The Weigh In and Super Bowl Advertising...

This morning I was at 179.5 - down 13.5 from the beginning of the little contest, and 14.5 overall. I have a legitimate shot at entering this year's Australian rules football season at about 165, the lowest I will have been in 14 years - might actually mean that I get back some of the speed and stamina that has deserted me in recent years. Woohoo.

Overall I thought the advertising in this year's Super Bowl was kind of weak. Here are what I thought were the best ads that aired (for my purposes, I'll eliminate ads I know I saw before, so T-Mobile's ad with Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley is out, as is the Coca Cola Grand Theft Auto which has been playing at movie theaters)...

1. Bring our troops home - People that have been supporting Bush and his war in Iraq should pay close attention to this ad. It was powerful and affecting and it featured a whole bunch of veteran's of today's war telling our government to get the troops home. I'm waiting to see if the Republican brain trust is going to dredge up Swift Boat tactics on these people and try to demonize them for speaking out against the war like they did to Kerry.

2. Rock, paper, scissors (Bud Light) - It appeals to the Three Stooges humorist in me.

3. Hitchhiker (Bud Light) - As a horror film fan and a fan of comedies like Airplane, this ad spoke to me. And you have to love the end when the guy with the axe, in a panic says, "dude, he has a chainsaw!"

4. Emerald Nuts Robert Goulet - As I always run out of gas in the middle of the afternoon I felt that this ad explained a lot about the work place and why we're always saying, "I could have sworn that memo was right here."

5. Lady and the Tramp Snickers bar - What can I say, I like twisted humor.

6. Blockbuster I can't get online with this mouse - While I don't condone animal abuse, there is something viscerally funny about what was done to that mouse (besides, why do we laugh at Wiley Coyote's pain anyway?).

6. Doritos crash - What dude hasn't at least almost done this, nearly get into an accident while checking a woman out on the sidewalk? Once again, we descend into the slapstick.

7. Career Builder office jungle series, annual review - Why do we take so much joy in watching other's pain? Is it because of our own, or is it because we like to see others suffer...oh, never mind the deep shit, there's just something comically surreal about someone covered with binder clips. Ouch.

8. GM Carwash - I know in my household I'm in the minority on this one, but I found this damn funny, if not somewhat disturbing.

9. Career Builder office jungle series, jungle fight - I may have worked at this place, I think I knew the deliveryman at the end of the ad.

10. Career Builder office jungle series, volunteer for training/lemmings - Who hasn't felt like this? Hands? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Honorable mention -

Snapple EGCG
Chad Johnson's Super Bowl Party
Bud Light Slapping is In
Coca Cola Happiness Factory
Fed Ex Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover

The Kevin Federline ad was amusing, but not as funny as it should have been, and Garmin's Ultraman ad interesting, but not particularly compelling. I know my wife doesn't agree with all my choices, but I'm sure if she wants to discuss these choices she'll do her own blog posting, or will respond here.

To view the ads yourself, go here.