For some, the Super Bowl commercials are just as good, if not better than the game itself. Here are The Lantern’s top five commercials from this year’s game.
1. Volkswagen: Darth Vader Kid (second quarter)
The commercial for the new Passat featured a little boy striding through his house, fully dressed as the “Stars Wars” villain, Darth Vader, with John Williams’ “Imperial March” playing in the background. Little Vader tries using “The Force” on objects in his house, including the washer and dryer, the dog and a doll sitting on a bed. His frustration with his powers not working is visible, so he gives up. His dad comes home in a silver Passat and Little Vader runs to it, not to greet his father, but to test his powers on the car. He throws his hands out and all of a sudden, the car starts up and he jumps back. His dad used the car remote from the house to start the car. Little Vader is stunned.
2. Chrysler: Eminem in Motor City (third quarter)
The commercial for the Chrysler 200 is not only a promo for the car, but for the city of Detroit as well. A voice-over speaks about the strength of the city (“What does a city that’s been to hell and back know about the finer things?”). The shots of the city show the best and the worst parts of Detroit. The Chrysler 200 appears on the screen, with Detroit native Eminem behind the wheel. He stops at a theater and walks in. A choir is singing on stage and he walks up to them, turns around and looks at the camera. He says, “This is the Motor City, and this is what we do.”
3. Doritos: Finger Licking (first quarter)
This was the second Doritos commercial of the night and it kept up with the general silly attitude. One guy is eating his Doritos and he finishes the bag. His co-worker is sitting awkwardly close to the first and the co-worker tells him that he “left the best part.” The other guy is confused and looks in his bag. The co-worker takes the opportunity to start sucking on the first’s fingers to get the cheese off. “Mmmm cheese. I love Doritos,” he says. There’s a moment when they stare at each other and it cuts away to another man, wiping his cheesy fingers on his pants. The finger-licking guy rips the other’s pants off and basically snorts the cheese. The commercial ends with him, clutching the pants, saying, “Doritos!”
4. Chevy Camaro: Red Head (fourth quarter)
The commercial opens with two guys talking about making a commercial for the Camaro. They are obviously poking fun at the car commercial “formula” that usually consists of many obstacles the car has to get through. It starts off with the Camaro racing through the desert. One shot shows many mirrors standing up, with the car driving between them. There’s a “hot redhead” in the driver’s seat, making her way through a city, and “dodging bales of hay.” One guy stops and points out the ridiculousness of bales of hay in the city. They add a car chase with a helicopter and “bad guys” and the car flies off the roof. There’s a brief pause and she lands cleanly in front of a school because she’s a teacher, which is labeled as the surprise ending.
5. NFL.com: TV favorites (third quarter)
This commercial featured football clips from TV shows, past and present. The clips, which were all from real episodes, showed characters decked out in their teams’ colors, anticipating the Super Bowl. After the montage, a screen pops up with the words: “Best. Fans. Ever.” Some of the shows featured are “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Seinfeld,” “The Office,” “Full House,” “Family Guy,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Family Matters,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Glee,” “Friends,” “Modern Family” and “The Simpsons.” The last clip shown is from “South Park,” with Cartman running to catch up to his friends on a horse, yelling, “Hurry! We can’t miss the commercials.”
