Monday, Feb. 2, 2004 | 8:28 a.m.
So who had the best Super Bowl ad?
Pepsi, Budweiser or Frito Lay?
Frankly, it might not matter.
Often the highlight of the championship game for much of the audience, this year's crop of Super Bowl commercials lacked any appreciable "wow" factor, said one advertising critic.
"It will be interesting to see what (ads) people are talking about. But I just can't see one standing out where people are going, 'Wow!' " said Jim Hanas, editor of AdCritic.com, a New York-based website that focuses on news and trends in advertising.
"There were definitely not any production numbers, and even the use of celebrities was toned down. Pepsi is the biggest example. Usually they do some sort of big extravaganza and they didn't do that this year."
Instead, it may be an "accidental" celebrity exposure, along with the football game, that dominates many post-game conversations today.
During the Super Bowl halftime show, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet Jackson's top, exposing her right breast.
Timberlake denied the act was intentional and a CBS spokeswoman offered an apology on behalf of the network, saying it "deeply regrets the incident."
Meanwhile the teams also did their best to upstage the commercials, playing a thrilling game ultimately decided in the waning seconds as the New England Patriots' Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers, 32-29.
The close contest proved not only a victory for New England, but also for some of the game's advertisers.
"My first thought was that fourth quarter advertisers must be very happy," Hanas said. "If it's a blowout, sometimes people tune out. There's not a lot of attention paid to last-quarter ads. But Subway, which bought an ad after the final gun, got its money's worth."
The 60-second ad, titled "Misunderstanding," focused on misguided consumers behaving badly, to which a spokesman explained that incorporating Subway into a regular diet allows you to occasionally "eat badly, not act badly."
At the going rate of $2.25 million per 30-second spot, the commercial cost Subway $4.5 million.
Was it worth it?
"People debate about it. But media companies spend a lot of money on research," Hanas said. "I don't think companies would spend money on it if they didn't feel like they were getting the return.
"In this day and age things are so fragmented by cable ... for a mass-market event, this is as good as you can do."
What advertisers are paying for is the attention of an estimated 90 million viewers, or roughly one-third of the U.S. population.
Among those that best got their message across, said Hanas, were H&R Block, Staples and Anheuser-Busch.
All three companies took tongue-in-cheek approaches.
"Humor is remembered fairly well and it's likable," Hanas said. "And in the Super Bowl, it's expected."
The H&R commercial had featured Willie Nelson hawking an action figure that offers advice, while veteran character actor Joe Viterelli played a mobster facing down an office supply clerk in the Staples ad.
The Anheuser-Busch ads for Budweiser and Bud Light featured a football referee harassed on the job and at home; Cedric the Entertainer, who unwittingly agrees to a bikini wax; a flatulent horse; a donkey that wants to be a Clydesdale; and a dog that attacks a man's groin over a beer.
While the slapstick theme of the commercials wasn't new, audiences still respond.
"I definitely didn't see anything surprising or new in Anheuser's strategy," he said. "You could almost pair up their ads from last year to this year's."
Still, Hanas acknowledged, "Dogs biting people's crotches usually gets people laughing."
Other companies with humorous commercials included MasterCard with its "Priceless" campaign featuring Homer Simpson; Lays Potato Chips with an elderly couple's desperate -- and contentious -- race to a bag of chips; and AOL's ad series with the Discovery Channel's "American Chopper" team to tout the online provider's new TopSpeed service.
"I really like the AOL ads ... they made good use of the guys from 'American Chopper,' Hanas said. "I thought the payoff was pretty good and (helped) drive home the product."
Not all ads relied on humor to get their messages across.
While Pepsi-Cola ran its share of lighthearted commercials, it was a serious ad that Hanas rated as the soft drink maker's best.
The commercial -- a joint venture with Apple -- included several teens and young adults singled out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for illegal music uploads and downloads.
Titled "I Fought the Law," the ad promoted a 100-million song giveaway by Pepsi for Apple's iTunes online music store, along with a clear message: there is an alternative to illegal downloading.
"It was good for everyone. It was good for Apple to get into Pepsi's market to drive people to iTunes and it was good for Pepsi to position itself with something as cool as Apple," he said.
"The irony is that some people have been saying this is risky and controversial, but the RIAA thinks it's great. 'I Fought the Law and the Law Won' is the theme song. They like it because it promotes legal downloading. It's a big win."
Though Pepsi scored well, Hanas wasn't so kind to other Super Bowl advertisers.
The Schick commercial was simply "a retooled ad for their multiple-blade shaver," he said, while a Charmin ad involving a quarterback mesmerized by toilet paper hanging from his center's uniform pants was "pretty weak ... and kind of difficult to understand."
Hanas also didn't care for rival ads touting an end to erectile dysfunction from drugs Cialis and Levitra.
"I thought the pharmaceutical ads kind of stood out like a sore thumb," he said.
Hanas said the Cialis commercial -- which featured nuzzling middle-aged couples while asking the question: "If the relaxing moment turns into the right moment, will you be ready?" -- was rather "boring."
Although the Levitra ad, which had spokesman Mike Ditka poking fun at baseball, "was kind of amusing," he said.
Of all the Super Bowl commercials, however, it's what didn't air that's may be most interesting.
A gladiator-themed ad from Pepsi, featuring pop stars Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink singing the Queen classic "We Will Rock You," was hotly anticipated.
Many TV shows and newscasts even went so far as to show clips of the ad as part of their Super Bowl commercial previews.
Hanas said most viewers just assumed the ad was created for the Sunday's game "because it looks so Super Bowl-y" with its big stars and big budget.
Which was a mistake. The commercial was never intended to run during the Super Bowl -- or even in the United States.
"It's an international ad ... and Pepsi said they don't intend to run it here," he said. "It doesn't fit their strategy here."
Also missing was an Apple ad rumored to commemorate its famous "1984" commercial, which launched the Macintosh 20 years ago.
The "1984" ad is credited with creating the Super Bowl ad phenomenon as it has become.
"I'm amazed at how you can look at it now and it still looks good ... it looks practically brand new," Hanas said. "I certainly didn't see anything of that scope this year or perhaps since."
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