird, funny, and beautifully done.

5. Procter & Gamble’s Tide-to-Go. The only reason this isn’t number-one is because it’s been in circulation for a while. The setting is a job interview in which an obnoxious stain keeps talking over a frustrated candidate dominating the interviewer’s attention. It’s a hilarious yet extremely relevant way to communicate the practical  benefits of nothing more exciting than a bleach pen.

The Worst

1. Dell. How does the computer-maker decide to trumpet its partnership with (Product) Red, an effort to help the AIDS-afflicted in Africa? By ever-so-lamely painting the red laptop as a chick magnet. With no explanation of the charity in question, all the ad seeks to do is capitalize on the abstract goodwill created by the enormously popular Red. This is cause marketing at its worst.

2. Toshiba. As Blu-Ray takes over the world, Toshiba is leaning on price to advertise its HD DVD players–price and a horribly, amateurish commercial. Why bother?

3.  Audi. With a pointless 60-second ad, the carmaker riffs on legendary horse head scene from “The Godfather.” I have no idea what that has to do with legendary cars, but I do know this was too far to go for too little payoff. It’s argument for never, ever making any ad longer than 30 seconds.

4. Frito-Lay’s Doritos.  Neither of Doritos’ two spots was that bad on its own, but together they sent an inconsistent message. And, by the same token, neither was that good. One was an attempt to continue the brand’s audience-participation platform–started in last year’s Super Bowl. This year, it solicited songs from average joes and then had a professional music video produced the winner, which is a Lilith Fair sorta ditty that has little to do with Doritos brand.

5. Hershey’s Ice Breakers. Carmen Electra. Enough said.