Monday, February 4, 2008

Mr, Oboe Was My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

Too bad Nike or Gatorade didn't come up with the NFL's Mr. Oboe spot. They mighta, coulda sold some product. You can watch it here: http://superad.nfl.com/

I don't think the commercial is even included as one of the 42 or so spots that have been posted on MySpace and FOX as SUPER BOWL ads. Probably for legal reasons. Or because the NFL gets to run its ads for free. But it ran during the SUPER BOWL and should be included. For my money, it is head and shoulders above any of the others -- even the Clydesdale ROCKY ad. Or the squirrels. Or Richard Simmons. Or the uni-brow lady. Or anything you liked.

Mr. Oboe was the result of having about 240 NFL players tell stories about life in the NFL. The best ones competed for votes to be shown during the Super Bowl. As a sustainable execution of an idea, it was easily the most entertaining and relevant use of professional athletes since the Michael Jordan/Nike era. It was certainly the best edited spot. Not to mention the most charming as far as I'm concerned. And arguably a delightful twist on a familiar jock tale.


[Although I must admit I have enjoyed the Charles Barkley-Dwayne Wade series for the Fave Five, particularly the one where the airhead waitress sucks up to Dwayne, then asks Chuck if he's Dwayne's father. Sadly the one with those guys that was produced for the Super Bowl just sucked. Dwayne finally gets into Sir Charles' Fave Five, but then he starts getting calls from the big guy 24/7. Unfortunately they beat that joke into a bloody mess. The spot was overproduced and should have been edited to half its length. Or, even better, they should have spent the money to run the ad in several fifteen second increments throughout the game and then paid it off at the end.]

Back to Mr. Oboe. Frankly I was impressed, amazed, and stunned [yes, all of the above] that the NFL got so creative. Usually their spots are self serving and self conscious embarrassments for all concerned -- from the athletes wearing ill fitting suits who speak their lines like the amateurs they are, to the dumb ideas for the commercials, which are usually just a good reason to go to the bathroom.

By the way, to all the people who thought that the Macy's Balloon Coke ad was any good -- you are as stupid as the ad was. In fact, who's doing the Coke ads -- they are ALL lame.

Seriously you can have all the rest of the spots -- except for the TIDE talking stain commercial. It's not getting any mentions either. Loved it. 

You can see it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lEU1dr63yEs

Ooops I forgot the Will Ferrell Anheuser Busch spot. "Suck one." Loved that ad, too.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved the oboe ad.  And the talking stain, too (because my shirts could hold entire conversations some days).

We liked the screaming squirrel.  Although, true to form, I turned to my husband and said, "That'd be even funnier if when the squirrel hopped away, you'd see a teeny squirrel poop on the road."
I'm nothing if not highbrow about my entertainment.
Anna

Anonymous said...

we interrupt this commercial for a football game.     i'm totally lost here;  i  had tbe 'MUTE' on throughout.

Anonymous said...

I missed most of the commercials & half time since I was at our Chinese New Year celebration. I did see the Victoria Secret commercial & loved it! Those guys think nothing can take them away from sports...RIGHT! HA! ;-)