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Katrina Ohlemacher concentrated on the car company ads in Sunday’s Super Bowl, but there were a few that I wanted to mention.
Bridgestone Tires was the overall sponsor of the Super Bowl this year. They sponsored the lame halftime show featuring Tom Petty and had two ads showcasing the maneuverability of the Bridgestone Tires. Early in the broadcast, the Bridgestone squirrel ad was aired. Brilliant! Probably not too expensive to produce and kept you on the edge of your seat to see what would happen to squirrel as the unbadged BMW 5-Series barrelled down on it. Great stuff. (could have deleted the cricket, however).

The companion ad had Richard Simmons in it. I would have pipped that one until I watched it a second time on YouTube. As the driver approaches Simmons, his hands tighten on the steering wheel and he presses down on the accelerator. At the last minute he swerves missing Simmons. Initially, I thought this was not so good and certainly did not have the fun and interest of the Squirrel ad. But I’m coming around to like it more. Friends at Bridgestone admit they are receiving emails that the vehicle should have run Simmons down.

Budweiser always does a great job with ads featuring its Clydesdales draft horses. This year was no exception and “Hank, the Clydesdale” has won top honors among several rating groups.