February 5, 2005
I’m Seeing Spots
Rather than sit in front of the TV for four-plus hours tomorrow, I plan to tape the Superbowl and watch it later, allowing me to fast-forward through those annoying breaks in the action. Through the game, that is. Generally I’ve found Superbowl contests to be mediocre entertainment — it’s the ads that are more intriguing. I’ve gotten into the habit of taping the whole event each year, and usually find a handful of very, very expensive pieces of commercial video art worth watching. The whole viewing process takes about 45 minutes.
Even the lame ads are interesting, because of how expensive they are to air… For some, you gotta wonder, “$80,000 per second for that stinker — what were they thinking?”
My family did have a VCR way back in 1984, but sadly I hadn’t yet begun my habit of taping the Superbowl. In hindsight I wonder if I could have sold such a precious artifact on eBay today, for a pretty penny. (I wonder, can original videotapings of famous television moments actually be of interest to collectors? Maybe in this particular case, if it could be proven to be an original recording.) The funny thing is, my mom still uses some BASF and Avanti VHS videotapes she bought in 1982… she’s just a tad frugal, my mom.
Googling a bit, naturally I find a site devoted to these ads. It links to an article about how blogs are getting in on the action.
Maybe someday I can just TiVo the ads.
February 6th, 2005 at 7:44 am
Actually, a tape of the very first SuperBowl (1967) would be quite valuable. No complete tape of the game exists.
This will tell you more.
February 6th, 2005 at 3:04 pm
Actually I just realized that today’s contest is effectively Noah (New England) vs. Nick (Philadelphia). Good luck to you both, in case you care :-).
February 6th, 2005 at 4:38 pm
Well, it seems certain to affect the testosterone levels in both of the cities where we live. And hey, as little as I care for football, it is better than Philadelphia actually going to war on some other part of the country. As long as no kids see a breast.
Remember: No one’s firing Scud missiles at us this year, so you shouldn’t feel obliged to root for the Patriots.
And one more thing – Andrew, you’re going to tape the Super Bowl? How old school with a “ch.” Why not have someone record it in choreographic notation and then have it reenacted for you? I mean, I know the event’s name uses roman numerals so it can seem even more manly and everything, but come on, man, this is the year MMV. You should be blogging the Super Bowl. Or at least the ads.
February 6th, 2005 at 5:01 pm
There was some NPR chatter about superbowl ads the other day. Some companies are even engaging in a little counterprogramming, putting ads on the web that are, so they claim, too risque for broadcast.
February 7th, 2005 at 2:48 pm
I went to ifilm.com to see some of the ads, and when you select one to view they automatically queue up about a dozen more. I’m assuming that the extra dozen, which is the same every time, were sponsors who paid them a bit extra. A few of the ones there were apparently “banned” by Fox.
Of the ones I watched, I think I was most impressed by the FedEx ad (because finding Burt Reynolds to be on your ad is funny) and the Frito-Lay (as above, but MC Hammer). But none of them topped the classic monkey-in-garage ad from a few years ago.