The big game is over. But who won the bigger game? Reviewing the reviews of Super Bowl ads Monday morning, it seems that Google, Snickers and Doritos did well. Dodge was polarizing, scoring very high and very low. Usual favorite Bud Light didn’t fare so well this year, but GoDaddy, once again playing the see-more-flesh-on- the-Web hand, was the biggest loser, by far.
Loved or hated, the ads got bang for the buck.
Rates were down a little from last year, to about $2.6 million per 30 seconds, and the telecast Sunday drew the most viewers for a TV program ever, its 106.5 million watchers edging out the “MASH” finale’s 106 million (albeit in 1983, a time of much smaller population).
OUTLET: USA Today Ad Meter (public panel)
BEST: Guy plays football like Betty White for Snickers
WORST: Danica Patrick gets a massage for GoDaddy.com
OUTLET: James Poniewozik, Time.com
BEST: Google’s “surprisingly sweet love-story-via-Web search” (one of several favorites)
WORST: Dodge Charger, “misogynistic” and “jarringly ugly”
OUTLET: Bob Garfield, Advertising Age
BEST: Dodge Charger, Audi “Green Police” and FloTV
WORST: GoDaddy.com, “a national embarrassment”
OUTLET: MediaCurves.com Super Bowl Ad Test
BEST: Budweiser’s Clydesdale and bull friendship
WORST: Danica Patrick’s GoDaddy massage
OUTLET: Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune
BEST: Dodge Charger, a self-mocking spin through a modern man’s compromises
WORST: GoDaddy.com, an Internet company that hasn’t had a fresh idea in years
OUTLET: Seth Stevenson, Slate
BEST: “Google wins,” says headline
WORST: “Talking babies (E-Trade) lose”
OUTLET: Zap2It.com
BEST: Betty White Snickers spot (first on list of several)
WORST: Bud Light “Asteroid” heading toward Earth (first on a list of several)
OUTLET: Wall Street Journal survey of viewers, ad execs
BEST: Denny’s panicky chickens score big
WORST: The U.S. Census Bureau does not
OUTLET: TiVo analysis of ad that most engaged device users
BEST: Doritos “House Rules,” with kid sticking up for single mom
WORST: No worst cited
OUTLET: BrandBowl2010.com, an analysis of Tweets about the ads
BEST: Doritos had the highest volume, though No. 2, Google, had more positive Tweets
WORST: Budweiser Select 55
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sajohnson@tribune.com
