Betty White Tops Best Super Bowl Ads

Uinterview reporter Joe Galbo ranks the best and worst of Madison Avenue’s work on the Super Bowl stage.

Top 5 Best

1. Snickers: You’re Not You When You’re Hungry: Betty White (The Golden Girls) and Abe Vigoda (The Godfather) get tackled by young football pallyers to sell this simple ad that makes old people funny.

2. Flo TV – Moments: Relying on historical footage from the past 60 years, FloTV makes a powerful case for needing a mobile television.

4. Doritos – Casket: You could argue forever about which of the Doritos ad was your favorite, but who hasn’t sat at a funeral and thought… what if it moved?

5. Budlight – Stranded: Usually Budlight ends up having the best Superbowl ads. While they held their own, this year only the Lost themed spot really stuck.

Honorable Mentions

• The Late Show spot featuring Jay Leno and Oprah came out of left field and was a big surprise considering the bitter history Letterman and Leno have with each other.

• The Focus on the Family: Tim Tebow spot proved that people love to get all worked up over nothing. While the ad wasn’t particularly memorable the fuss created over it was astounding.

• Google’s search on ad was touching and brilliant, but about four or five months old.

• The Audi Green Police spot managed to lampoon the green movement while simultaneously supporting it.

• The VW Punch Buggy ad was a little charming. Stevie Wonder really made it.

The Worst Ads

1. Budweiser used to be king of the Superbowl ads. They started getting more emotional with the Clydesdale ads last year and now this year have totally gone overboard. It was unfunny and also failed to pull any emotional heartstrings.

2. Every Hyundai ad was terrible, save for the one featuring an indecisive Brett Farve. While Farve’s ability to laugh at himself is charming, it’s something we’ve seen in commercials before.

3. Dockers: Men Without Pants: Way too many guys in their underwear this year, and in an ad campaign that’s all about being manly again this just failed to do anything but make you cringe.

4. US Census: Everyone in these census ads is a funny person, but the whole thing just failed to do anything except waste a lot of money.

5. Universal Studios Harry Potter Theme Park: If all they got is a castle then they’re in big trouble.