I have reviewed Superbowl ads before, and I decided to reprise that practice this year.

The Good
1. The ad that made me laugh first was a Taco Bell ad with two tigers. The tigers are chatting while spying on campers, and one gets focused on saying “carne asada” with a rolling r. It was humorous, and got me to chuckle.

2. There was a Coke ad that was clearly based on the Grand Theft Auto video game series. In it, after a crime spree, a character grabs a cold Coke from a cooler and starts doing nice things. More important than the content of the ad was that it copped the song “You Give a Little Love” from the Bugsy Malone soundtrack, one of my favorites as a kid! Great song, so the ad passes go, collects $200, and secures its spot in my tops list.

3. Third ad that made the cut was another Coke one. There was a white mutt who sees a parade and a dalmation, and uses an ill-timed mud puddle splash to costume himself and secure himself a spot in the parade. Touching.

4. There were a few ads that touched on Black History month and the factn that two Black coaches were in the superbowl. I tend to feel that the significance of this event, while great, ought to be overshadowed by their achievements themselves, rather than the fact that they are black. Neither coach wants to be defined by his color. But then, this is a significant event in the history of black coaches in football, and I’m glad that it was mentioned by several ads. So the jury is out, but the verdict is clear: we won’t have to deal with the issue again.

5. Honorable mention goes to the Dave Letterman/Oprah spot.

The Bad
1. Godaddy.com. Nice ad: there were boobs, and chicks, the dudes from Diggnation, the guys from American Chopper, Trishelle Canatella… but I would rather know that my domain is safe with a place that is stable and professional.

2. Sierra Mist. Seriously, I like these people, but the ads were just stupid. No laugh.

3. Crabs and Bud Light. Ih. Did nothing for me.

The Ugly
1. The Careerbuilder series. It was effective, because I remembered it and liked that it was a series of ads continuing a theme. It did not, however, make me very interested in checking out careerbuilder.

2. Federline/Taco Bell. Victim of too much hype. The payoff was small because of the backstory.