According to this NYT story, tastefulness will be the operative phrase for the greatest day of the year in U.S. TV commercials!
An excerpt:
nheuser-Busch, the biggest advertiser on the Super Bowl, the biggest day of the year for advertising, is making good on a promise to clean up its act.
A look at some commercials that Anheuser-Busch is considering for Super Bowl XXXIX on Feb. 6 - for beers like Bud Light, Budweiser, Budweiser Select and Michelob Amber Bock - indicates the company was considerably chastened by the reaction from salacious, provocative spots it ran last year.
The content and tone of the commercials under consideration for next month are well within the bounds of mainstream marketing. Missing are the double entendres, bathroom humor and crude sight gags that dominated last year.
"Our goal is to be careful," said Bob Lachky, vice president for brand management and director for global brand creative at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis.
"We want to make sure the types of situations we depict and the jokes we tell don't cross the line of good taste," Mr. Lachky said. "There's a heightened sense of awareness where that line is."
Anheuser-Busch is among a lengthy list of Super Bowl advertisers pledging to keep it clean as they react to the outrage generated by the halftime show last year, which became notorious for Janet Jackson's so-called wardrobe malfunction.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of NFL football. Since the Super Bowl is rarely a classic, one has to glean some entertainment value from it in other ways.
But watching the great advertising requires either a U.S. satellite feed or a trip to the U.S. -- and since they repeat the ads in the second half, you'd better hope it's a good game.
Amusing story: A legendary DJ named Scruff Connors loved playing practical jokes on listeners.
One year, when he was working in Winnipeg, the Super Bowl was being played in Miami, Florida.
He started a contest to watch the Super Bowl in Miami. Winners were to meet at the airport. There, a bus met them and they were transported to Miami ... Manitoba!
Some saw the humour in it, but others were unaccountably furious.
Connors quite rightfully said he never mentioned anything about Florida.
Hee-hee!