American Idol -- Ben Roethlisberger

The Mouth:
Does anyone even remember that the Steelers won the Super Bowl? I hate American Idol, and therefore hate any commercial for it. The only way this would have been good is if they had Ben pouring tequila down the throats of hot girls in the audience. F.

The Hawk:
JOKE IN A CAN ALERT! JOKE IN A CAN ALERT! JOKE IN A CAN ALERT! "I loved that song, until you ruined it." "Who sings this? Let's keep it that way." I'm not even sure what the point of this was. American Idol has plenty of viewers, so did they really need to get this elaborate? A simple reminder would have probably sufficed. Hell, maybe they were just having a little fun. Still stupid. D-.

Moment Of Truth -- Chad Johnson

The Mouth:
I like Chad Johnson. I secretly like The Moment of Truth. I don't like this commercial. They took what was a very promising situation and delivered a very vanilla result. How was that the show that couldn't be more truthful? D.

The Hawk:
Agreed. Much like the Shaq Vitamin Water spot, they failed to utilize the potential of their star. I've seen this show too, and I think this fails to accentuate the draw of the show. This is the ad for some sort of comedy show, not Moment Of Truth. I think just showing actual clips of the show, with the participants' expressions, is the best way to draw new viewers. This spot only serves as a comedic take to people who are already watching.

NASCAR -- Cars inside motors

The Hawk:
As someone who has watched NASCAR at times in my life, this is the type of ad that might bring me back in the fold. It's perfect. The cars, the engines, the racetrack sounds -- everything people love about the sport. It makes me wish they could run a real race on this imaginary track. This is going to appeal to gearheads everywhere and get people excited about the Super Bowl of NASCAR, the Daytona 500. A+.

The Mouth:
A+? Come on. This didn't even seem like an ad we should review. To me, it seemed like every other NASCAR ad I've ever seen on FOX and none of them have made me want to watch NASCAR. I believe the only way NASCAR should be seen is live, amidst thousands of drunken, B.O. reeking men and their Bangs From the 80's, showing too much skin ladies. If you can't smell puke, see an overweight girl flash her saggy tits or snag a Natural Light from a compatriot's cooler, why even bother? D-.

Verizon, Hockey Fans Aren't Like Other Fans: A-

Hey baby! Baby! This made me laugh, then they dedicated ten seconds to hammering me with product information. For those ten seconds I was still feeling the euphoria brought on by the laughing, so I wasn't annoyed that they were trying to sell me something. The only thing wrong with this is the guy shouting isn't holding a beer. A real hockey fan would have a beer.

It's going to be hard for me not to shout at babies now. Pure comedy. And the younger the baby, the better. I might even shout at a pregnant woman's stomach. Or into a newly impregnanted vagina. A-.

The Hawk:
Definitely a well-targeted ad. Hockey fans will "get" this one, and if they are really diehard fans, it will draw their interest to Verizon's service. I dislike the Verizon glasses guy, though, so his appearance here is a detriment. He wasn't needed... although I guess he reinforces the branding. B.

Where Kevin Garnett Happens

This might be the #1 spot from the campaign. It appeals to the "everyman" out there by showcasing one of the best aspects of sports -- it's melting pot effect. Sports, specifically the NBA in this case, can bring people together from all walks of life, and this ad showcases that scenario. In addition, this had to be very appealing to a specific NBA niche -- the Celtics fan. This commercial really tugs at my emotions. I love it. A+.

The Mouth:

No part of me disagrees with my associate here. For me, it's the song. An unexpected, fairly forgotten song that fits perfectly with the message. The only part that I don't like is that it's Boston. They took our Tom Brady. And now Detroit doesn't get KG? Still: A.

Where Steve Nash Happens

Here is the Steve Nash spot from the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens" campaign. It cleverly uses the car's navigation lady to detail Steve Nash's path to success. A good idea by the NBA to use one of their most popular and marketable (meaning white) players. I love this one, although I can that it may fall under the "what the hell was that advertising?" category. B.

THE MOUTH:

I love Steve Nash, but I don't like this commercial much. I don't think using that navigation system to tell the story is all that clever--although it works with "where you have arrived happens." I hate that robot navigation voice in cars and this doesn't really do anything to diminish that. "You are now receiving your 2nd MVP" is possibly the worst line. The style is interesting, but doesn't seem to match the character of the NBA or the other spots in this campaign. C-.

NBA, Where Amazing Happens: A

"Where amazing happens." What a great, outstanding line. Something about it sounds wrong, which makes it all the more...amazing? A great example of how much you can do with a simple, true idea and great writing. Where never meant to happen happens. Where amazing happens. Where amazing happens. Where amazing happens! I love saying it. Say it with me. Where amazing happens.


The Hawk:

My first reaction to The Mouth liking this saying so much was negative at best. I thought it was too corny and cheesy. However, the more I think about it, it's not the tag line I don't like, it's this particular ad. It is too over the top with the piano music... almost a self-righteous type feel. I bet Mike Breen loves this one. The exploitation of the afro doesn't help my opinion, either. I much prefer the individual player ads that go along with this campaign. Continue reading the next few entries for the reviews of those...

C for this one.

Chris Bosh, Vote For Me: A-

Somehow my associate failed to write about this after raving about it in his own blogs. Perhaps he forgot, or perhaps he doesn't consider it an ad. But an ad it is. "Best thing about it is, you think it's $20? No sir."



The fact that Bosh went out and made a YouTube video asking fans to vote for him is brilliant. There are some fan-made YouTube videos pleading for votes for their favorite players, but to my knowledge Bosh is the only one who went the extra mile, grabbed a camcorder, a cowboy hat and a faux redneck accent to garner votes. The mock used-car salesman act isn't quite perfect, but you have to appreciate the effort. He even gives a nod to his Canadian fans with a Boxing Day mention.

"Fillin out these ballots is easy as cow tipping. Ain't that right, Bubba?"

I feel like there's a little something missing (hence the A-), but I can't put my finger on it.

GoDaddy.com, Chad Johnson: A+

"As the world's #1 receiver, I wanna be with the world's #1 domain registrar"! A classic line. Chad Johnson is charismatic and actually pulls this off, although it does seem absurd that a millionaire NFL player has ever spent 1 minute working on his website. And pay attention to the great "Go Daddy!" jingle in the background.

A+.

Fatheads, Brian Urlacher: A

I like absolutely everything about this commercial. The old Walt Disney-looking narrator, the presumption that a grown man would actually put a giant sticker on the wall in his office, a violent fire breathing bear, and the writing in the final segment; it's like sweet poetry.

"...plucked from the playing field, like ripened fruit that can smack you in your earhole..."

It almost makes me forget that this is a totally worthless product made for retards.

#8 Creativity's Most Viewed--Nike, Leave Nothing: A-

This spot is pretty great. Some of the transitions bother me a little, but the idea of fluidly following these guys as they run through 16 weeks of a grueling season is nice. The music from Last of the Mohicans isn't what you'd expect and really enhances the feel of the commercial. I will say that at first, I hated "Leave Nothing" as a tag. Don't you want to leave it all on the field? As in "Leave Everything"? But now I've seen it enough I guess my brain has found some sort of backwards logic. If you "Leave Nothing", that means you've given everything you had?

I worked on the accompanying Nike website for this, so I was there when they were filming. To give you an idea of the difference between internet and tv resources, our set had a 10' x 10' green screen (assembled by us and our one grip) in the middle of a high school football field. The commercial was filmed at the Rose Bowl, over the course of 2-3 days, with 50' high, 80 yard long greenscreens. An immensely expensive spot directed by Michael Mann, hundreds of people on set and tons of extras.

Here's about the only decent thing we could put together from our digital shoot:



If I had to grade the work we did for this campaign, I'd give it a D+ (aside from some great design work). That's about all I'm going to say about that, unless you talk to me after six beers, in which case I'll be much more vocal on the subject.

The good news, is I got to meet all those guys, including Megatron.