Just My Opinion - by Mary Kilen
It Was Definitely The Commercials
After getting my writing done for the day and watching hours of the coverage of the Olympics ice skating team event on Sunday, I settled in to watch the Super Bowl in the evening. Or to be more accurate, I settled in to watch the commercials.
I had no dog in the fight for the game. Part of me was wishing Sam Darnold well, but I’m not a Seahawks fan. For those of you that are part of the Twelves, don’t hate me. Another part of me was wishing the Patriots well, but only because my friend Nancy is a Patriots fan. She can’t help it. She moved to New Hampshire and I think it comes with the address.
That being said, I really didn’t care who won, but I was hoping for a good game We really didn’t get that either. You know it’s bad when Abel falls asleep during the game. He’s a big time football and sports fan. In his defense, he had a wrestling tournament in the morning so he might have been tired.
I settled in for the commercials and got my food and snacks during the game. I did find myself sort of disappointed again this year with many of the commercials. When you pay that much for a thirty second spot, I expect to be wowed.
There were some that I enjoyed. The early Michelob Ultra commercial with Kurt Russell put a smile on my face. Listening to him try to coach “Greg” not to finish last and have to buy the rounds to the Rocky theme was entertaining.
Uber Eats got me with Bradley Cooper and Matthew McConaughey arguing that football is just designed to sell food. Commercials like that have been running all year, but give me some McConaughey and you have my attention.
I may have related to the Universal “Little Man” commercial more than I should admit to. Watching the older brother be almost condescending to his little brother for everything, calling him little man, is something we short people relate to. Then watching that little brother have the time of his life on the rides at Universal while his older brother looked a little terrified and green at times made me smile. I’ve always been the one willing to brave the rides with the kids, but I’m starting to feel my age on some of that now.
Dunkin’s GoodWill Dunkin’ commercial was a creative use of AI, letting those of us that are old enough be thrown back to the sitcoms that used to be part of everyday life. It also paid homage to Boston and the actors that grew up or played parts in shows based in Boston. You may have to be a certain age to really appreciate that commercial as much as I did.
Watching the keg roll down the hill at a wedding reception was a good entry from Bud Light. As the wedding party and guests roll down the hill chasing it, you got to see Peyton Manning at the end point out that there was a trail down the hill.
True story, though I waited through the game for the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. I had seen clips and pieces of it leading up to the game, but watching it in full on the bigger screen of my television was worth the wait. If you blinked, you might have missed the North Dakota farmer standing in the field. Watching the baby eagle and young Clydesdale grow up with the Free Bird soundtrack behind it got me in all the feels.
Budweiser always gives you some of the best commercials and the Clydesdales never let you down. I know going in that I’m going to be waiting until somewhere in the third quarter to see it, but it is always worth the wait. I will also admit that once I get to see their commercial, I lose some of my interest in the commercials yet to come.
There were commercials I didn’t get or spent staring at the screen waiting for the end of the commercial to see what exactly they were advertising. There were commercials that had some poignant messages, like the one that encouraged being more neighborly or the one that encouraged girls in sports.
Either way, it is over for another year. Hopefully next year, I have a vested interest in one of the teams so that I can look forward to the game as much as the commercials. I’m still pretty sure you won’t be able to talk me into watching six hours of pregame. It’s enough that the broadcast of the game started with 40 minutes of more pregame.
Now that it is over, I can also settle in for two weeks of Olympic coverage. I love watching the Olympics whether it is summer or winter games. I do tend to gravitate towards more of the summer games events, but I’ll still find plenty to watch during the winter games.
The daring of skiers and snowboarders taking on the slopes generally makes me hold my breath. I love the spectacle of ice skaters in all disciplines. I’ll watch just about any of it while Dale sits and wonders how long until it’s over. He’s not as big of a fan as I am.