I’ve Been Thinking . . . About Super Bowl Commercials

The game turned out more interesting than I anticipated.  I joked with one friend before the game that I heard it had been canceled due to lack of interest.  Whatever your interest, or lack of, in the game, the half claiming they were interested in the commercials reminded me of past Super Bowl commercials I thought were particularly good.

One of my perennial favorites is the commercial that launched the Apple Macintosh.  Full disclosure:  I’m a Mac guy, and my first personal computer was the original Macintosh that defined the future of personal computers.

The commercial aired during the 1984 Super Bowl.  It is Orwellian in tone, seizing upon the popular novel’s theme of total control by a ubiquitous power.  It is a dramatic story told in a minute.  The Super Bowl was the only time Apple paid for the ad, yet it has been shown countless times over the years because it consistently ranked among the top ten for more than two decades . . . or until the proliferation of top lists by anyone with a blog!!

Apple’s introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 marked a dramatic change in personal computing – the Graphic User Interface, or GUI (pronounced gooey).  Prior microcomputers generally used a command structure; Microsoft’s Disk Operating System, or DOS, was the most prevalent.  The Mac OS created graphic images that, when clicked using a “mouse,” told the computer what to do.

Apple, however, did not invent the GUI.  Xerox is generally credited with that:  researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center developed GUI-functional computers.  Xerox corporate management was more focused on their successful copiers and moving into laser printers and didn’t invest in making the Xerox Alto into a marketable desktop machine.

With that in mind, this commercial had Brother Dominic introducing the new Xerox copier.  It demonstrates the value of the technology in a context that builds on the humor inherent in the situation.

The Pittsburgh Steelers went from worst to first during the 70s.  “Mean” Joe Greene was the anchor of the defense – known as the “Steel Curtain” – that dominated opposing teams.  During Greene’s playing career with Pittsburgh, the Steelers won four Super Bowls.

Greene didn’t appreciate the moniker “Mean,” insisting that it detracted from him as being a nice person; his playing style, however, was intense and intimidating, and in today’s game, would almost surely result in numerous “unnecessary roughness” penalties and league fines.  His Coke commercial, that was shown during the 1980 Super Bowl, demonstrated that even “Mean” Joe Greene had a softer side.

When I was in college, one brand stood out to me and my fraternity, TKB (Tappa Kegga Bud).  A close second to coffee, Budweiser was my drink of choice. 🙂 Occasionally, I could stretch for Michelob.  And when Heineken was on sale and I could rub two fives together, I carried a case to the checkout.  This stage in my life created an affinity for Budweiser . . . and Budweiser came through in the Super Bowl ad category!

Budweiser was such a dominant brand that they focused on unique ways to reinforce the brand instead of trying to build brand awareness; ergo, their ads focused on memorable events and symbols of the brand, such as the Clydesdale horses.  The first of the following ads built on the perception that the implementation of “instant replay” reviews were slowing down the game.

In addition to humor, Budweiser ads could tug at your heartstrings by incorporating feel-good stories involving dogs. This one resonates with me in an additional way since we moved my parents-in-law from the farm into town.  My father-in-law was only going to take one of his hound dogs with him and give the rest of his dogs away.  As we were driving to their new home in town with the last trailer load, I looked into my sideview mirror, and saw Frank’s bird dog looking back at me.  He sensed that something was awry, so he jumped onto the trailer when we finished loading.  Rather than getting lost, however, he earned his place as the second dog Frank got to keep at the new place.

When puppies become adults, they assume important roles, as demonstrated by the iconic Dalmatian.

And if you are going to incorporate zebras and dogs, why not add a donkey to the mix.

Super Bowl parties are festive, it’s easy to fit into a crowd around a common event, it’s a good time for a date.

Another full disclosure:  I’m a dog person, not a cat person.  But I loved the irony of this EDS (Electronic Data Systems, the company founded by two-time Presidential candidate Ross Perot) commercial incorporating cats.  Information technology was changing rapidly, and I believe that the cats represented the disparate data components and platforms, and the cowboys represented EDS’s system for moving them along toward a common goal.

We’ve seen puppies, horses, zebras, donkeys, and cats.  How could we not include one with a kid!  I love this Volkswagen commercial.

I’m sure that you have some of your personal favorites.  Go ahead:  do a search for Super Bowl commercials on YouTube and see what you find.  I hope you’ll enjoy revisiting some that you forgot you enjoyed.  Feel free to send a link to your favorite back to me. I can say, I enjoyed reviewing these; and I skipped some others, such as Pepsi^® and Doritos^®.