Super Bowl Ads Mirror US Mood

Game? What game?

(NEWSER) - There's probably supposed to be a game or something on tonight, but for legions of Americans, Super Bowl Sunday is all about the commercials. EW jumped in its way-back machine and dug up the 11 most memorable big-game distractions. They were:

• Cindy Crawford drinks a Pepsi (1992)
• The Ridley Scott-directed 1984 Macintosh ad (1984)
• Jordan and Bird's Shoot-off (1993)

...about $3.5M, up from last year's $3M

(NEWSER) - Big money, big money, no whammies? When it comes to Super Bowl XLVI, the big money sure has poured in: The commercial slots are officially sold out, at a cost of about $3.5 million for 30 seconds. The no whammies part remains to be seen... The Wall Street Journal reports that, bad economy and all, the price took a big jump over last year's $3 million. And this year's figure represents a 59% increase since 2001, a year in which 30-second commercials ran about $2.2 million. More»

'Can anyone be more stupid than Groupon?' wonders one blogger

(NEWSER) - Man, isn’t the plight of the Tibetan people hilarious? Groupon hit a real nerve last night with a Super Bowl commercial that seemed to exploit said plight for yucks. “The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their culture is in jeopardy,” says narrator Timothy Hutton. “But they still whip up an amazing fish curry.” The ad—part of a whole series of mock-PSAs—generated an instant backlash on Twitter and YouTube for its insensitivity, the Huffington Post reports. More»

ESPN prepares to roll out 3D sports channel

(NEWSER) - ESPN has persuaded three advertisers to join it on the post-Avatar 3D bandwagon, but there may not be many more following anytime soon. Pixar, Sony, and Procter & Gamble will air 3D ads on ESPN 3D when the new channel launches tomorrow, in time for the World Cup, reports the Wall Street Journal . Creating the ads isn't cheap, however, and ad execs say it's going to be a struggle to convince the industry to adopt the new technology while the number of 3D TV sets out there remains limited. More»

The making of the Friskies 'Adventureland' spots, with turkey choreography

(NEWSER) - The insane "Adventureland" commercials for Friskies—which seem to suggest that your cat is dropping acid right there in the kitchen—took 6 months to produce and involved a cast of three cats and numerous humans, including a turkey-dance choreographer. The behind-the-scenes video about the making of the inescapable spots is on the long side, but, as Choire Sicha of The Awl correctly points out, "Every minute of this is hilarious and wonderful." More»