Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show divides Twitter

A hot mix of emotions flooded Twitter as Madonna took the stage to perform the halftime show at Super Bowl XLVI.

According to an analysis by Kanjoya, a San Francisco company that uses a computer algorithm to detect emotion in social media posts, differing opinions dominated Twitter.

Among the most commonly used words in posts about Madonna were "amazing," "great," "good," "best," "bad" and "hating."

Many writers quickly started snarking, poking fun and adopting a mocking tone. They frequently used words like "old," "seriously" and "retire." Madonna's fans took to the Web to defend her from abuse. Among their angry tweets, "shut up" was one of the most commonly used phrases.

Whether they loved her or hated her, Twitter writers were unified by one thing: Fascination with Madonna's age. According to Twitter, one of most used phrases right now is, "Madonna is 53."

RELATED:

Ferris Bueller drives a Honda CR-V in Super Bowl ad

Super Bowl ad gets David Beckham gets down to his underwear

The dog strikes back in 'Star Wars' VW Beetle ad

-- Ben Welsh

Soup Nazi and Jerry Seinfeld return for Acura ad

 

Jerry Seinfeld and the Soup Nazi are back -- but was it worth it?

There’s always a heavy celebrity count in Super Bowl ads, whether it’s Betty White for Snickers, Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne for Best Buy or Eminem for Chrysler, to name just a few from previous big game spots.

The theory of using stars in ads is that having a recognizable face makes for instant awareness. This year’s crop includes John Stamos, Mark Cuban, Donald Trump, Apolo Ohno, Regis Philbin, Will Arnett and Danica Patrick.

Does it work? Does it move the bottom line?

Timeline: Best Super Bowl commercials

Few could say for sure, but this one starring the well-known comedian has already taken some hits for being messy, unfunny and unbelievable. The premise: Seinfeld so covets an Acura NSX, a sports car that’s coming out of retirement, that he tries to bribe the gent who’s first on the waiting list.

Who among us believes that Jerry Seinfeld couldn’t snap his fingers and have any car he wanted, without resorting to ridiculous antics to get it? So, there’s that.

And about those just mentioned antics? They involve an alien corpse, the Soup Nazi, a sock puppet play, a holographic monkey and the last living munchkin. Viewers will be forgiven for scratching their collective heads.

By the time Jay Leno shows up, most people will have forgotten what this ad’s supposed to be about.

If you disagree, or are just glad to see Seinfeld back in action, sound off below.

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

-- T. L. Stanley 

Agencies say no chimps or dogs harmed in making these ads

 

A bunch of Super Bowl ads with nary a whiff of controversy? Yawn! If there is any hubbub this year, it’s centered on the return of the CareerBuilder chimpanzees and the dog racing at the heart of the Skechers ad.

Animal rights activists have said that real chimps shouldn’t be used in ads at all because they’re routinely mistreated, even with today’s safeguards in place. And at least one group has complained about the Skechers premise because it depicts racing greyhounds. That industry has had a history of abuse complaints.

Yet CareerBuilder and Skechers soldier on with their furry mascots, saying the animals were treated well and the Humane Society monitored the ad shoots.

Timeline: Best Super Bowl commercials

CareerBuilder returns to well-trod but still comic ground with its prank-pulling chimps. They’re meant to be simian stand-ins for every boorish co-worker you’ve ever had, and they still pull it off, this time sabotaging a long-suffering human employee’s business trip.

  

Skechers, which last year used reality maven and media magnet Kim Kardashian, puts itty bitty versions of its GOrun shoes on a pudgy French bulldog named Mr. Quiggly. In the 15-second teaser, viewers find out that Quiggly is prepped to challenge a whole pack of long-legged greyhounds at a dog track. Execs at the company have said the ad represents the underdog in all of us. He already has his own Facebook page -- can a line of Quiggly licensed swag be far behind?

 

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

- T. L. Stanley

 

 

Audi's #SoLongVampires jumps from TV to Twitter

As Show Tracker's T. L. Stanley already documented, Audi wasn't afraid to chase a trend with its vampire-themed Super Bowl ad. And now that has it trending on Twitter.

At the end of the ad, Audi encouraged TV watchers to tweet about it by showing the hashtag #SoLongVampires on screen. According to an analysis of Twitter postings by Kanjoya, a San Francisco company that uses a computer algorithm to detect emotion in social media posts, there were approximately 4,000 mentions of the hashtag around that time. Amusement was the most common emotion identified by Kanjoya's system.

But tweets about the hashtag were greatly outnumbered by tweets about Audi itself, suggesting most writers preferred to skip using the hashtag.

"Mentions of the brand were about 50% higher than mentions of the tag," said Kanjoya Founder Armen Berjikly. "So people talked Audi more than #SoLongVampires."

Watch the ad here:

RELATED:

Ferris Bueller drives a Honda CR-V in Super Bowl ad

Super Bowl ad gets David Beckham gets down to his underwear

The dog strikes back in 'Star Wars' VW Beetle ad

-- Ben Welsh

Bodywear ad gets David Beckham down to his underwear

 

And now, a little something for the ladies -- David Beckham in his underwear.

There are so few ads directed at women during the big game, even though marketers know that there are more females watching the Super Bowl than the Oscars, the so-called “Super Bowl for Women.” Missed opportunity!

That’s where Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M will come in this year. To introduce its Beckham Bodywear line, the company launches a 30-second black-and-white love letter to the famous soccer star’s ripped and tatted frame. There he stands in tiny white skivvies while the camera pans around his muscled physique and the Animals sing “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” Heavy sigh.

Timeline: Best Super Bowl commercials

The clothing store doesn’t advertise much on TV -– it sticks mostly with print and online -– so this is a pricey gambit. But let’s just say that H&M knows its consumer, which isn’t the rough-and-tumble NFL fan. It’s his girlfriend, and she’ll be buying those tighty whities, which could never look better than on their namesake. But a girl can dream, can’t she?

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

- T.L. Stanley 

 

The dog strikes back in Stars Wars VW Beetle ad

 

How in the world does an ad agency, even one packed with creative thinkers like Deutsch, L.A., surpass the pint-sized Darth Vader-draped glory that was “The Force”? That completely charming 2011 Super Bowl ad, now up to about 50 million views on YouTube alone, rated at the top of most consumer polls not just for the year but for any big game spot ever.

No pressure for this year, right?

Ad execs returned to the “Star Wars” well, further risking comparisons, and came up with an out-of-shape family dog that slims down to chase after a VW Beetle. The movie reference comes at the end, with a re-creation of the cantina scene and a visit from evil Lord Vader himself.

Timeline: Best Super Bowl ads

The agency reportedly spent six months on the campaign, having gone through at least 200 ideas before settling on the canine-themed ad. A revisit to “Star Wars” was always part of the plan.

 

As a teaser, the agency released “The Bark Side,” which had a group of lovable mutts barking the “Star Wars” Imperial Theme. Hey, that terrier sounds just like a Wookie. The clip has nearly 11 million YouTube views to date.

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

- T. L. Stanley

Coke's polar bears return to Super Bowl

 

Like 100-million-plus American TV viewers, the anthropomorphic Coke polar bears will be watching Sunday’s game live. And the ad they star in during the second quarter will reflect what’s happening on the field.

A first-quarter 30-second ad will introduce the bears chilling out on their “snowfa,” rooting for opposing teams. Then, depending on who is leading, another ad will follow later -- if the Patriots are leading, the ad below will air.

The iconic marketer also has a second-screen social campaign that ties into the ads, where a live stream at CokePolarBowl.com and in rich-media banners on sites like ESPN.com will have animated polar bears reacting to game developments and ads as they air.

VIDEO TIMELINE: Best Super Bowl commercials

The brand’s Twitter account and Facebook page will follow the game as well, with Wieden + Kennedy creative types chatting with fellow football fans in the bears’ “voices.”

This will probably end up being a business school case study in how to engage consumers, whether it ends up being hugely successful or just cuddly and entertaining.

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

-- T. L. Stanley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audi ad put vampires in the driver's seat

 

Vampires are hot. Have you heard? Even though this Audi ad from Venables Bell & Partners of San Francisco may seem to be a bit late to the party, it’s really not.

Inspired by “True Blood," “Twilight” or “Vampire Diaries” or any other supernatural-themed popular entertainment, it still stands on its own as a clever bit of story telling. And it does what some Super Bowl spots completely overlook: touts the brand and sells its attributes.

As a fun marketing hook, the company aired the ad on TV during “vampire hours,” midnight to 3 a.m., the week before the Super Bowl, reminding viewers that the undead are strictly nocturnal.

Best Super Bowl commercials

To underscore that point, the ad shows the 2013 Audi S7’s signature headlight technology that’s apparently as bright as day. That’s bad news for vamps partying in the woods and, eventually, the hapless friend who arrives with blood and killer headlights.

Nice touch: The soundtrack is “The Killing Moon” from Echo & the Bunnymen, which, like “Matthew’s Day Off” recalls the past without ruining it.

  

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

- T. L. Stanley 

 

Doritos crashes the Super Bowl with dogs and Siri

 

What could be more connected -– and cheap! -– than crowdsourcing your ads?

Marketers of all stripes are putting out the call for any Joe with an idea and a decent video camera to create advertising. Doritos, though, does it best and biggest in this annual rite dubbed “Crash the Super Bowl.”

There are five finalists in this nationwide sweepstakes, and viewers won’t know until game time which one wins. The contest includes up to $1 million cash and a collaboration with the Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.  

VIDEO TIMELINE: Best Super Bowl commercials

“Man’s Best Friend” won the day, but the iPhone/Siri parody in “Hot Wild Girls” is an instant classic.

 

RELATED:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

- T. L. Stanley

 

Mean Joe Green needs a super clean jersey in Downey ad

 

It’s one of the most beloved and best-remembered Super Bowl ads of all time: Mean Joe Green and a cute kid share a moment -- and a Coke. Why mess with that lovely little piece of heart-melting marketing from 1980?

Coca-Cola already did a few years ago, with a Coke Zero ad that parodied the Green spot and starred Troy Polamalu.

Now it’s Procter & Gamble’s turn, but the marketer had to first get permission from Coke to tread onto that sacred advertising ground. Coke said yes, according to Adweek, but wouldn’t turn over any of the classic footage. P&G, for its Downey Unstopables fabric freshener, had initially wanted to use archival footage of Green and digitally insert its spokesceleb, comedian and wacky domestic goddess Amy Sedaris.

VIDEO TIMELINE: Best Super Bowl commercials

But Green, who has turned down previous offers to redo that famous role, finally agreed to a remake. The 65-year-old retired Pittsburgh Steelers star appears with Sedaris in a twist on the iconic commercial, appropriately named “Stinky.”

P&G probably made a smart bet with this media buy, which Adweek estimates set the company back about $1 million (versus the average $3.5 million that advertisers paid to be in the game). Talk value on this spot will carry it far beyond its pre-kickoff slot.

RELATED:

Madonna will welcome LMFAO to Super Bowl halftime stage

Super Bowl ad mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

-- T.L. Stanley

 

 

 

Super Bowl: OK, viewers, is it the game or the ads?

What if the Super Bowl were just an uninterrupted football game -- the New York Giants and the New England Patriots grappling on the gridiron -- presented commercial-free for all the hard-core sports purists out there?

Of course, it would still be the highest-stakes football game of the year, but without a single advertising break for beer, chips, cars, gadgets or movies, would it be a major milestone in popular culture, a ratings juggernaut, a national holiday?

“No way,” said Bob Horowitz, president of JUMA Entertainment, which produced the recent CBS special “The Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials,” now in its 11^th year. “The ratings wouldn’t just decrease, they’d drastically decrease. It would be disastrous.”

VIDEO TIMELINE: Best Super Bowl commercials

Even in years like this one when it’s a hotly contested match-up, millions of people will readily admit they watch the four-hour-plus spectacle only for the ads. That’s good news for marketers like Anheuser-Busch InBev, which has bought more than four minutes of extremely expensive air time on Sunday for its beer brands, and supermodel Adriana Lima, who’ll appear with her ample cleavage in two separate commercials.

It’s easy to see why A-list companies and their up-and-coming rivals want to be in that kind of spotlight. Last year’s game on Fox drew 111 million viewers, making it the most-watched TV program in history. It’s a four-quadrant event, as they say in the flick business, gathering every demographic group that ever buys any product or service.

But why, when TV viewers so readily and diligently use their DVRs to skip ads, are the commercials just as big a draw as Eli Manning?

“Because the commercials aren’t commercials,” Horowitz said, “they’re short-form entertainment.”

So there you have it, Show Trackers, but it’s really up to you to be the judges on Super Bowl Sunday.

ALSO:

'Mean Joe' Greene re-creates his famous Super Bowl ad for Downy [Video]

Roseanne for president? Let's get serious [Video]

Debra Messing on 'Smash': Don't have to like musicals to enjoy it 

-- T.L. Stanley 

Photo: Eli Manning of the Super Bowl-bound New York Giants during a playoff game.  Photo credit: Darron Cummings / Associated Press

 

Best Super Bowl ads: Some classics

We all have our favorite Super Bowl commercials.

Is yours the 1973 classic -- and by that we mean provocative -- spot that had Farrah Fawcett lathering Noxzema shaving cream on Joe Namath? Or perhaps you can't forget the rough-riding cowboys herding cats? Maybe you favor the chorus of Budweiser Frogs?

Each year, advertisers spend months poring over story boards and scripts, hoping to create the perfect, ready-to-go-viral 30-second spot. These days, social media and online sites such as Hulu, which has dedicated an entire page to Super Bowl ads, are reaching for a piece of the revenue too.

VIDEO TIMELINE: Classic Super Bowl commercials

These sites can help boost the ads beyond the traditional onetime Super Bowl blowout. And with the cost of a 30-second spot at $3.5 mil­lion, they're going to lengths to avoid a dud.

This year, for the first time, advertisers got a jump on Super Bowl stardom.  Deutsch LA, the company that produced last year's Volkswagen hit "The Force," released a prequel to an ad scheduled to run during the New York Giants and New England Patriots face-off. The prequel to "Bark Side of the Moon" already has garnered more than 11 million views on YouTube.

"People think we are just there to purely entertain people," Michael Sheldon, Deutsch LA's chief executive, told The Times. "But an advertiser's mission is to get you to fall in love with their brand and buy their product."

It remains to be seen who will rise to the heights of classics such as Coca-Cola's 1979 "Mean Joe Green," or McDonald's 1993 "Showdown" for a Big Mac between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

Contenders in the running? Honda's "Matthew's Day Off," which hopes to coax nostalgic viewers into Ferris Beuller's latest ride, and Audi's "Vampire-busting" headlights.

Then again, can we really expect a new ad to topple pigskin-playing Cly­des­dales or Betty White getting body slammed on a football field?

RELATED:

Super Bowl ads: The art of seduction

Super Bowl mania kicks off with a commercial for a commercial

Super Bowl has Los Angeles ad agencies bringing their "A" game

-- Lily Mihalik

Photos: Clockwise from top left, Noxzema "Creamed," Coca-Cola "Mean Joe Green," Budweiser "Frogs," Pepsi "New Look." Credits: Noxzema, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Pepsi