CBS pulled this ad from the Superbowl.
January 30, 2001 7:54 AM   Subscribe

CBS pulled this ad from the Superbowl. Which is a shame because I think it deserves a place on the Ad Critic Superbowl Top 10.
posted by Brilliantcrank (6 comments total)
 
Apparently it ran in local markets--here in Boston we got to see it during the game.
posted by jpoulos at 7:57 AM on January 30, 2001


Heh. I espescially like where it sez "Be a man, and wait till you're 21."
posted by sonofsamiam at 7:58 AM on January 30, 2001


I thought it was kinda dumb. Vodka shouldn't substitude beer. Drinking doesn't make you a man. It's not at all funny, that english kung-fu bear one was like 100 times better.

As far as superbowl ads go, it's always nice to look for Kubrick references, from amk -

> I just watched the game on tape, as I do have a life. Maybe
> I'm reading too much into this but I thinkthat first shot of
> Kasparov peering over the chessboard has more than passing
> resenblance to the "stare". I don't know enuf about chess to
> certify authenticity of the game set-up.

The Kubrick stare was one I didn't catch. I love the way the
camera tracks into the HAL monolith -- with an ensuing symmetric
shot, no less!

The chess position appears to be (although it is hard to tell for
sure from my VHS tape):

Kasparov / Black
-- -- -- -- BR -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- BP -- BK
-- -- -- WQ -- -- BP --
-- -- -- WP -- -- -- BP
BB -- -- -- -- -- -- --
WN -- -- WR -- -- WP --
-- -- -- -- -- BQ WB WP
-- -- BR WR -- -- -- WK
Neutron9000 / White

(Incidentally, one must ignore the Big Board position at the very
beginning. In this otherwise brilliantly made commercial, they
blew it here.)

The Neutron9000 plays 1 Q-N4 and Kasparov responds 1...R-K8ch and
mate in three. (For the algebraically inclined, that would be
1 Qb4 Re1+ and mate in three.)

> Also, the elevator shot -symetrical framing and all- might, aw what the
> fuck, IS referring to the Shining, and the whole soda-machine hijinx is
> right outta Dr. Strangelove. Youre right about the rumbling ambient
> sound. Coincidence? Who do you think theyre kidding?

It was a Coca-Cola machine in "Dr. Strangelove" that spat soda
in Col. "Bat" Guano's face, so Pepsi was poking a bit of fun at
their rival. And did you notice the floor pattern? I'm still
trying to count all the Kubrick references!

Clay
posted by tiaka at 8:16 AM on January 30, 2001


Oddly, I saw this Smirnoff bear ad bumper-to-bumper with the Toyota crew-cab pickup bear ad. I've also been seeing a fair number of cell-phones in commercials running into each other, because people-talking-on-phones is one of the latest memes in ads that aren't even for phone services.

I guess I'll have to watch the Pepsi one again, to see all the Stanley refs. Though frankly, I thought it was a dull year all around. Not only were there fewer of the bizarre dot-com ads we've seen the last two years (and the squirrel EDS ad was just plain labored), even the old standbys were running short on imagination, it seemed.

Not to mention that overdone half-time show ... talk about your unholy alliances!
posted by dhartung at 4:08 PM on January 30, 2001


Bears are the in thing right now. They showed it here in SF too, and the first thing I thought about was the John West Salmon commercial. Hehe...
posted by swank6 at 4:53 PM on January 30, 2001


The thing about the EDS spot that caught my attention was that it was very much a sequel to last year's "Cat Herding." I mean, it's almost as though they made them one right after another instead of a year apart. Maybe they did. It would be the world's slowest brand-awareness campaign.
posted by kindall at 5:55 PM on January 30, 2001


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