• by Gerry Myers , February 11, 2011

Another Super Bowl is over and now it's time to rate the real winners. Not the Green Bay Packers, but the advertisers. Like many, while it was a great game, I definitely watched the commercials more closely. For the last four years I have written a column for ProfMarketing.com on how women view/respond to the commercials. Many core advertising products such as Budweiser/Bud Light and automotive vehicles were numerous, but most were not outstanding or particularly memorable. Although women make more than 80% of all purchases, Super Bowl ads seem to continuously play toward a very young, male demographic. However, this year, if I was a young male, I would be insulted. Many ads seemed to focus on showing men as dumb, young, violent and stupid.

That's not to say that many ads weren't clever. They were just far between. I agree with the number-one favorite, the VW Darth Vader ad. Living in the fantasy world with the adorable 6-year-old, and watching his eyes as he thinks he made the car's lights flash, is just great advertising. The Best Buy ad with Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber was also excellent. Showing the tech-savvy differences between the two was well done and not insulting to either generation. The Chevy Camaro spot that featured the redheaded teacher had a fun, interesting twist at the end.

The Pepsi Max first date was nostalgic of my dating days, with her wondering many personal things about him while his only thought, until they bought the Pepsi Max to the table, was "I want to sleep with her." Another slice-of-life commercial was the AT&T where the husband forgot the anniversary and works to make things right.

Two others I liked were the etrade baby and the Mini Game Show. While both E*Trade commercials were okay, I thought the one with the tailor measuring the baby for an expensive outfit, the commentary on how he had got the tailor investing for his future and the playful reach for the tailor's beard was good entertainment with a message. The Mini Game Show "Cram It" highlighted the spacious capacity of the Mini vehicle to hold a lot of stuff for busy, active families.

Since the sexist ads of GoDaddy never appeal to me, I did think the Joan Rivers twist at the end brought it to a better place. While Teleflora's ad featuring Faith Hill helping a guy write a note to include with his flowers was still sexist, it was real and a huge improvement over last year, which was one of the worst Super Bowl ads ever.

There were numerous bad ones as well. While some rated the Doritos Pug Dog commercial as likeable, I find anything that threatens or pretends to harm animals in bad taste. The Doritos spot where the man licked the pants is disgusting. I realize that Doritos runs contests to create ads for the Super Bowl, but those who enter are not necessarily those who purchase the product. In fact, as a whole, I thought the Doritos ads were the worst series of the game. Perhaps the Super Bowl isn't the best venue for amateur work.

I thought the Chevy Senior ad was insulting and not funny or informative. It certainly would not get me to consider the vehicle, as a senior or otherwise. CarMax.com, like CareerBuilder, focused more on the lowest, dumbest element of the audience. HomeAway.com was equally bad. And while this list could go on and on, I'll end with the Cars.com Car Talk. Having the cars say they like the topless babe and show a convertible might seem to be clever to some, but could definitely be offensive to others.

For $3 million for a 30-second spot, plus production costs, I would want more for my money than most advertising agencies and their clients seem to want or get.

To see all the ads, click here.