Now Iraq is Affecting Our TV Commercials?!?

A New York Times article claims that the war in Iraq was lurking just below the surface of all those Super Bowl commercials:

No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago. But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below the surface of many of this year’s commercials.

More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.

For instance, in a commercial for Bud Light beer, sold by Anheuser-Busch, one man beat the other at a game of rock, paper, scissors by throwing a rock at his opponent’s head.

In another Bud Light spot, face-slapping replaced fist-bumping as the cool way for people to show affection for one another. In a FedEx commercial, set on the moon, an astronaut was wiped out by a meteor. In a spot for Snickers candy, sold by Mars, two co-workers sought to prove their masculinity by tearing off patches of chest hair.

There was also a bank robbery (E*Trade Financial), fierce battles among office workers trapped in a jungle (CareerBuilder), menacing hitchhikers (Bud Light again) and a clash between a monster and a superhero reminiscent of a horror movie (Garmin).

It was as if Madison Avenue were channeling Doc in “West Side Story,” the gentle owner of the candy store in the neighborhood that the two street gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fight over. “Why do you kids live like there’s a war on?” Doc asks plaintively. (Well, Doc, this time, there is.)

During other wars, Madison Avenue has appealed to a yearning for peace. That was expressed in several Super Bowl spots evocative of “Hilltop,” the classic Coca-Cola commercial from 1971, when the Vietnam War divided a world that needed to be taught to sing in perfect harmony.

Coca-Cola borrowed pages from its own playbook with two whimsical spots for Coca-Cola Classic, “Happiness Factory” and “Video Game,” that were as sweet as they were upbeat. The commercials, by Wieden & Kennedy, provided a welcome counterpoint to the martial tone of the evening.

Those who wish the last four years of history had never happened could find solace in several commercials that used the device of ending an awful tale by revealing it was only a dream.

This analysis is probably correct. Iraq malaise could be affecting TV commercials. But rather than probe the commercials that closely, Spaulding prefers to just state the obvious -- this year's Super Bowl commercials just flat out sucked.

Here is a look at five commercials Spaulding can't believe the company spent $2.5 million for 30 seconds to run:

Emerald Nuts

So, lemme get this straight. If I eat nuts nobody messes with my desk... What if I eat raisins, or an apple? Will some obscure celebrity come and clean up my workspace?



Bud Light

Bud reminds us that apes aren't as smart as humans...something only their consumers would need to be reminded of.



Bud Light

You throw a rock at somebody's head just so you can get a bottle of beer. You know who isn't getting any beer? The guy who threw the rock while he does eight to 10 at the county pen.



Snickers

Homophobia...great, such a modern mindset. Does this mean you'll be selling your product at 1968 prices?



Bud Light

Break down everyone into stereotypes and then making fun of immigrants! What a great way to sell beer!



These ads are deplorable. Someone just make them stop. Bring back animated frogs, tell me where the beef is, have Michael Jordan sell me something -- anything -- just don't make me sit through more of this crap.

I'm sure it tested well with the dim witted, but we deserve better. Madison Avenue -- take a do-over during March Madness. Get to work.