by Anna Tracey

Created on: February 09, 2010

Super Bowl commercials are the subject of America’s water-cooler conversations for several weeks after the actual game. In fact, many viewers tune in, not out of love for the game, but out of love for the commercials. This year’s super bowl was no different. Images of Danica Patrick getting a massage, Megan Fox in a bathtub, and a Google search bar will permeate the minds and television screens of Americans for the next few weeks.

One of the best commercials was the Google advertisement. This full minute shot of several different Google searches documenting a students study abroad, French questions, dating advice, marriage, and advice on how to build a crib, was a heartwarming moment that brought a smile to each person in the room. It was simple, memorable, and saw no need to put in a scantily clad woman to make it more noticeable or attractive. It had all the qualities necessary to grasp the attention of a super bowl audience. It was easy to understand, it made its point without having to state it explicitly, and it was smart, funny, cute, and romantic. It appealed to all audiences and kept everyone on their toes – waiting to see what would be the final search-entry. We were satisfied with the result.

One of the commercials that simply did not fit the category of a super bowl commercial was the Sketchers, Joe Montana Shape-ups advertisement. It was uninteresting, badly arranged, and did nothing to attract the attention of the audience. There is a high standard for super bowl commercials and the Sketchers commercial did not meet the comedic and endearing standards that are so familiar and popular in the super bowl show. While most of the commercials were over the top and different, the Sketchers commercial could not measure up to the high standards of many of the other ads. Audiences expect something out of the ordinary, never-before-seen, or mind-boggling. Sketchers provided a typical shoe commercial featuring people walking across the screen wearing the sneakers. It was only a fifteen second commercial, and that is probably just as well, audiences could not have coped with too much more, they would have zoned out completely.

So – whether or not the people of America will be using Google as their primary search engine this week or whether they will be purchasing Sketchers shoes remains to be seen. What is true, however, is that the super bowl commercials will be the talk of America for a few more days, and one of the best advertisements that will dominate conversation is the Google search-engine commercial.

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