This year's commercials saw your expected advertisers, (Bud Light, Coke, Pepsi,) movie trailers, and a few newcomers to the game(TeleFlora, Groupon, HomeAway). Here are my three favorite ads this year:
Doritos - "The Best Part"
Budweiser - "Wild West"
Any commercial that ends in an 'Almost Famous'-like rendition of 'Tiny Dancer' gets extra points in my book. Did you notice the cowboy asking for the Bud was Peter Stormare? He's been in everything from Fargo to The Big Lebowski to Armageddon, Constantine, 8mm. I could go on and on about him. One of my favorite character actors.
Chrysler 200 - "Imported From Detroit"
This was as much a commercial for the city of Detroit as it was for Chrysler. It was also the second ad of the evening that featured Eminem. He was, or should I say his image was, in an ad for Lipton Brisk earlier in the game. Reportedly, Mr. Mathers received a $1 million paycheck to use his image and voice for the Lipton ad. The details of his compensation for the Chrysler ad have not been released. Due to his love for his hometown, Detroit, it's likely he settled for a lower amount. In the Chrysler ad, he said only 11 words.
While the first two ads were funny, this one had substance. It was moving. For the first time in my adult life, it made me realize the importance of buying an American automobile. When I'm walking through the aisles of the store, I'm not going to remember the Dorito's ad or the Budweiser ad when it comes to my next grocery purchase. When it comes time to purchase my next vehicle, I'm sure as hell going to remember Chrysler. They claimed they spent less than $9 million on the commercial. The ad took up two minutes of airtime. At a price tag of $3 million for every 30 seconds, it cost them $12 million to air it. Something tells me it was a good investment. They hit this one out of the park.
