Who were the real winners last night?
Not the Chiefs, not the lucky gamblers, not the Swifties. It’s where the money is really at: the commercials!
Which one scored best in your opinion?
The 31 best Super Bowl LVIII commercials, ranked (avclub.com)
Super Bowl LVIII, with its thrilling overtime finish and luxury box shots of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively, has come and gone, and so now we must honor those generous corporate patrons who shell out millions so Tom Brady can stay on television. This is all we have, for the staff of The A.V. Club has spent far more time stuffed in lockers than suiting up in the locker room.
Every so often, a Super Bowl commercial justifies the lies we tell ourselves, specifically that we’re only watching this game for the advertisements. Despite the over-reliance on celebrities willing to puncture their personas to squeeze a little bit of juice out of a can of Starry, Super Bowl commercials do what all great art does: Make us laugh, cry, and dream of a better world in which we solve all our problems through shopping. So come down from those Super Bowl highs and enjoy a rundown of the best commercials of the year—and maybe a couple that absolutely sucked—to celebrate the millions spent on convincing us that a Michelob Ultra sounds pretty good right about now.
according to CNN
Super Bowl LVIII ads: Who scored and who fumbled on TV’s biggest stage
The Super Bowl teams didn’t generate a lot of offensive fireworks through much of the Kansas City Chiefs’ nail-biting overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, and neither did advertisers in adopting a play-it-safe game plan, reflecting a mentality intended not to offend significant portions of the year’s biggest TV audience. While they mostly accomplished that mission, the celebrity-heavy strategy came at the expense of creating many spots that felt worthy of the oversized showcase.
The National Football League, CBS and advertisers have welcomed whatever incremental audience Taylor Swift cheering on the Chiefs has brought to the NFL – especially in terms of younger women – while CBS used its role as Super Bowl LVIII’s TV host to promote the launch of its strike-delayed season as well as corporate siblings Paramount+ and the studio’s movies.
Yet as with 2023, this year’s Super Bowl ads – for which companies paid a reported $7 million per 30-second spot between kickoff and the closing gun, plus production costs – leaned heavily on celebrities in sometimes-confounding ways, yielding a mixed bag in terms of results. Nor did the opportunity to reach more women (a.k.a. the “Taylor effect” some advertisers spoke of exploiting) produce a significant change in the overall creative picture.
The advertiser lineup tilted toward more traditional categories, unlike, say, 2022, when crypto ads sought to make a splash. Viewers received a steady helping of football-associated products like beer and snacks, along with such familiar staples as cars and big movie trailers, hoping to mount a comeback after rough years at the box office fueled by streaming and the pandemic.
Granted, a few more substantive outliers stood apart from the crowd, including the NFL’s corporate image commercials, those HeGetsUs.com ads related to Jesus, and another spot for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. The relatively new practice of premiering ads before the game also blunted the sense of discovery, which helped distinguish the truly fresh drops.
Given the hoopla, CBS exercised a modicum of restraint when it came to gratuitous cutaways to Swift, admittedly due in part to the Chiefs’ sluggish first-half offensive performance, which gave her relatively little reason to celebrate.
With that, a by-no-means-comprehensive sampling of TV’s winners, losers, and the much wider category of what fell in between.
WINNERS
Dunkin’: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teaming up to annoy Jennifer Lopez (with an assist from Tom Brady) ranked as the most unabashedly funny spot of the day.
Movies: The collective weight of big movies delivered a robust pitch for getting out to theaters, including the musical adaptation “Wicked” (arguably the most appealing of the bunch), “IF,” and “Monkey Man,” and the sequels “Twisters,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and “Kung Fu Panda 4.” “Deadpool 3,” meanwhile, settled for a tease during the pregame festivities.
Also, honorable mention to “Shogun,” as FX/Hulu made the shrewd decision to treat its epic limited series like a blockbuster movie, and the ad certainly delivered those qualities.
Dove: The personal-care company ran one of the few ads from a major sponsor (unlike the issue-oriented participants) that actually dared to be about something, touting a program to teach young girls body confidence, using a song from “Annie.”
BMW: A fun day-in-the-life of Christopher Walken, dealing with the fact that everyone thinks they can do a Christopher Walken impersonation.
Etsy: So what kind of gift should the US have gotten France to reciprocate for the Statue of Liberty? A cheese plate, naturally.
Squarespace: Weaving UFO hysteria into something uplifting, funny and, best of all, that actually makes a case for the product.
Google Pixel: A genuinely touching spot about someone with limited vision using the product in a way that actually improves his life.
T-Mobile: Jason Momoa helps Zach Braff and Donald Faison perform a nod to “Flashdance,” with a cameo by its star, Jennifer Beals. Nostalgic, entertaining and fun.
Verizon: Beyoncé, a lot of splashy visuals and the promise of new music? ‘Nuff said.
Pfizer: The pharmaceutical giant playfully celebrated science through history with an ad using a Queen song.
Disney+: Selling the streaming service just using lines from its movies offered a nicely understated tonic (in contrast to most of the day’s spots) to cleverly pitch its content.
Kia: A young skater melts the ice, and maybe a few tear ducts, by performing for her grandpa.
Jim Nantz and Tony Romo: CBS’ veteran broadcast team didn’t get in the way of a game that didn’t produce a lot of points but did go down to the wire. “The seventh-longest game in the history of the NFL was one of the most memorable ones as well,” Nantz said at the end. Yep.
[continues]
Joe Biden’s ‘Dark Brandon’ Reacts To Chiefs’ Super Bowl Win (deadline.com)
Put me down for the Dunkin ad with Uber Eats second. (Funny – OK, stupid – wins the day for me). Honorable mention to Walken’s BMW ad. Congrats to the Chiefs – Mahomes is proving he has the chops.
Definitely the Dunkin ad. I like when she says, “Tom, you can stay”
This got some attention, not nearly enough. But there’s time for more.
POLITICO: ‘Enough to make Reagan ill’: Trump’s NATO remarks under fire
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk” — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg (CNN)
Liz Cheney
“NATO is the most successful military alliance in history. It’s essential to deterring war & defending American security. No sane American President would encourage Putin to attack our NATO allies. No honorable American leaders would excuse or endorse this.”
Let the russian destroy NATO—yeah, he just may have hopped right over the shark with that one.
Extreme comb-over, implant smile, tight collars for the excess neck, girdle, diapers, shoe lifts—the only thing genuine there is the ugly.
Yep, Sturg, I think the media is staying on top of this. Even his Murdoch buddies:
Wall Street Journal Editorial: Trump’s NATO remarks “will please Vladimir Putin”
“Donald Trump says many provocative things, often intentionally, to rile up opponents and dominate the airwaves. But his comments Saturday that he once told the leader of a NATO ally that he’d invite Vladimir Putin to invade is the reason many Americans won’t vote for him again even against a mentally declining President Biden.”
“Trump’s riff also comes in the context of his lobbying against more U.S. military aid for Ukraine. He boasts about his admiration for Mr. Putin, and his bromance with the dictator was a low point of his Presidency”
The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum
“Don’t let Republicans, or anyone else, turn Trump’s remarks about NATO into an argument about levels of spending. The news story is this: Trump told Russia to invade U.S. allies, to do ‘whatever the hell they want.’ This invitation to violence makes the world more dangerous.”
https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/robert-f-kennedy-jr-it-is-insane-to-even-keep-nato-going/
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr: ‘It is insane to even keep NATO going’
“If you treat somebody like your enemy. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’e going to become your enemy. I certainly would not have moved NATO to the east if I had been president,” Kennedy said.
It seems that pharmaceutically-swole candidate, RFK Jr., is also a tool of Poo-tin.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4459624-dnc-launches-billboards-michigan-hitting-rfk-jr-donors-linked-to-trump/
“The billboards feature a headshot of Kennedy on the left side and Trump on the other. In the middle, the sign reads “RFK Jr. powered by MAGA Trump. Same biggest donor Timothy Mellon.”
Russian tools of a feather…
“American Values 2024, a Kennedy-aligned group, received $15 million from Mellon in 2023, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) fillings. Mellon donated $10 million to MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned Super PAC, in 2023, according to FEC records.”
“The billboard campaign comes just hours after the DNC accused Kennedy and American Values 2024 of illegally coordinating, alleging he is receiving improper benefits from the Super PAC that is supporting his push to get on the ballot in all 50 states.”
ps – His family clapped back at him after his Super Bowl ad. Glad I missed it.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/12/rfk-jr-super-bowl-ad-00140922
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized for a Super Bowl ad that aired Sunday from the super PAC backing his presidential campaign after it sparked backlash from his own family members.”
“Kennedy posted an apology to X late Sunday night, saying that he was “sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain.”
That was NOT an apology. Sorry if THAT upset you, is how a narcissist fake-apologizes. He’s not sorry, and he did not apologize.
“The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign,” he said in the post. “FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you.”
Hmmm, the same PAC that has been called into question for consulting on getting him in the ballot in all 50 states?
“The Super Bowl ad X post is still pinned at the top of Kennedy’s profile as of Monday morning.”
He’s not sorry. He did not apologize. He’s a ‘roided-up, narcissistic threat to democracy. Sorry, not sorry.
BTW……he’s not sorry.
Query: Why are a gaggle of American billionaires boosting Russia?
Are there no windows where they live?
Haha….good times. Remember when Scrump proposed setting up a joint “security operation” with the Russian’s “help”?
What was that, Helsinki? That time he said our intelligence agencies were crap?
I’ll check my notes.
It was a nail-biter of a game. I was mildly hoping 49’s would pull it off but happy to see Taylor happy at the end.
Bloodcurdling and chilling.
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/11/trump-promise-deport-millions-migrants-reality
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html
When I saw that pic of the boyfriend yelling at the coach I caught a psychic glimpse of a possible future.
Unsettling.
I recall previously hearing Plumpty brag about berating and threatening the deadbeat NATO’s for not paying up. This is not his first time openly displaying his mafia roots.
How could I not love the Dunkin’ ad… I love Dunkin ice coffee… and I LOVE Tom Brady!
Sturg… if you watched football… you’d know that a player yelling at a coach during the heat of the game is a very common occurrence. They were fine.
Reb Ren……lol…. haven’t seen a televised football game since Johnny O and Eddie LeBaron…that was back when whoever played the redskins got to play on TV on Sundays cause Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese had Saturdays seen up with the baseball……but what’s in that kid’s face is totally unsettling to me….Maybe because it’s so reminiscent of those people screaming at the black kids integrating schools in the south back when that was the thing to do. Oh, and also reminds me of the faces on those peaceful protestors on Jan 6 at the capitol.
Just gave me a little shiver, that’s all.
Oh…….. Boebert and Greene at the State of the Union speech.
And THE SHAMAN.
And Rudy Giuliani.
Pro Wrestlers are good at faking that face.
I’ve seen that face a lot in half a lifetime in bars.
Just received an email that our Colorado ballots are in the mail.
Kelse’s behavior was unsettling, and a lot of young girls were watching…and then saw it being normalized. Coach Reid said it was no big whoop.
If you’ve listened to the Kelse brothers’ podcast, number 87 sounds like he’s addicted to himself and to fame. He knows the right things to say when he’s centered, but I’m not sure if it’s authentic. He’s 34, but he still has some growing up to do.
Taylor can do better. He can not. He needs to step up his game.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. rip off of the old JFK commercial appalled me. His dad and uncle would be rolling over in their graves.
ADVERTISING 101
“Enjoy the Go!”
Euphemistic television advertisements about the possible joys of having a bowel movement.
As an expat Californian I was rooting for the 49ers but If the 49ers had won = happy. That the Chiefs won = worth it to watch the MAGAts lose their minds. Add the uproar over someone daring to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and Reba doing the Star Spangled Banner in a singable key – Bonus happy.
RFK Jr. Apologizes for ad:
“I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign. FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff. I love you all. God bless you”
Sorry pal but as of this writing the ad is still posted on your own X profile page.
I never buy these denials, there are many ways around the rules against consultation. They did not spend $7 million dollars on one ad without his knowledge.
Shriver has been a sort of spokesman for family against RFK jr
Hey…. the name is Kelce… not Kelse..
I just get a chuckle with those who can’t help but comment and yet it’s obvious they don’t watch football…
Lol
https://delawareliberal.net/
Only thing missing to complete the conspiracy is Taylor endorsing Joe today.
I watch college football, and sometimes the Super Bowl. I misspell words.
Beyoncé’s new song is really good, as is the looping video concept. I could’ve done without the gunfire. ‘Merica
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/politics/biden-netanyahu-israel-gaza/index.html
“President Joe Biden has grown increasingly frustrated behind the scenes with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, telling advisers and others that the prime minister is ignoring his advice and obstructing efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“The tension between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s government has only intensified in recent days over Israel’s preparations for a ground incursion into Rafah, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled over the course of the war.”
“US officials have been direct in their conversations with Israeli counterparts that the estimated 1.3 million people currently in Rafah simply “have nowhere to go,” according to a senior administration official.”
“In its preliminary finding, the International Court of Justice ruled correctly in a case brought by the Republic of South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.”
“The Netanyahu government has used excessive force in Gaza. That may be a war crime, but is not genocide.”
“With its reliance on firepower and overly permissive rules of engagement, the Israel Defense Forces has killed more than 25,000 people (1 percent of the entire population), 10,000 of them children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.”
“The IDF campaign has left much of Gaza in ruins, displacing people and creating a massive refugee and humanitarian crisis.”
“Several clauses in the Geneva Convention and other international covenants could be used to indict the Netanyahu government, but one seems particularly applicable.”
“The United Nations says attacks are a war crime when actors launch them knowing they will “cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians,” cause “damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment,” or if they are “clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.”
“Since Oct. 7, 367 Palestinians, including 94 children, have been killed in the West Bank, most of them by the IDF. Others have suffered vigilante violence at the hands of Israeli settlers, which increased after Netanyahu’s far-right government took office and has intensified since the war.”
“The Israeli government has detained 8,600 Palestinians, 3,291 of them under “administrative detention” without charge or trial.”
BID, your fine. I would like to let go of my spell checking addiction.
Everyone takes the payday in the USA- leave your dignity at the door
Happy Birthday Honest Abe!
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/12/opinion-abraham-lincoln-birthday-civil-war-presidency/
“Monday marks Abraham Lincoln’s 215th birthday, and as always, it prompts some of the most profound questions of civics and citizenship: Do I get the day off from work? Do my kids have to go to school? Is the drive-thru at the bank open?”
“Indeed, the former president doesn’t even have his own federal holiday, it being celebrated in the catch-all concept of Presidents Day on Feb. 19.”
So, the answer to the questions in the first paragraph is no, that happens next Monday.
“He viewed secession to be an illegal act under the Constitution and was prepared to use military means, not merely negotiation and compromise, in order to enforce federal law. He described the challenge with which he was confronted: Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”
“In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth,” Lincoln said in an 1862 message to Congress.
“Another American president, Ronald Reagan, famously warned in his farewell address to the nation of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit: “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.” Reagan may well have been thinking of Lincoln when he spoke those words.”
monday vybing
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/europe/trump-nato-putin-europe-analysis-intl/index.html
“As with much foreign policy, the Republican frontrunner radically misunderstood the nature and purpose of this relationship. NATO is not an alliance based on dues: it is the largest military bloc in history, formed to face down the Soviet threat, based on the collective defense that an attack on one is an attack on all – a principle enshrined in Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty.”
“It’s purpose which suits the US profoundly: The White House invoked Article 5 after 9/11. And since NATO’s creation, US might has been often packaged globally as the expression of a dozens-strong consensus. NATO helps bolster the US’s ebbing position as the sole hyperpower. Strip away this vast alliance, and its diplomatic and economic might, and the US looks quite lonely on the world stage.”
No Presidents’ Day cake for you next week, tRUMPsky. You didn’t earn it. Maybe Poo-tin will give his orange lapdog a blini.
AUSTIN PISSED … finally
my good news headline for the day.
the hill:
that “non-surgical procedure under general anesthesia” probably alludes to what could have been a rather painful catheter process.
Patd, imagine that I’m cringing (I am) . I wish Sec’y Austin no ill will, but better he than me.
Co-Written by one Antoine Domino, aka Fats.
Go’n be a busy Spring in Court for Dumbass. See this and this. (WaPo). There’s enough of ’em that WaPo now has a category for Trump Cases on its digital platform.
New York: State hush money case
The details: 34 charges connected to a 2016 hush money payment.
D.C.: Federal case on 2020 election
The details: Four counts related to conspiring to obstruct the 2020 election results.
Georgia: State case on 2020 election
The details: Trump faces 13 state charges for allegedly trying to undo the election results in that state. Four of his 18 co-defendants have pleaded guilty.
Florida: Federal classified documents case
The details: Trump faces 40 federal charges over accusations that he kept top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago — his home and private club — and thwarted government demands to return them.
But that ain’t all, folks.
Takes a really comprehensive Day-Timer to keep up with all those moving pieces.
Where is George Santos ???
Sally Starr. Waited for her every afternoon around Mickey Mouse Club time.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/politics/trump-supreme-court-immunity-filing/index.html
“Trump asks Supreme Court to block ruling he lacks immunity in January 6 criminal case”
“Trump asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block a scathing and unanimous decision from the DC Circuit handed down last week that flatly rejected his claims of immunity from election subversion charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith.”
“How the Supreme Court responds to Trump’s request will have huge influence on whether – and how quickly – the former president will be put on trial for criminal allegations as he seeks the Republican nomination and presidency again.”
There’s probably a better chance he’ll get struck by lightening on a golf course than this SCOTUS will do the right thing and protect democracy.
It’s unfortunate that Joe is old as dirt and tragic that Donald Trump is a dirty old dog.
Bart Starr. Used to run into him and Miss Cherry around town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Starr
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/us/joel-osteen-lakewood-church-shooting-monday/index.html
“A woman who walked into a popular Texas megachurch Sunday afternoon with a long gun and her 7-year-old son opened fire before she was killed by law enforcement officers on scene. The gunfire left the child in critical condition and another man injured, officials said.”
“Records from the Texas Department of Public Safety show Moreno had a string of arrests for minor offenses over the last two decades, including possession of marijuana, an assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and a forgery charge.”
“…the story of a bitter custody battle between Moreno and representatives for her ex-spouse’s family played out on her social media accounts. In 2022, when she had her divorce proceeding transferred to county court, according to an attorney who represented her, Moreno was also arrested on a weapons charge, a misdemeanor, which was cleared with two days’ time served in the Fort Bend County Jail.”
“According to police, there was some sort of family dispute between the shooter and her ex-husband and ex-husband’s family, some of whom are Jewish.”
“This might possibly be where all this stems from,” Hassig added. He said police also found antisemitic writings connected with the shooter.”
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/dallas-texas-councilwoman-home-vandilized-anti-semitic-graffiti-fake-dead-babies/287-0976f790-ea41-44d4-9155-8161f53f0504
“A Dallas councilmember said her home was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti over the weekend.”
“Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn (District 12), who is Jewish, posted pictures on X, saying her fence was spray-painted red with the words “baby killer” and with inverted triangles.”
“According to the Anti-Defamation League, an inverted red triangle can symbolize “support for violent Palestinian resistance against Israel.”
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2024/02/12/herbert-hoover-stans-fight-back-00141060
I didn’t see any mention of this historic event in the Politico piece on the Hoover-legacy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army#:~:text=On%20July%2028%2C%201932%2C%20U.S.,to%20clear%20the%20marchers%27%20campsite.
Ya know, MAGAt Mike Johnson & the GQP got a lot of blowback when they took direction from tRUMPsky & killed the immigration bill.
Then, the tRUMPsky-appointed Hur, added personal opinions about President Biden’s mental status in a report in which he was unable to indict him for any wrongdoing so that folks would talk about Biden’s age.
Now, Poo-tin’s lapdog, tRUMPsky, has publicly sided with his handler over our NATO allies, again pulling focus to something new.
Republicans up and down the ticket NEED an issue to unite them, and they’ve angered so many women and their male allies that they can’t comfortably push stricter abortion controls as they campaign. (Although, it’s happening in court with mifepristone, and contraceptives are next.)
Their central issue, the thing they’re dying to talk about, is the thing they’ve been trying to make us forget over the last week.
IT’S THE BORDER, STUPID!
They want everyone to forgot that it was Republicans who were the obstacle to resolving the border/immigration issue.
The Republican chaos machine is good at misdirection. They’re far from perfect, though, if we pay attention.
I still think POTUS Joe should EO things that were in the bill, like shutting down the border at 5,000 asylum seekers. He needs to do something that his surrogates can point to as being proactive, and then kick the grenade back to Congress. Republicans’ refusal to work on immigration, to fund anything Biden could put in an EO, will get at them from the other side.
By the way, Jin Stewart is back on The Daily Show on Mondays. No Comedy Central? You can listen to the podcast: The Daily Show Ears Edition.
He hit both POTUS Joe and Orange Adolf hard on age. That doesn’t get rid of the impending threat to democracy posed by Republicans.
NEW THREAD