• by Bob DeSena , February 8, 2011

When we last discussed the evolving role and nature of content in the MediaTech industry there was a concession of sorts (by me) that the content king might have slipped a notch to tech's senior partner. Then we had Super Bowl Sunday. And content was king once again, for a day.

Somewhere in Dallas a football game may have broken out, but it's unclear if anyone really cares any more. With the multimedia/multiplatform pre-event (I mean game) hype, the pre game marathon shows, the post-game shows and interviews, and the main event, the commercials, we have officially entered the realm of the supersizing of a singular piece of content.

And then come the days after, the You Tube views of each spot, the everyone's got-an-opinion, the "consensus" view of the winners. I mean, agencies have been fired because their post-event Super Bowl scores (in the newspaper) weren't high enough.

So why not? Here's my take on everything Super, recorded as it happened:

Pre game, Leno/Caliendo was amusing, especially the part where Leno pretended to kill him, a feeling many shared.

The Packers receivers segment was embarrassing. Then I saw the Packers linebackers segment and found myself thinking of all the variations of the word "mortified."

The Chevy spots were high-quality, all day.

Shaq as Terry Bradshaw, words just fail.

Taco Bell spot for Quad Steak (what?) was fun, Groupon's first attempt just average, later attempt difficult to fathom.

Tribute to America with Colin Powell and others, including the football commissioner (the football commissioner, think about it), would be characterized by some as corny, most would say uplifting. I'm in the "most" camp. Sticking to marketing discipline, great brand association for Fox Sports. And the NFL.

Derek Jeter's Ford spot from last year, with kid's reference to Jeter as shortstop, may be sensitive with Brian Cashman. Good. Cashman needs to redeem himself before we care about his hurt feelings.

To the question, can there be too many program promotions? Yes.

Following up the Tribute to America segment, Michael Douglas provided yet more inspiration and showed again how football "gets it" so much more than baseball.

Bud Light spots were their usual high production value and fun, overall best body of work.

Best stuff, as a category, was movie promotions. They have the best stuff to work with.

Re: Go Daddy and Phyllis Diller, see Shaq as Terry Bradshaw comment above...

VW mini Darth a good spot, at this point I'm feeling so many brands trying so hard. Too hard.

I like Black Eyed Peas so I liked the show, great special effects, no wardrobe malfunctions and the guitar player had a great hat.

Fox had a promotion for a "Glee" promotion.

Go Daddy has become predictable, and that's never a creative plus.

By the way, Troy Aikman, of whom I'm not a big fan, had a great game describing the events on the football field. In case anyone watched the game.