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Super Bowl Hangover: Deggans Worst Ads of 2008
One of the most tired rounds of hype in television centers on Super Bowl ads.
Studies may show that sizable numbers of viewers only want to see the commercials (and I'm still waiting to see those numbers). But the hype over these bite-size bits of commercialism has grown faster than the game itself, mostly serving to help networks justify an outrageous $2.7-million per 30 second spot charge this time around.
Fortunately, those of us who used to mostly watch the game for the ads have a savior: MySpace.
Thanks to its new Super Bowl ad space, which offers the chance to check out every ad during the big game according to when it aired, I could check out every commercial within a 30 minutes time and determine that this year's ad hype was mostly overblown.
Ain't modern technology wonderful? anyways, here's my list of the worst Super Bowl Ads I saw:
Doritos and the Giant Rat
Why would a guy opening a bag of nacho cheese Doritos attract a guy in a giat rat suit, who then proceeeds to beat him up? And why would that make you want to buy Doritos? I'm not sure, but the ad exec who convinced the company to spend millions on this dud must have cojones the size of Missouri.
Amp Energy Drink
It's something that probably sounded funny in the pitch meeting. But it turns out, watching a fat guy jump start a car by attaching jumper cable to his nipples isn't really funny, just a little disgusting.
Bridgestone Tires Nearly Kills Richard Simmons
Now if the car would have actually hit him on that dark road -- well that's award-winning stuff, there.
Naomi Campbell Dances With Lizards for Sobe Water
Turns out, watching a supermodel shake it to Thriller with a roomful of animated lizards doesn't really make me want to drink expesive "life water." Campbell should smack whoever thought of this ad with a cellphone -- it would have made a better commercial.
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The best TV shows, the worst shows, TV news, media issues and debates ... it's all here at the Feed, a blog on TV, media and modern life by Tampa Bay Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans. Possibly the most critical guy at the Times, he has served as music, media and TV critic at various times over 10 years.
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