Google Ad Provides a Diamond in the Rough in Lackluster Super Bowl Presentation

by Leon Walker

Speaking as an Englishman, to hear someone telling you that they dislike a sport, but watch its biggest game “for the commercials” is a tricky concept to get your head around.

The only sporting events in the UK that come even close to the national TV audience pull of the Super Bowl is when the England national team reaches the knockout stages of the World Cup. And when a game of this nature is on, for even the non-sports fans, the draw is definitely the meat of the game rather than its corporate side dishes.

Google's superbowl ad showcased the ease of use of their iconic search engine

This was the first Super Bowl I’ve watched in the US. My wife’s American, so I have seen several before – but watching “The Greatest Show on Earth” from a plastic chair at 2am in a practically-deserted London branch of Planet Hollywood somehow didn’t seem quite right. Perhaps it was that we had to make do with British advertisements?

So last night, where were the great commercials?

We had the Bud Light Autotune ad with T-Pain, Denny’s commercials promoting eye-popping, free breakfast deals, but a chicken in a tie can only do so much. Even Tim Tebow’s much-talked about pro-life ad wasn’t really controversial enough to write home about.

When CBS started airing a few too many adverts promoting their own shows, viewers were in trouble.

Commercial-wise, the one saving grace was  brought by Google.  Showcasing their search engine – arguably the most widely used technology today – Google poignantly delivered an Apple-esque 30 second spot, with an undertone of a love story.  Despite Google CEO Eric Schmidt once reportedly calling the Super Bowl the “last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America”, Google was the diamond in the rough.  Here is the commercial:

As Nice as the Google commercial ad was, where was Terry Tate? Or anything else to rival some of the classic ads?

Even the half time show was terrible. Granted, the people who make the decision on who will play the mid-game mini concert are having their options reduced every year – there are only so many acts that can appeal to an audience broad enough.

The Who certainly fit the bill, but last night they were embarrassingly poor – out of place and out of tune. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend looked less like aging rockers growing old disgracefully (ala Jagger and Richards) and more like a couple of Michael Scott’s doing karaoke at an office Christmas party.

Crap adverts, crap band. What are we supposed to do? Watch the actual game?

Luckily for us, the side issue of the actual game delivered an exciting second half. Thank heavens for small mercies.