AND THE WINNER IS?

Super Bowl  XLIV!

Of course I watched it . . .

And like many people . . .

I watched it just for the commercials.

But I probably watched the commercials for a different reason than most people because . . .

I used to write both TV and radio commercials.

And if can brag . . .

I’ve won many awards for my writing.

And if I can share . . .

I LOVE writing TV and radio spots.

I love the challenge of so little time to get the message across.

And writing humorous commercials is what I loved most.

But the bottom line with humorous or any commercial is . . .

While it’s great to entertain the audience . . .

And make them laugh  . . .

If at the end of :30 or :60 . . .

The audience can’t remember the name of the client or what the product or service is  . . .

Then the commercial was a loser and didn’t do it’s job.

So with that in mind, I watched.

Was it just me? Or was the theme during the first-half poking fun at wimpy men?

Didn't care much for the commercial with the close-up shot of men’s rear ends as they walked in their underpants.

Loved the commercial with the groundhog playing the violin.

And the one with the sumo wrestler made me laugh out loud.

The one with the woman in the bathtub who texed was also funny.

But to be honest?

I can’t tell you today what any of the products were or who the companies were for these.

So for me . . .

The winning TV commercial  last night was . . .

Google.

Yup, Google.

No, I didn’t laugh, wasn’t supposed to.

But the genius of this commercial was that the Google logo was on the screen the entire :30.

It showed exactly how Google is used.

And while showing how Google is used, the commercial told a story.

And my goodness, it couldn’t have cost much to produce either.

Just a static shot of a Google page.

With the FX of typed in searches.

And only one SFX at the end of a baby cooing.

There were no movie, TV or sport stars . . .

No extras . . .

No cars whizzing in the commercial . . .

No computer animation . . .

No music.

Not even a voiceover.

Just pure genius.

If a viewer hadn't known how Google is used before watching the commercial . . .

They surely would after :30.

And though the commercial wasn't knee slapping funny, it did make me smile.

The second commercial I liked was the montage of historical moments caught on TV.

Too bad I can’t remember who the company or what the product is. Some little TV is all I remember.

And of course there were honorable mentions . . .

Like the E*TRADE spot with the babies talking.

Coca Cola's with the man sleep-walking in Africa.
Dr. Pepper's with Kiss and mini-Kiss.
And the Denny's spot with the hens.
What I find so ironic in all of this though is . . .

While I love the challenge of writing “briefly” for commercials  . . .

Why in heaven’s name is writing briefly for a query  . . .

Such a painstaking process?

And why did it take me so long to write one?
(Dear God, I hope I finally have a winning one).

Always, Em-Musing
P.S. I must fess up. I didn't see all the commercials last night. I fell asleep soon after The Who performed.

So there could very well have been commercials just as effective as the Google spot and I just didn't see them.

Guess I'll just have to Google Super Bowl XLIV TV spots to see them.