The Road to Super Bowl XLIX--The Ad Game

Good afternoon on another cold day in NYC. We never did get snow yesterday, but we're bracing for a big one this weekend!

As I mentioned previously, many of us look forward to the Super Bowl for the commercials. In fact more than 50 percent surveyed prefer the ads to the games themselves (source: Nielsen). Ads come from both major brands (such as beverage and automobile manufacturers), along with smaller companies seeking to gain exposure. Some brands spend their entire advertising budget on the Super Bowl.

This year, the average cost of a 30-second ad will be $4 million, Skittles, Carnival Cruise  Lines, Loctite, Mophie, and Wix.com will be advertising for the first time in Super Bowl history.

Budwiser's "Lost Dog" commercial looks to be an early favorite. I am a sucker for dogs, so looking at this picture just pulled my heartstrings.



Let's look back at a few memorable Super Bowl commercials:

1973: A man attempts to open a Master Lock with a rifle but fails.

1977: A monk must make 500 copies of his scriptures and turns to Xerox for help. I remember this ad very well.

1979: A kid tries to talk to Mean Joe Greene in a locker room after the game. However, Mean Joe is all grumpy until the kid insists that he has his Coke. Although this ad did not actually debut in the Super Bowl, it is still very heartwarming.

1984: This commercial for Apple Computer is probably the most memorable of all Super Bowl ads. This was our introduction to the Mac, and the computing world hasn't been the same since.

1993: This is another one of my favorites because it features two of my favorite cartoon characters, Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian. In this commercial for Air Jordans, Marvin challenges Bugs and Michael Jordan to a game.



1999: This was one of the first Super Bowl commercials for a website (Monster.com) and very funny, . Kids talk about what they want to be when they grow up, including "being a yes man," "being a brown nose," and "filling papers every day."

2008: The debut of the e*Trade baby. 'Nuff said.

There you have it. Of course, there are so many more commercials: some were classics and others missed the mark completely.

It's time for today's Listmania.

Party Idea of the Day comes from Eleni's Cookies. This is a bakery near my office known for their whimsical sugar cookies. Although pricey, the cookies are very tasty. They make great cupcakes, too. The cookies and cupcakes make great gifts to take to the host's home.

Super Bowl Fun Fact of the Day: The game is truly a world-wide event. Last year, the game was distributed to more than 185 countries and broadcast in 30 different languages!

Today's Birthdays: Sami Gayle (19), Ben Moody (34), Beverley Mitchell (34), Chris Masterson (35), Balthazar Gety (40), Marc Gay (46), Jazzy Jeff (50), Diane Lane (50), Linda Blair (56), Teddy Gentry (63), Steve Perry (66), John Hurt (75), Seymour Cassel (80), and Piper Laurie (83).

Holidaze: Today is National Blonde Brownie Day! I used to eat blondies by the dozen at college. They were a big factor to my "Freshman 15" (more like "Freshman 25" in my case). Blondies were invented around the 1940s in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Try some recipes from the Food Network.

Let's also hear if for Celebration of Life Day! This day is set aside to honor our children and grandchildren and to make them feel special. We should be doing that everyday.

That's the scoop. Stay tuned for Freebie Friday!

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy