Superbowl ads: Here’s what we missed, Canada

8 Feb

It’s no secret that advertisers pull out all the stops for advertising slots during the SuperBowl. And at $3 million for for a 30 second spot this year, they’d better stand out. In Canada however, due to an arcane rebroadcasting system and rules called “simultaneous substitution” all we got to see was an infinite loop of CTV Olympic ads.

So what did we miss?

Here are some of the funnier ones that people are talking about today:

- Hyundai (2020/Brett Favre)
- Snickers (Betty White)
- Bud Light (Scientists)
- Google (Paris)
- FloTV (Spineless)
- Careerbuilder.com also had some good ads again this year, and Doritos featured the winners of their ad contest in some edgy spots.

I’ve put them all together for you in a Playlist on my YouTube channel.

Some other sites have put together top 5/10/etc lists of their own:

- Entertainment Weekly chose their best, and also the worst:
- NPR once again has a list, with some nice explanations of their choices:
- Business week says “no clear winner” of the uninventive 2010 lot.
- Mashable had a good list, with emphasis on dotcoms and websites.
- Fanhouse has a good archive of 2010 ads (organized by quarter, no less) , and for past years’ ads, you can always check the not-at-all-creatively named “SuperBowl commercials” site.

For those of us North of the Border — at least it was a good game. A small price to pay for the CTV Olympics theme being permanently burned into my brain.

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Brightblack Morning Light

7 Feb

I don’t know how the heck I missed this album when it came out in 2006, but I’m glad I’ve finally discovered it.

Brightblack Morning Light is a duo from Alabama-by-way-of-California who make laid back, slowed-down, roots-influenced, experimental blues rock. They don’t sound like anyone else I can think of. Either of their discs would be the perfect wind-down after a playlist of The Kills and Dead Weather.

Fellow eMusic.com users — it’s available here, because Brightblack’s first album was released on Matador. No luck for the 2008 follow-up, though.

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Be Stupid

7 Feb

Saw a great new ad campaign for Diesel called Be Stupidwhen I was in New York last week. Here’s a photo I snapped of just one of the many subway banners, but there were many variants. Check the link above for the whole campaign.

I think it’s aligned well with the Diesel brand. The images are youthful, striking, and very funny.

The campaign was created by the excellent agency Anomaly.

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Great event, great cause – The 24 Hour Spin

5 Feb

This is a neat idea for a fundraiser – team based spinning for charity. The event takes place March 6-7 in Toronto, at the Ex. The funds raised by the event support the redevelopment of Trillium’s Intensive Care nursery. The Intensive Care Nursery cares for babies born up to eight weeks prematurely; approximately 90 to 100 such babies are admitted monthly. [read more about the event]

Register a team for this very good cause today.

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