Shoot asked me what I thought of the work featured in this year’s Superbowl. The below was originally published in their Monday February 4, 2019 issue.

“Since I usually love a good laugh in a Super Bowl ad, it’s funny that this year I was drawn to those with a more serious tone. The Bumble ad with Serena Williams was spot on for the brand and for women in general. The idea that women have the power to step in and make their own decisions without following some old protocol of waiting both in love and in business is such a strong message. The fact  that there is a brand like Bumble reminding women they have this power is wonderful. And, of course, Serena Williams is a true hero we can all learn from. I also thought the art direction in the spot was really well done and liked that it was colorful and pretty, attributes that need not be separated from female power.

“My other favorite spot was the Budweiser wind power ad. It was simple and so well done needing nothing more than beautiful footage, a great song and a couple of supers. And finding out that Budweiser uses wind power might actually convince me to drink it. Testament to research that says people want the brands they use to do good things.”

On the other side of the ledger, moving over to work that missed the mark, Fite noted, “Honestly, my mind was boggled by the WeatherTech spot. Was it for car protectors or pet bowls? Was it a strange way of getting two ads  for one in the Super Bowl? Was it supposed to be funny when the dog entered the world of pet bowls? Not sure how the two brands fit together besides being owned by the same company. Perhaps if they told me cars and dogs are everyone’s best friends, and WeatherTech keeps them both safe, it might make sense. But, it certainly would be a challenge to make this ad not feel disjointed.

“The M&M’s spot with Christina Applegate was well done, however, I was bothered by the stereotypical portrayal of the grumpy stressed-out mom driving. How many times do moms have to get this bad rap? Granted, we still need more women in the Super Bowl spots but, in this one case, I wish they’d given the lead to a man.

In terms of themes, Fite observed, “Many of the ads were filled with AI. And in quite a few, it seemed we were being told to feel sorry for the robots. The poor device in the Pringles spot and the sad robot in the Michelob Ultra spot, wanted so badly to be a part of our human world and us humans were shown to be so callus toward them. Not sure why the trend toward showing humans as unfeeling and projecting human feelings onto robots is so popular? Perhaps it’s a way for us to overcome our fear of AI takeover. I do get a little pang in my stomach when people are rude to poor Siri or Alexa.” 

Fite assessed, “As a whole, the ads felt very safe and bro-centric. I’m holding out for the day when women, almost one-half of the Super Bowl audience, are well represented.”