Marc's Favorite Spots - Super Bowl XLIII

I decided to label these my personal favorites and open up the forum to the rest of our writers at the Suite. So feel free to post your favorites as well. Let's go with at Top 5 format.

5. CareerBuilder.com

The repetition may get irritating, but that's the point. The message is that no one should have to go through that daily monotony. I've always liked the job site ads, they always have a very creative twist.



4. Pedigree

The party I was at last night had roughly 25 guests, and so some of the ads got droned about by conversation, there were of course ads that kept people attentive. This was one of them. Not brilliant by any means, but the sheer ridiculousness of playing frisbee with a water buffalo is enough to draw in the eye. And that elderly woman saying "Bad, Bad Bird!" is classic.



3. E-Trade Baby

Back and better than ever. A huge hit in 2008, the baby was back with new friends. I preferred the one below, just because the writing was sharp, and I was cracking up at a baby wearing a Taylor Made visor talking smack. I liked this ad more than last years because it did good to touch on the current economic crisis in a lighter way.



2. Hulu

One of the bigger innovations of 2008, Hulu (a online television joint venture between NBC Universal, Viacom, and NewsCorp) brings Alec Baldwin's "Jack Donaghy" character from the show 30 Rock in all his corporate, unethical glory. I felt that although this spot didn't have any slapstick to it like the others, it had an unrelenting honesty to it: Yes, TV will rot your brain. So watch more of it.



1. Denny's

Yes. Denny's. Mobsters. Talking about whacking someone. It's straight out of a Scorsese movie. You know it can't end well. Then all of a sudden, there's that familiar sound of aerosol whipped cream as a cheerful waitress puts the finishing touches on the mafioso's Happy Cakes. I always love to see such strong contrasts be put together, and this does a bang-up job.



Honorable Mentions:
Bud Light - Conan O'Brien
Coke Zero - "Mean" Troy Polamalu
Pepsi Max - I'm Good

Disappointments - I'm always up for some debate here
Budweiser - I think they're stretching the Clydesdale thing a bit too much. So now this noble horse is named Jake and is the grandson of an Scottish immigrant horse?
Cheetos - Apparently Chester Cheetah is a ruthless, "devil on the shoulder" now?
Bud Light - Drinkability (all of them). See this post to delve deeper into my opinion of this campaign.

Let the debate begin!