Commentary

Out to Launch: Super Bowl Edition, Day 1

Did GoDaddy.com have a Super Bowl ad rejected by CBS? Is the sky blue? The company purchased two ads, running in the first and fourth quarters of the Super Bowl. "Movies" has been approved -- more on that ad later this week -- with a decision on the second ad imminent. The rejected ad is "Lola," a spot about a retired football player named Larry Jones who launched an online clothing business. Did I mention that Larry now goes by Lola? Danica Patrick narrates the ad -- fully clothed, I might add. Patrick draws a timeline of Lola's burgeoning career as a lingerie fashion designer. Pink is his favorite color and GoDaddy helped build his Web site. Stereotypes do run amok, but I've certainly seen worse in Super Bowl ads. Watch the ad here, created in-house.

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If "Lola" was rejected, then ManCrunch.com had no chance. Even though you technically never see the two men kiss, unlike this Snicker's Super Bowl ad that made a mockery out of "Lady and the Tramp." ManCrunch.com is a gay men's dating site whose ad was rejected by CBS because "creative was not within the network's broadcast standards and the network had difficulty verifying ManCrunch.com's credit status." I understand the bit about wanting to get paid, but how did an anti-abortion ad for Focus on the Family, causing controversy in its own right, make it into the Super Bowl? No, seriously. Explain it to me. The ManCrunch.com ad shows two men watching football, separated by a bowl of potato chips. Be sure to check out the signs hanging above the man that say, "No entry" and "This equipment starts and stops automatically." Both men simultaneously reach for a chip from the small bowl. A passionate kiss follows. We don't really see the kiss, but viewers should be able to get it. The spot ends with Mancrunch.com's tag line, "where many many many men come out and play," and pans outward to show a third friend in a nearby chair, eating a chicken wing. See the ad here, created in-house.

Now here's a company that's actually a part of Sunday's event: Bridgestone is running two ads during the first and third quarters of the game. The company is notorious for releasing great teasers prior to the game. Two years ago, Richard Simmons and a screaming squirrel were used. Last year, Mrs. Potato Head had me excited for the full-length ad. This year's teasers fail to leave me with that same feeling. I'm mildly intrigued by "Whale of a Tale," a teaser starring three friends and a killer whale driving towards the ocean. My first thought was, the kid from "Free Willy" grew up and continued his whale-rescuing crusade. The pier is long and the whale is running out of time. Will the guys speed down the pier and stop in time to release the whale and save its life? See the teaser here. "Your Tires or Your Life" doesn't do it for me. It's raining, cars are speeding, a woman is wearing a rubber dress and suspicious-looking men are stealing tires. What do you think will happen? See the teaser here. The Richards Group created the ads.

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