Doritos, Budweiser, U.S. Census Bureau Among Best and Worst 2010 Super Bowl Ads in Annual Spotbowl.com Predictions

On February 7, 50 percent of the more than 100 million Americans watching the Super Bowl will be tuning in just for the commercials. But not all of the big budget ads are worth watching, according to the ad gurus behind the Super Bowl commercial poll, SpotBowl.com.

“The veterans, like Budweiser, Doritos and Coca-Cola, are looking good. They’re the ones that will lay the foundation for the 2010 Super Bowl commercial line-up,” said SpotBowl founder Michael Pavone, who also leads Pavone, the Pennsylvania-based advertising agency behind SpotBowl.com. “But it’s the newcomers that will determine the overall success of the field, and this year’s rookies have their work cut out for them.”

Now in its seventh year, SpotBowl.com attracted more than 100,000 votes from ad fans in all 50 states in 2009. To make voting easier this year, the site has been optimized to allow voting from iPhones, Blackberrys and other mobile web-browsing devices. To help ad fans navigate this year’s commercial crop, SpotBowl.com offers the following predictions for Super Bowl advertising touchdowns and fumbles.

MOST UNUSUAL ROSTER ADDITION — U.S. Census Bureau
With the power to reach nearly half the nation’s citizenry, the U.S. Census Bureau is hoping a pair of Super Bowl ads will spread the word about the importance of filling out the census forms at the heart of the once-a-decade poll. The spot isn’t the first for the Bureau (it also bought Super Bowl ad time to kick off the 2000 census), but the presence of a government-funded ad amongst the rest of the beer and-babes pack certainly makes it one of the game’s most out-of-place players.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR — HomeAway.com
Vacation rental website Homeaway.com will make its Super Bowl debut in style, thanks to a sure fire formula of star power, nostalgia and humor. The recipe includes actors Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo, who will reprise their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold from the classic National Lampoon’s Vacation films. The 30-second ad will showcase the Griswold family’s typical travel mishaps while highlighting the benefits of vacation rentals over hotels.

BEST RETURNING PLAYER — Anheuser-Busch
It’s hard not to make the King of Beers a first round pick in the annual fantasy Super Bowl advertising draft. Each year, the Budweiser crew purchases the most airtime of any sponsor—nearly five minutes in the 2010 game—and each year they deliver a roster of spots that range from side-splitting gut-busters (who wouldn’t pick up an axe-wielding hitchhiker with a six pack of Bud?) to standing-ovation tearjerkers (cue the Clydesdales). It’s a formula that’s earned the brewers the top spot in three of six Spotbowl showdowns and it’s one that’s sure to produce a few water cooler favorites this year, too.

MOST LIKELY TO FUMBLE — Dr. Pepper
It’s hard to predict a fumble without seeing the play first, but Dr. Pepper’s Super Bowl debut, featuring Gene Simmons and his KISS band mates shilling the company’s new cherry-flavored beverage, has all the ingredients of a big game bust. Overexposed, over-the-hill rock stars? Check. Recycled ad campaign (Simmons: “Trust me, I’m a doctor.”)? Check. An ad we’re likely to forget by halftime? Check.

OVERDUE FOR RETIREMENT — GoDaddy.com
Every year, the GoDaddy.com team tries to sneak a few titillating Super Bowl ads past the censors, and every year, network execs send them back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, the final product never seems to live up to the pre-game hype surrounding it. It’s a game the domain name registrars have been playing since 2005, and it’s one we all hope will end soon.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER — Doritos
A trio of edgy consumer-generated commercials from chip-maker Doritos could dethrone Anheuser-Busch as the reigning SpotBowl champion. Each commercial was created by fans as part of the company’s annual “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. Though Doritos’ starting line-up hasn’t been chosen, any one of the six slapstick humor-laden finalists currently vying for a spot on the roster-including an ad in which a dog places a shock collar on a man-could take home the gold in this year’s SpotBowl showdown.

About SpotBowl.com
Since its debut in 2004, SpotBowl has fought to give a voice to commercial fans across the nation. The makers of SpotBowl believe that for $3 million per airing, consumers have every right to expect a little more than the usual 30 seconds of jibber jabber from some overpaid celebrity spokesperson. We also think advertisers who are willing to spend the equivalent of the average family’s lifetime earnings ought to know what their target audience really thinks about their marketing messages. For more information, visit www.spotbowl.com.

Primary Contact:
David Shoffner
Pavone
(717) 234-8886 x154
(717) 525-0055
[email protected]