So the Superbowl happened yesterday. In scanning my RSS feeds this morning, I see that sporting event has occupied the written oupourings of just about the whole blogosphere across the Atlantic.
(In case you're not sure what the Superbowl is - it's "a football game played each year to determine the championship of the [American] National Football League." That rather dry description comes from The American Heritage Dictionary. There are more definitions/descriptions here.)
Hardly any of the bloggers whose RSS feeds I read actually talk about the game itself - everyone is talking about the advertising at the event. And there are lots of conversations.
Chris Pirillo points to a very convenient place to go to where you can view all the Superbowl ads - the iFilm 2005 Superbowl Ads Showcase with 68 commercials plus some that were banned.
And no 'wardrobe malfunctions' this year.
Oh, and if you're wondering, the winners were the New England Patriots who beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. Looks like it was an exciting game. But nobody watched it, though, because they were all watching the commercials!
For really exciting football, without all the body armour and commercial breaks every five minutes, I'd recommend rugby. The Six Nations Championship is well underway with three great games this past weekend - France vs Scotland, Wales vs England and Italy vs Ireland. Great video highlights on the BBC.
Did you notice the family-friendly half time this year. It looks to me like fox is trying to win back a few people they lost last year with the 'wardrobe malfunctions.' The question still remains though... what's the bigger deal: the game or the commercials?
Posted by: Emily | 07 February 2005 at 15:02
Budweiser had a wardrobe malfunction-based commercial that they apparently pulled at the last minute. It can be viewed at http://www.budweiser.com/wardrobe_malfunction.html
Posted by: Barbra B. Dunnem | 08 February 2005 at 16:36
The actual game truly is a side event. I've watched the Super Bowl on and off for a good few years, but always from England. This year I got to finally take in the event at a wee soire in America.
Once you take into consideration all the nonsense that goes before, during and after you can only come to the conclusion that they really don't trust sport to deliver.
All the hoopla is fantastic, but do you really need to hear the Declaration of Independence before the game? They even managed to whip me up into some patriotic frenzy. If I'd got any tipsier I might just have taken the citizenship test there and then.
I also always used to think that all the talk of the adverts was a bit of a mickey- take. However, the only time half of the people I was with came anywhere near the TV was during the adverts. All this during one of the better Super Bowls in recent years.
Posted by: Paul Woodhouse | 09 February 2005 at 11:33
That's a good one, Barbra. And it doesn't look to be in iFilm's list.
Emily, looks like Paul's comments answer the question - it's about the commercials!
Jeremy Pepper has a good personal review of many of the ads -
http://pop-pr.blogspot.com/2005/02/fun-with-superbowl-ads.html
Posted by: Neville Hobson | 10 February 2005 at 14:13