Yo. SPORTS! It is time once again for that pinnacle of late-January athletics-associated entertainment. I do not mean the complicatedly choreographed dance of the large men disputing over the small brown diamond I have trouble locating on the screen. (I didn’t even know Arizona had a football team.) No, sillies, I refer of course to the steady stream of expensive — $3 million for 30 seconds! — Super Bowl XLIII commercials that’s about to gush into our houses…much like a refreshing bottle of Coke is about to trickle down, Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Waterfall-style, over a hitherto chemical-free woodsy paradise. The Hulu player embedded below will update itself with the latest ad spots throughout the night. Rant and rave about the commercials as you see fit, and I’ll be back post-game with my favorites.
Wait a minute! The TV has informed me that the Pepsi Max I was just about to chug is "the first diet cola for men." Now what?! I AM SO THIRSTY.
*UPDATE: I REALLY LIKED…*
–Firestone: Taters I had no idea Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head could drive!
–Doritos: Crystal Ball Score one for the human race — that vending machine had it coming. They ALL do. Yeah, I’m talking to you, third floor soda. Watch your front.
–Cash4Gold: Heeere’s Money! Or — listen up, Dummies — "cash the number four gold dot com." Ed McMahon and MC Hammer committed the number one hundred percent to the spot’s trashy-on-purpose vibe.
–Teleflora: Talking Flowers I got a distinct Liz Lemon vibe from the mean tulips who screeched at the hapless brunette just tryin’ to get her work done that no one wants to see her naked. (See: "Stop sweating, you IDIOT. What is WRONG with you, you stupid bitch?")
–Denny’s: Thugs This semi-lame ad blatantly mocked IHOP, one of my other favorite restaurants, but any commercial featuring gratuitous closeups of sugar-embellished food (that appears to be smiling and therefore delighted to see me) rates very highly in my house.
–Hulu: Alec and Huluwood I’m really feelin’ the Hulu/NBC/Alec Baldwin love, all right? You might even say I’m "Feelin’ Alright," right, NBC? RIGHT?
–Acura TL: Not included on Hulu’s player, but the first few seconds were kind of…hot. I’ll probably delete that sentence in 10 minutes. (Delete the number ten dot com.)
*A LOT OF YOU LIKED (BUT IT MUST BE A SUBJECTIVE THING)*
As an icy, heartless troll who’s just not that into oft-bucking animals or infants who can read scripts, I still can’t handle those terrifying E*Trade talking babies and Budweiser’s herds of the (admittedly) pretty horsies. Conversely, a lot of you disliked Conan O’Brien’s "I’ll never sell out/Now watch me do it in less than 30 seconds!" Bud Light: Swedish ad (remember when Diddy did the same thing with Pepsi?), but I loved it because…hello. It’s Conan.
*GIVE UP ALREADY*
–SoBe: Lizard Lake 2D Biggest WTF moment of the night by far. Raise your hand if you had even the slightest clue.
–GoDaddy.com: Shower Everything you think makes your ads "sexy"? Doesn’t.
–Cheetos: Chester the Cheetah I’m actually eating crunchy Cheetos right now, and think footage of me chomping on them "thoughtfully" would make a better commercial than what I just watched. Too much Chester, way too much CG, zero reassurance that I am totally awesome for sitting here eating Cheetos by myself. Everything about the situation = horrible.
Watch the ads above, then let us know what you thought!
Read more: Super Bowl
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Jennifer Hudson’s national anthem: Flawless! Effortless!
11 classic Super Bowl commercials
Super Bowl: 10 best halftime shows ever
Comments (1-30) of 341 Add your comment
Jennifer Hudson was awesome
Is there a live blog for the SuperBowl here on EW? If not, let’s start one here! I’ll start… I was surprised and relieved Jennifer Hudson avoided tears during her National Anthem performance…
Hey Fizzy, did you like Faith Hill’s song beforehand? What I liked most was the sign language interpreter in black, she looks great!
Slezak’s blogging about J-Hud (who was incredible!) and we’re also covering the halftime report.
Do these early commercials count? Probably not until Official Kickoff. Either way, I am Super-excited that “Chuck” is back!!!
I liked both!! I did think that JHud was gonna cry during her performance she looked like it before she started.
Girl rocked it OUT. Hell, I was surprised that I didn’t cry. She should be totally proud of herself.
Thanks Annie, I will leave my comments here, I love ew.com but don’t get to participate often enough…
Chuck is awesome where do I get my 3D glasses?
Is it just my cheap TV or does everyone look particularly sunburnt this evening?
Halftime SHOW. I meant halftime show. We do not care even slightly about the halftime report.
Cardinals get the kick! They should broadcast the whole game in 3-D! (I don’t have my glasses either!)
First F. Scott Fitzgerald quote in Super Bowl history (I think).
Annie, not much of a football fan? Neither am I… unless my Cleveland Browns are playing!
Free subscription to the first person who can spell Ben R.’s last name without looking! (Just kidding about the free subscription!)
Props to the EW staff… it’s hard to watch and blog events at the same time!
I think the steelers win with no problem
Embarrassing Revelation #1: I have never played a John Madden video game!
Annie I am exactly a week away from going to DWTS “Live”!!
Fizzy, the Steelers do look strong out of the gate, but I hope it stays close or I may go see a movie! LOL
lol, I have an irrational hatred for kurt Warner so I don’t want the cardinals
Embarrassing Revelation #2: I do not watch DWTS, in fact I had to think twice about what it stood for!
I forgot to get the 3-D glasses! Luckily though my 8th grade yearbook was done in 3-D and for some reason I brought it with me to college. And the 3-D glasses are still in there! Heck yeah!
I can relate, Fizzy, anyone who grew up rooting for Cleveland HATES the Steelers! GAME UPDATE: Sixburgh scores a touchdown!
where do I get them?! I can’t miss chuck
Why does McDonald’s want us to donate only two pennies to charity?
oooh Angels and Demons liked that book better than Davinci
Commercial Review:
Bud light meeting reminded me too much of work, nice window stunt, though!
“Angels & Demons” better be better than “DaVinci Code!”
Jason Statham is uber-cool, best commercial yet!
guess they firgure thats all we have left with the recession
That Audi ad was pretty good. How did you action-types like it?