After the first half of the Super Bowl, the Baltimore Ravens are up 21 to 6. But these days, what a lot of people (especially those who may not particularly care about sports) want to know at halftime is, what are the best, or most notable, commercials so far? Here's the stand-out picks for the best of the first half of Super Bowl XLVII. Keep in mind, there were runners up, so if you feel there's an ad that deserves to be up here, let us know in the comments!
Audi: "Prom"
This ad was just charming: a high-school loser with no one to take to prom gets to drive his dad's Audi. It gives him enough courage to park in the Principal's spot, walk right in, and kiss the prom queen out of nowhere. It's a fantasy ad, so of course she doesn't feel disgusted or violated, but instead enthralled by his "Audi-acity" (I'm trademarking that - call me, Audi). Moral of the story? You might end up with a punch in the face, but Audi will give you the confidence to make your move, as long as you're a teenager.
Go Daddy: "The Kiss"
Was this an attempt at charm the audience as well? This nerd-gets-the-girl commercial grossed out a lot of people, who used GoDaddy's #thekiss hashtag to express their distaste at the ad's close-up, highly-audible, squishy kissing sequence. It stood out though, if only because GoDaddy managed to make a kiss by supermodel Bar Refaeli seem unpalatable.
Best Buy: Best Super Bowl Commercial?
The funniest of the half: a simple concept with perfect execution. Amy Poehler managed to make an otherwise unremarkable Best Buy commercial hilarious, repeatedly asking a Best Buy employee tech-ignorant questions about whether LTE is a communicable disease and where "the cloud" is and whether they were currently inside it. The best was a question at the end about an e-reader: "Will this read 50 Shades of Gray to me in a sexy voice?" she asks. "No," answers the Best Buy guy. "Will you?"
Go Daddy: "Your Big Idea.com"
Anyone who publishes online knows what get-there-first anxieties this commercial is getting at. Several people across the globe are talking about the same "big idea" that they each had, independently of each other. Only one person hits it big (Surprise! It's the guy who registered with GoDaddy). It ends with the fastest person to register his big idea in a private jet, asking the "sky waitress" for "more everything!"
Volkswagen: "Get In. Get Happy."
More along the lines of "the Kiss" Go Daddy spot, this ad stood out, if only because it feels distasteful. There has already been controversy about this ad, in the run-up to the Super Bowl, but I thought that maybe in the context of the other commercials, this might somehow shake off the disconcerting racial tinge. And I get it, you want the VW Beetle to have a fun work-free vibe. Nonetheless, equating the Jamaican with the no-work, carefree vibe isn't a great move. It did stand out from the crowd though.