Another Super Bowl came and went, and did anything come from it? Personally, I didn't learn anything new or surprising.
However, the big game did serve to reaffirm a notion I have believed in for a long time: Worthwhile American advertising has lost control of the wheel, pinballed off two highway guardrails and skidded to a halt beneath a WWJD billboard.
I watch the Super Bowl for the game itself. For me, the commercials are usually the hilarious icing on the cake. The problem with most of these new ads is they don't really make sense. Many of them tried way too hard to show us the funny, and all but two of them came up lame.
The 1-second Miller High Life commercial was absurdly hilarious. This easily missed commercial was more memorable than any 60-second Pepsi ad.
The other winner of the night was CareerBuilder.com. Anyone who has ever had a job knows what it's like to pull into your company's parking lot wanting to scream your hatred for the building in front of you.
As for dreams of riding seals and snout-punching koalas slurping coffee, I can't say I've ever felt that strongly about a job, but the point remains. CareerBuilder.com wants to find you a job you enjoy.
An ad should make a relevant point and use the funny cherry on top to help the audience remember it. Most times, though, the cherry becomes the base of the marketing sundae, and that's when advertising gets ridiculous.
I can deal with the fact that advertisers want their clients to stick out in viewers' minds. What's the point of knowing a company's name if the audience doesn't know what good or service they're providing?
In this sense, public enemy No. 1 is Geico.
Does anyone remember what Geico actually is? Last time I checked it was an insurance company, but I'm not sure anymore.
If you didn't know what Geico was and you tuned in halfway through one of their new commercials, you would have trouble pinpointing what service they provide.
Between Billie Jean King and the googly-eyed wad of money, I can't remember exactly what is "so easy a caveman can do it." I see more ads for Geico than for anything else, but the real question is whether they work.
Absolutely not. Geico has irritated me beyond the point of taking 15 minutes of my life to see if it would save me 15 bucks a month - though I know they wouldn't, thank you Progressive. In fact, I don't know anyone who uses Geico.
Way to go, ad wizards, you've driven off potential clients. Not exactly your goal, was it?
Advertising doesn't have to be annoying. Commercials can be weird, obscure or they can make you laugh till you snort, but does any of that matter if they fail to make a point?
I like to laugh as much as the next Super Bowl fan, but commercials shouldn't have to shoulder the entire burden when Bruce Springsteen's 60-year-old package thumps against TV sets worldwide.
Adam Wynn is a journalism senior. His column appears on Fridays.
