Station Break

Special Edition

Did they entertain or irritate? Sell or sell out? Forget the game --it's the Super Bowl commercials that generate all the watercooler buzz the day after. Bring your rips, ripostes and wry observations about the ads to a Special Edition of Station Break with Paul Farhi.

Farhi was online Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 1 p.m. ET.

A transcript follows.

Farhi is a reporter in The Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 500 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

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Paul Farhi: Welcome, everyone, to a Very Special episode of Station Break. Hope you're recovered from the game yesterday. Great game, so-so ads. I'm sure you've got your faves and fumbles. Before we get to those, here are my notes on a beer-stained envelope:

Most charming ads:

Coca-Cola balloons (in which the giant Charlie Brown balloon snags the giant Coke balloon); the Budweiser "Dalmatian/Rocky" commercial, in which the dog helps the rejected Clydesdale get into shape.

Actually Made Me Gag:

Careerbuilder.com's "Heart" ad, in which a woman's heart bursts from her chest and walks around. The pun was something about "following your heart," but I just kept thinking "cardiac arrest."

Obnoxious Violence:

Justin Timberlake getting smashed up (oh, his humanity!) for "Pepsi."

Good Ol' Guy Stufff:

Bud Light's "Hidden Bottles." Reminded me of the great BL ad in which a bunch of guys get together underneath a woman's clothing rack while their wives/girlfriends go shopping.

Just Plain Stoopid:

Naomi Campbell dancing with animated lizards. What does this have to do with that drink I've never heard of?

Actually Made Me Chuckle:

"Nod" for Diet Pepsi Max (whatever that is). "Talking Baby" for E-trade (although darned if I could figure out what the cute kid was selling...Bud Light inventing the wheel.

Something Special:

FedEx's "Pigeons." Great follow up to amusing "Caveman" ad from last Super Bowl.

WTF?

Dell's "Red" Computer; why is that guy getting congratulated? Because he has a red computer?. Planters Peanuts' "Ugly Woman" ad, in which an unattractive woman has men literally falling all over the place because...because...she smells like peanuts?...James Carville and Bill Frist--those guys?--sharing a Coke. Awful....Under-Armour promotes...what?...fascism?

Dumb and dumber:

The Audi "Horse Head" ad. Clever movie parody, yes, but kind of a strange way to introduce a $50,000 car (cool looking car, btw).

But enuf about me. Let's go to the phones.

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Alexandria, Va.:

Am I just getting older and turning into a humorless curmudgeon or were a huge amount of the Super Bowl ads skewing cruel in an attempt to be funny? (I mean, props to Justin Timberlake allowing himself to be faux beaten up, but funny? nah). The one exception to this was the Doritos ad with the mousetrap. For some reason, I burst out laughing at the guy in the mouse suit. It might have been a flashback to Night of the Lepus (you know, the killer bunny flick from the 70s).

My favorite was actually the Clydesdale doing the Rocky training montage. Silly but iconic.

washingtonpost.com: Pepsi: Justin Timberlake ( Spike)and Budweiser: Clydesdale Training ( Spike) and Doritos: Mouse Trap ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: Me, too, on the curmudgeon thing. I can dig some slapstick violence, but this stuff looked kind of realistic. Not exactly hilarious to see some guy get--as we used to say--his bell rung, repeatedly. The Doritos ad is old, I believe, but no less repulsive. A guy getting the living daylights beaten out of him by a giant mouse? Hahaha. I'll be sure to buy your salty snack product, PepsiCo. Or maybe not.

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Washington, D.C.: Best: The E-trade baby! (followed by Justin Timberlake's Pepsi ...)

Worst: The yucky dancing lizards with the model for the vitamin water. That was weird and off-putting.

washingtonpost.com: E*Trade: So Easy ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: I would have thought that device--putting words in a little kid's mouth--had gone out with the "Look Who's Talking" movies. But the script was pretty clever. And the throw-up managed to be almost cute.

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McLean, Va.: I'm sorry but the ads this year were not memorable (I can't remember a single ad... or what they advertised for that matter). Is the poor quality of the ads a result of the writers strike?

Paul Farhi: No. Advertising isn't subject to the writers strike (and boy, are the networks happy about that).

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Reston, Va.: Hi Paul,

It seems to me that there hasn't been a woman on the superbowl halftime show since the Janet incident. Could this possibly be correct?

Paul Farhi: Hadn't thought of that. Gotta be a coincidence. But I think the Super Bowl people are running out of superstar entertainment for the halftime show. Who hasn't done it already who could appeal to 100 million people at once? Maybe Bruce Springsteen, but I don't think he's having any of that.

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Yucaipa, Calif.: The Bill Frist/James Carville Coke ad struck me as topical, funny and a gentle satire on the "I want to buy the world a Coke" ad campaign of the 1970s. Didn't the ad agency target boomers and end up befuddling everyone in a younger age demographic?

washingtonpost.com: Coca-Cola: James Carville and Bill Frist ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: I think that ad would only have resonance with an older crowd. But even older folk might have a hard time figuring out the Frist-Carville premise. There were several problems with that ad as far as I could tell: 1) Dumb premise--Republicans and Dems don't get along, hahahaha; 2) Carville and Frist are terrible actors; and 3) It's hard to like eitehr one of those guys.

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Washington, D.C.: No WWE female wrestler in the Godaddy ad?

Paul Farhi: No, that was Danica Patrick, shedding what little of her self-respect and athletic credibility she may have had.

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Arlington, Va.: Sorry, but I found the commercials a bit lame this year. Usually I find them very original, but this year they seemed to be trying too hard to be funny.

I STILL think the high-water mark for commercials was the Ozzie Osbourne Pepsi commercial a few years ago. I can still hear him crying out in terror, "I dreamed the kids turned into the Osmonds!"

washingtonpost.com: Pepsi Twist: Ozzie Osbourne ( AOL)

Paul Farhi: The highest water mark (high waterest mark?) to me was Apple's "1984" spot in 1984. Still the greatest commercial ever.

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And the throw-up managed to be almost cute. : No, no, gross! I started gagging when that happened!

Paul Farhi: Okay. But you have to admit: Surprising.

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Bethesda, Md.: And the Leni Riefenstahl Award goes to that Under Armor ad. Yikes.

Paul Farhi: Well said...And to think, Under Armour blew $5-$6 million on that thing, and trashed their stock in the process.

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RE: Careerbuilder.com's "Heart" ad: I can assure you, I didn't think cardiac arrest at first. Both myself and the young lady sitting next to me thought something else entirely! (And I probably don't need to say what.)

washingtonpost.com: CareerBuilder ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: They sure went a long way for a stupid pun. They shouldn't have gone that far. The site of the woman with a hole in her chest was bad enough. It just got worse...

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Buffalo, N.Y.: Have to disagree about the Planters ad -- the unibrow that they painted on that woman was priceless and the gag worked. I also liked the screaming squirrels, etc., in the Bridgestone ad.

Paul Farhi: But...but...but the premise is that guys dig women who smell like peanuts. They do? No, they don't, at least not in any universe I (and 3 billion guys) inhabit.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re the Planter's ad: Both you and the Baltimore Sun sports section media writer said this was an ad for peanuts. But I believe it was for cashews. If I am right, what does that say about memorability? Myself, I liked the Fed Ex pigeon ad the best, followed by the Tide talking stain ad, which certainly gets honors for doing a great job on a limited budget.

Paul Farhi: It was for cashews? Oh, I totally change my opinion. BRILLIANT!...No, still wildly illogical and just kinda ugly.

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Washington, D.C.: Shouldn't a Lucy balloon have come up and snatched away the Coke bottle from Charlie Brown? Isn't that the obvious punchline? Are we supposed to be happy that Charlie finally gets the Coke? Doesn't that undermine the whole Charlie Brown storyline? Am I overthinking this? Did Coke not think it through enough?

Paul Farhi: I actually had the same thought! But the whole balletic quality of that commercial was good enough. And isn't it nice to see Chuck get his reward at last?

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Haltime Show: I enjoyed that Petty opted to do whole songs rather than a 10-medley of his hits. Who is left? The Who? Stevie Wonder? Dylan would probably not fit into the high-energy thing, but he is one of the few icons left who has not done the halftime show. Maybe he could do it with Victoria Secret models!

Paul Farhi: I was thinking they could do a whole extravaganza with Beyonce, but everyone seems to do extravaganzas with Beyonce so that wouldn't exactly be special. The Who is a good pick. I love Stevie, but I think I've seen quite a lot of him over the years.

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Odenton, Md.: I was darned disappointed that Coors Light didn't have a new commercial featuring the doctored footage from former coaches' press conferences. A big letdown. Also, Bud Light really needs to hire a new ad agency -- (Bud Light makes you breathe fire? Somebody thought this was funny)?

Paul Farhi: I thought that Bud Light spot was kinda funny. But wasn't the premise that BL puts OUT the fire? Or did I just assume that?

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Who?: Who was the guy with James Carville? I take it he is a Republican? I just had no idea who he was. Maybe I am the only one in the country?

Paul Farhi: Bill Frist, former senator from Tennessee, former Senate Majority Leader, and a Republican. Never seemed particularly charming. But then, I'd say the same of Carville.

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Annandale, Va.: Advertisers need to learn that big stars to not equate to great commercials. Naomi Campbell, Justin Timberlake, Charles Barkley, Danica Patrick, Shaq, and James Carville and Bill Frist (not 'stars', but still highly recognizable) all had duds for commercials. The best was Bridgestone Tires and the screaming squirrel, turtle, bunny, mouse, owl, deer, cricket and wife.

Paul Farhi: Kind of liked the Shaq ad (Shaq as jockey; I get it), though it falls into that category of "what the heck were they selling?" For the life of me, I couldn't tell you who the Shaq ad was for.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: Favorite Super Bowl ad? The wanna-be Budweiser Clydesdale who spends a year in training under the tutelage of a dalmatian a la Rocky and his trainer -- hands down!

Least favorite ads? Anything sexist. And ads where it's not even clear what the heck product is (talk about condescending!), which leaves me utterly uninterested in finding out.

Paul Farhi: Sexism-in-ads is way down since Janet Jackson's wardrobe troubles in 2004. Yeah, there was Victoria's Secret, but c'mon, sex is what VS sells. It isn't necessarily sexist to sell sex.

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Audi R8: Is actually $110k, not $50k.

Paul Farhi: Oh, my. Oh, my oh my.

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Arlington, Va.: Re: Bud light ad that "lets you fly". Bad choice. All I could think about was "Red Bull gives you wings" and that it was already a used (and stupid) concept for Bud.

Paul Farhi: Friend o' mine was noting the implied "drug" message in the Diet Pepsi Max ad: They're selling it as a stimulant, after all, much like Red Bull.

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Washington, D.C.: Hey! I liked the dancing lizards, but maybe it's just because I always love seeing the Thriller dance. I didn't even pick up on the fact that it was Naomi Campbell with them. Granted, I couldn't remember what the ad was selling, but I liked the dancing.

Paul Farhi: What I learned from that ad: Naomi Campbell is way better looking than those animated lizards, but the lizards are better dancers.

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Greater Green Bay: Possible halftime for next year: John Mellencamp. As for the ads -- Liked the big mouse, loved the big balloons, but I really laughed when the driver was deciding whether or not to swerve around Richard Simmons. It's a dilemma we all may face someday.

washingtonpost.com: Bridgestone: Get the Most Our of Your Car ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: Ah, yes, Mellencamp, sure. But I think he'd have to be carefully instructed not to sing "Our Country" because it would conflict with whoever the truck sponsor is (if it isn't Chevy)...And same friend o' mine says the Richard Simmons ad was implied homophobia. I told him it implied that Richard Simmons is really annoying and many people would have to think twice before swerving.

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Vienna, Va.: Half-Time Shows: George Thorogood!!

I liked the screaming animals and the Alice Cooper/Richard Simmons Bridgestone ads, The FedEx pigeons and the Rockyesque Bud Clydesdale.

washingtonpost.com: FedEx: Carrier Pigeons ( Spike)

Paul Farhi: I love Thorogood (saw him way back when), but I suspect that we are a small, aging, out-of-it demographic and that Thorogood would never be considered...By the way, the most ludicrous thing about the halftime show? Those "fans" who are clearly trucked in by Fox to act as fans during the performance. Are they paid to pretend they like whoever's playing?

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RE: Bud Light: BL premise was that they allowed users to have special powers( able to fly, breathe fire)but due to unintended circumstances, they discontinued them. Weak all the way around, IMO.

Paul Farhi: But we remember that Bud Light was the sponsor. Mission: Accomplished, I guess.

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Pittsburgh, Pa. Where's the Originality: Rocky Balboa theme? Thriller dance? Godfather reenactment?

It seems easy to rip off someone else's creative juices...why aren't agencies coming up with their own ideas anymore?

Remember The Budweiser frogs..... inventive...great payoff at the ending, and I'm still talking about it so it clearly worked.

Tired of recycling old ideas....even if they involve cute horses and dogs, (and I LOVE horses and dogs!) it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Paul Farhi: A lot of pop-culture references from the '70s and '80s, no? Do the kidz get this stuff? The horsehead thing must have been completely mystifying to anyone under 25 or 30. But then, anyone that old isn't going to buy a $110,000 car.

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Union Station, D.C.: Halftime 2009? U2. They'll have a new album out and be on tour. They've done stuff with the NFL before. They could go with Green Day as they've worked as well with the NFL, but I think they would be way too scared of them saying something that would piss someone off.

Maybe they'll try JT on his own, or Alicia Keys?

Paul Farhi:[Sound of buzzer]! U2 already played the SB, as did Timberlake (you've forgotten Janet's "unveiler" already?). According to the Supreme Powers that Rule the Super Bowl, a halftime act may NEVER return.

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Winchester, Va.: Did you see the Pepsi commercial based on the deaf community joke? I never saw it -- had to watch it on you tube today. I really liked it!

washingtonpost.com: Pepsico: Enable ( YouTube)

Paul Farhi: Yes, and I'm surprised Pepsi didn't run one or more of them during the game. The premise and the execution are VERY different than anything that was on during the game. It would have stopped every Super Bowl party in its tracks, if only because people would be wondering why the sound had cut off. Very attention-getting!

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Under Armour: Very good comments on this one by you and the peeps. Also, making Ray Lewis the most recognized athlete in the ad? Hmmm, not a good use of their ad dollars, methinks..

Paul Farhi: Right! He WAS in that spot. Lewis is a helluva player, but I don't want to buy anything he's selling.

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Tom Petty Compensation: What did Tom and the Heartbreakers knock down for their 4 song, 15 minute set? Just curious. And what kind or arrangement do organizers cut with the 'rent-a-crowd' that accompanied his act? Do they get paid to run in and rock for a while?

Paul Farhi: I was thinking about that this morning. I don't know, but had to be a couple million, right. Pretty nice payday for doing four oldies that they've probably played 8,000 times.

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washingtonpost.com: Under Armour: Futre Is Ours ( Spike)

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Halftime show, Va.: re Thorogood and your comment about aging demographics: one of your colleagues (does the TV chat) called Tom Petty old. I think he did a good show. Much better than the Goo Goo Dolls (Thanksgiving game) and they probably appeal to a younger crowd.

Paul Farhi: I dunno. It didn't seem like anything special to me. Maybe I've just heard those song too many times. Didn't seem particularly fresh. But his hair sure looked good. Great conditioner!

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Richard Simmons: It can't be homophobia because he decided not to hit him . . . so it must mean the opposite, right?

Paul Farhi: No, it must mean that killing another human being with your car...is bad for business. The driver does kind of hesitate before pulling away, suggesting that he was thinking of it. And having Richard Simmons there in the first place plainly raises the annoying vs. homophobia issue.

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Washington, D.C.: Our group watching the game was shocked at the overt racist slant of the Sales Genie ads. I'm suprised there hasn't been more comment about those.

Paul Farhi: Good point. The panda ad was blatantly trafficking in Chinese stereotypes. Not so sure about the first one, with the Indian guy. And fyi: Sales Genie was started by an Indian-American guy, who reportedly wrote those ads. So I dunno on the first; but absolutely on the second.

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Reston, Va.: I kept thinking the UnderArmor ad was an anti-Apple 1984 ad.

I kept thinking that Tiger Woods would come running down that street and fling a driver through the screen.

Paul Farhi: Now THAT would have been cool! You ought to be a copywriter, Reston!

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Bowie, Md.: For halftime "audience" NFL had put the word out for volunteers from local groups ... they applied and had to abide by rules (no drugs etc.). I think they weren' actually at the game but were held some place or maybe in their buses.

Paul Farhi: Those people looked like they came from Central Casting. They were young, attractive and very white.

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Re: Halftime Show '09: You are ignoring the big country acts like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and an apparently unretired Garth Brooks.

Paul Farhi: Garth has the broad-based appeal, yes. Toby--no way. Too polarizing (people either love him or hate him). McGraw and Hill might work, though. Good suggestion.

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Washington, D.C.: Re Under Armour and Ray Lewis: It's a Baltimore company, founded by a U. of Maryland grad. Lewis was the first high profile player to sign as an endorser, back when the was the consensus best defensive player in the NFL. I think, for Under Armour, it is all about loyalty.

Paul Farhi: Good for them on the loyalty front, but I hope they considered the consequences of that ad, and of using a guy whom some people have deep suspicions about. Oh, and another thing: The ad was terrible, Ray Lewis or not.

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Washington, D.C.: What happened in the Danica Patrick Internet ad? Was it, at least, amusing?

Paul Farhi: I was tempted to go to GoDaddy's web site, as prompted by the SB commercial. But, frankly, I'm not all that interested...And what the heck is GoDaddy anyway?

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Dupont, Washington, D.C.: No mention of Bud Light's Will Farrell commercial?! "Suck one!" was the funniest tag line of the night.

washingtonpost.com: Bud Light: Jackie Moon

Paul Farhi: Yeah, that ad was a lot funnier than the YouTube clips I've seen of Farrell's new movie. It looks like an even paler version of "Talledega Nights," which is a paler version of "Anchorman."

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Silver Spring, Md.: Jordin Sparks and Tom Petty both lip-synched. Did the National Anthem sound like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.?" Just dreadful.

Paul Farhi: Petty was lip-synching? If so, he did a very good job--I didn't notice that.

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RE Where's the originality?: Too often the so-called originality appears in the grossest commercials, which can be a real turn-off rather than a motivator to try whatever's being sold in them. There's a very real financial risk to plunking down millions for a Super Bowl ad that's liable to bomb. Besides, just because a commercial pays homage to familiar themes -- or in the case of Budweiser, a hybrid of their tradition of Clydesdale ads and the series of Rocky film -- doesn't automatically make it unoriginal.

Paul Farhi: Well, in advertising, they talk about "brand equity," which is all the good feeling the ad guys have built up about a product over the years. And few products have as much BE as Budweiser (thank you, Clydesdales). So riffing on that theme is actually very smart. People know and love that image.

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Washington, D.C.: Did the entire nation see the Obama ad after halftime? We sure noticed it and commented on how much it must have cost!

On the Charlie Brown balloon ad, there was a quick cut to folks on the ground including a priggish little girl holding a football -- so I think Coke was saying that Chuck deserved a break and finally got one. Our family liked that one.

Paul Farhi: I wondered if that was a local ad. But I had the same thought--if it isn't, he's risking a huge amount of money for those 30 seconds. I also think it was worth the risk. Super Tuesday is a national contest, and hitting the entire nation with one big ad at such a critical time is kind of smart. Maybe even brilliant.

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Washington, DC: Future halftime acts:

Led Zeppelin

Pink Floyd

Bruce Springsteen (was reported to have been this first choice)

Madonna

The Police

Dave Mathews Band

Lenny Kravitz

No Doubt/Gwen Stefani

Jay Z/Diddy

REM

BTW, that was quite possibly the worst collection of Super Bowl ads in history. Hopefully, it was just an anomoly, and not a trend.

Paul Farhi: Let's do some editing:

--Zeppelin. Great idea but not gonna happen (NGH).

--Pink Floyd. NGH.

--Bruce. NGH.

--Madonna. So over.

--Police. Ehhh.

--Dave Mathews. Close, but probably not.

--Kravitz. No.

--Jay Z/Diddy. No way.

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Halftime 2009: J Free is putting his bets on either The Eagles (blah) or Garth (eh)

Paul Farhi: Eagles! Yes. (That J. Free knows his stuff).

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Bowie, Md.: Hey Silver Spring, I immediately thought "Christmas Song" when she started singing the anthem! But it didn't look like lip synching, if so it was masterful ... Petty? No way.

Paul Farhi: Agreed.

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Conspiracy?: I thought that all of the ads were rather lame compared to the NFL's own ads. Both the "story" ads were very amusing. Hasselback was recognizable and shared a very and humble tale. I think this was Goodell's way of bringing the human/humble element back to the league in light of the felony charges of the players that get a lot of publicity.

Paul Farhi: This may be true. But of all the ads I saw, I remember the NFL ads not at all. Not. At. All.

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Washington, D.C.: Who sponsored the Declaration of Independence reading at the beginning? It was nice.

Paul Farhi: That was a Fox thing, I believe. Because the company that brought you "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire" and "Temptation Island" is a firm believer in our cultural/historical heritage.

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State College, Pa.:"The horsehead thing must have been completely mystifying to anyone under 25 or 30. But then, anyone that old isn't going to buy a $110,000 car."

Yeah, we had to explain that commercial to all of the kids and "kids" under 25 in our house. But, you're right. None of them are buying a $110k car.

I also thought both Bridgestone ads were good, and hated the Under Armour one.

Paul Farhi: Yep. Thanks.

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Annapolis, Md.: Halftime Show: Hannah Montana. A perfect blend of "music" and commercialism.

Ads: I really liked the Shaq ad, and thought the Naomi/lizard ad was okay. This is probably because I drink a lot of those flavored waters. The tire ads were pretty funny too, although I wonder why the driver had to swerve so wide to avoid a squirrel. I also liked the heart jumping out of the chest for CareerBuilder. Anybody who has languished in a bad job knows the feeling.

Hated the talking baby, most of the Bud ads, the lame trucks hybrid or not, and the Audi ad. I'm a little over 30, but someone had to explain the Godfather reference to me.

Poor Frist. He's only been out of office a little while, and no one knows who he is!

Paul Farhi: Hannah Montana probably wouldn't bother the parents, but it would drive everyone between, say, 18 and 40 away from the set...As for Frist, he wasn't all that well known while he was IN office.

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Ads where they never say what their product is: Commercials where they never say what their product is, presumably are aimed at those who already know, in hopes they'll switch from another brand. But isn't part of advertising to persuade viewers they need something they're not using yet? Ads where they never say what their product is are only tapping half their potential audience, therefore by definition are at least partial failures.

Paul Farhi: Well, advertising has a bunch of goals: Attract new customers, keep existing ones, raise the ad bar to discourage competitors from invading your "turf." There are so few mass-market product these days, by the way, that just about every ad is going to alienate someone, or be ignored by some group of people. I dont think the advertisers mind, as long as they're reaching their "target" customer.

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Vienna, Va.: Sorry, but I liked the Diet Pepsi Max commercial. You had to be a 1990s SNL fan, though, but I was thinking Chris Kattan all the way.

Paul Farhi: I think he made a cameo at the end there. Hard to tell because it came and went so quick...

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Paul Farhi: And on that felicitous note, I should get back to the real world (but you're welcome to stay and chat among yourselves). Thanks for coming, everyone. We'll do this again (or something like it) during our regular chat (next one is Feb. 19). So, c'mon back. In the meantime, regards to all...Paul.

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