Out to Launch
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Opera, love and a career change are today's Super Bowl ad themes. Let's launch!
  • chobaniThere's nothing exciting about Chobani's first-ever Super Bowl ad, running in the third quarter -- unless you love the music of Bob Dylan or the voice of Mandy Patinkin. A small mountain town is turned upside down when a bear charges the local grocery store, knocking over shelves and sending shoppers running for cover. The bear goes from animal to gentle giant once he finds the food he's looking for: honey-flavored Chobani yogurt. He even rings the bell for customer service. Once he's gone, the store owner surveys the damage and finds everything destroyed but the Chobani yogurt section. The bear daintily picked his yogurt and left the rest in place. "It's hard these days to find food made with only real, natural ingredients," begins voiceover Patinkin. "But at Chobani, it's the only way we know how. A cup of yogurt won't change the world, but how we make it might." Cue the bumbling cop who finally makes it to the scene of the crime. Watch "Ransacked" here, created by Droga5.  Don't forget, the Greek yogurt is competing with rival Oikos during the big game, who reunited the men from "Full House" in its ad. 

  • godaddy2GoDaddy released a teaser ad for the second of its Super Bowl spots, "Surprise." Actor John Turturro introduces an unknown woman -- her name is bleeped out -- who plans to quit her job so she can start her own business. That's certainly something I've never seen done in a commercial. The woman will use a GoDaddy product, its Website Builder, to pursue her dream of turning her hobby into her own business. Only her father and the ad's production crew know about her big leap. The woman's boss won't know until the big game -- let's hope the boss is at least a football fan. Her official resignation and two-weeks' notice will be given post-commercial. See it here. The ad, running at the end of the first quarter, was created by Deutsch NY and directed by Bryan Buckley.

  • cheeriosCheerios is sharing the love in its Super Bowl ad, "Gracie." The ad marks the return of the interracial family showcased in last May's "Just Checking" about an adorable little girl who placed heart-healthy Cheerios on her dad while he napped on the couch. In the brand's big-game ad, Gracie's parents have some important news to share, which they do with Cheerios. The family is about to expand and Gracie will soon have a little brother. Upon hearing the news, Gracie doesn't miss a beat. She moves another Cheerio to the family pile and states: "And a puppy." Dad can't argue with an adorable face like that, so he replies, "Deal." Mom, standing in the background, has this look like, what did you just agree to? It's sweet and priceless. Watch it here, created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York.

  • kiaKia's Super Bowl ad, "The Truth," promotes the K900 luxury sedan by redefining the definition of luxury. Laurence Fishburne reprises his role of Morpheus from "The Matrix" movies, who's now a valet at a fancy restaurant. He offers the couple, who are ready to retrieve their cookie-cutter luxury car, a choice: a red or blue key. The red key offers adventure and something unexpected, while the blue key will send them back to their typical, everyday life. The man doesn't hesitate when selecting the red key, and he's rewarded with a new opinion of a luxury car, along with a guided tour from Morpheus, sitting in the back seat. After Morpheus describes what luxury feels like, he prepares them for the song of luxury: it's Morpheus belting out "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot." His angelic voice (OK, I have to assume Fishburne has a voice double here) is powerful enough to bend a spoon, shatter lightbulbs and propel cars mid-air. Watch an extended version of the Super Bowl spot here, created by David&Goliath.