Commentary

Out to Launch: Super Bowl Edition, Day 2

1The chimps are back, following a five-year hiatus. Careerbuilder is bringing chimpanzees back during the third quarter of the game. The animals work for Yeknom Industries (monkey spelled backwards), alongside one human employee. He gets the brunt of the abuse, naturally. In "Parking Lot," our human employee is the middle layer of a car sandwich. A chimp parks over the line, making it impossible for the human to open his driver-side door. The human decides to exit through the passenger-side door, when "Ron" slams into his car, sandwiching him inside. "Stuck between a bad job and a hard place," asks a voiceover. "Careerbuilder.com. Start building." Watch the ad here, created in-house.

2Volkswagen is running two Super Bowl spots in the second quarter and fourth quarter, promoting the Beetle and Passat. A teaser ad for "Black Beetle" stars an actual black beetle zooming through a mossy forest. See it here. And that's pretty much all that happens in the full 30-seond spot. The beetle is on a mission and nothing will stand in his way -- not centipedes, fire ants or praying mantis. When the beetle jumps from a log onto a rock, his profile becomes the automobile's profile. "The 21st century Beetle. Coming this fall," closes the spot. I enjoyed "The Force" more. A child dressed as Darth Vader roams his house, looking for ways to use The Force. He can't will the washing machine on, move a doll from a bed or force his adorable dog off his doggie bed. Feeling down, he tries one last time to use The Force on Dad's Passat. Lo and behold, the car turns on -- much to the shock of mini Darth Vader, but of no surprise to Dad, who used his remote keypad from inside the kitchen. Deutsch LA created the ads.

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3How do you follow up a Super Bowl ad that essentially revived the career of Betty White? All eyes are on you, Snickers. The brand is continuing with its "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign with a Super Bowl ad running in the third quarter. "Logging" stars Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr as chainsaw-wielding loggers who are cranky, hungry and did I mention chainsaw-wielding? I expect it will be funny, but I can't imagine it besting Betty White. I can see it besting Liza Minelli and Aretha Franklin, though. See the teaser ad here, created by BBDO New York.

Audi update: Remember that Audi Super Bowl ad I wrote about yesterday? Well, this morning, the snow gods aligned and I previewed the entire 60-second spot. Bad news is, I can't post it or tell you who makes an amusing final scene cameo. The person is totally unexpected until halfway through the ad, when an obvious hint is dropped  -- but it's not until the very last scene that said person materializes. I think you'll like it.

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