slides: 10 Great Super Bowl Ads You Can Expect to See on Sunday

Friday, January 31, 2014

Ben Schwartz, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Nobody's quite sure when it was that Super Bowl advertisements became just as deeply embedded in the American consciousness as the game itself. But almost everyone is willing to acknowledge that when it comes to the reasons why Americans tune in for the big game, the commercials rank almost as high as the play on the field--for some fans, even higher.

Today we live in a world where Apple's 1984 Macintosh commercial is probably as well known as Marcus Allen's touchdown run, and Danica Patrick for GoDaddy is just as likely to come to mind when someone mentions the words "Super Bowl Sunday" as John Elway laying his body on the line for the Broncos.

Warren Palley, who has for thirty-two years served as President of Worcester's Palley Advertising, thinks the change can be traced back to Mean Joe Greene's campaign for Coke in 1979. "During the first few Super Bowls, they couldn't even sell out [the ad slots], said Palley. "After that, people began to say, 'Let's see what coke is going to do next. And then, 'Let's see what Pepsi will do, or Budweiser.'"

Pre-released ads

Palley also noted the changes that have come in recent years, as ads begin to be pre-released, either whole or in truncated form, online. But there's still no competing with the live audience that the Super Bowl offers, despite price tags that can run into the millions of dollars. "Clients will continue to buy into the Super Bowl, because they give you eyeballs. That many people watching…it's priceless."

Both Palley and Ben Thaler, Media Supervisor of Worcester's Davis Advertising, singled out as particularly effective Budweiser's Clydesdale campaigns, which have become a Super Bowl staple. They can "tug on your heartstrings," said Thaler, who remembered beginning to really notice Super Bowl ads as a young man in the 1990s, when many of the games were blowouts, and his favorite team, the Patriots, were hardly to be seen.

In the run-up to this year's Super Bowl, several companies have already made their spots available. Whether this additional exposure leading up to the big day will make the ads even more valuable--or where these particular spots will rank in the pantheon of Super Bowl greats--remains to be seen, until next week.

Check out ten great ads you can expect to see in the Super Bowl in the slides below.