The Super Bowl: Where the Stars Come Out to Play

The Super Bowl: Where the Stars Come Out to Play

by Stewart McHie

On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen! On Brady and Edelman, Ryan! Jones! – stop kevtshing! Sure they were great and provided (if you stayed past Lady Gaga) an exciting finish to the game. But let's get serious. The real stars were between the action, not between the sidelines.

Let's talk Super Bowl commercials.

The reason the game itself actually exists (my #alternativefact).

All in all? A pretty underwhelming crop of ads this year. We missed Doritos, but still talked about them as much as if they’d actually had a commercial. And you know you already bought a bag (or three) the week before anyway, so it's not like they missed a sales opportunity.

One thing that was evident among the ho-hum was the all-star cast of big names who appeared in the commercials this year.

Whether you like the players or their politics, there is no denying they cashed in BIG. The winning New England Patriots earned $107,000 for their three hours of work (well, about a dozen minutes of actual game time), but the pop-culture stars that came out to play earned a whole lot more. Do you think McCarthy went down with the tree for a paltry hundred grand?

Most ad meters rated the eco-friendly Melissa McCarty ad the most entertaining. Production values were high and it was a pretty expensive commercial, even before McCarthy's fee. Who among us believes she really drives a, uhm - what was she advertising? Oh yea, a Kia. Uh huh, that's what she drives. Puts her money where her mouth is to be sure.

Peter Fonda and Easy Rider (google it, millennials), Timberlake, Walken, Beiber, Newton, Bradshaw (in skivvies! Always a treat.), Lady G herself - you could have mistakenly thought you were at the Golden Globes.

Other than that, the tone of Super Bowl LI commercials was pretty safe and unremarkable. Maybe fear of a presidential tweet affected the climate, "Worst commercial ever, we have to start winning at commercials". There were numerous references to the very current issue of immigration, some real, some imagined. Was Budweiser's story of German immigrant Adolphus Busch aimed at the issue, or was it a good American success story which is in keeping with the brand and theme of this Belgian-owned (oops) company? Considering production started last May, probably the latter.

Much ado about lumber.

The most talked about spot was 84 Lumber's story about the Mexican mother and daughter seeking a better life in America but confronting an insurmountable wall. Yet the story ended online, not with the wall, but rather a door in the wall, constructed, of course, with 84 lumber, and reminiscent of a Trump campaign quote about the metaphorical door to allow good and deserving people entry to the country. At least that is the story according to President and Owner Maggie Hardy Magerko, who voted for Trump.

Regardless of what you want to believe, you now know what 84 Lumber is and most of you had no clue before the Golden Globes - I mean the Super Bowl.

Movie trailers galore, befitting the Golden Globes, I mean SUPER BOWL, (oops, I did it again) and must-see TV for the gamers.

Note to advertisers; babies, puppies and Clydesdales are a lot cheaper than Timberlake, McCarthy and Bieber. Well, maybe not Clydesdales. I hope they earn more oats than the Beib.

Next year, can we please just have fun? Girls and boys “just want to have fun". I nominate Cyndi Lauper for the half time show. Hope she's not afraid of heights.