Super Bowl 43: Pepsi MacGruber

I don't watch Saturday Night Live, the show that has created the MacGruber character. It's a spoof of the 1980/90s TV series "MacGyver," a show about a resourceful secret agent who could use everyday objects in unbelievable ways.

The video posted above was not the ad that aired during the Super Bowl, although I think it should have been. It's much better than this one:



Maybe somebody can educate me on the ways of MacGruber aka PepSuber? Is the real MacGyver always in the skits? Does it always end in a deadly explosion?

Pepsi's self mockery of their new "Refresh everything" slogan is a poor attempt at satire. It seems to me like Pepsi is trying too much to capture the hope and excitement of Obama. Their new logo looks just like the Obama logo, their first ad of 2009 preached ideas parallel to the Obama campaign, and one of their newest commercials features Will.I.Am, a celebrity who is tighter with the Barack Obama movement than Oprah Winfrey. Now, Pepsi is reaching out to SNL with hopes to generate the kind of laughs Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impressions did during last year's presidential election campaign.

I love Obama just as much as the next guy, but this is getting ridiculous. I guarantee that the creatives responsible for the rebranding and marketing of Pepsi are democratic Obamaniacs.

Guru Grade: 3 / 10

The Super Bowl 43 Commercials

Follow the links to watch the ads!!

Pre-Game Ads:

-Pepsi Max Ingredients (bottom of page)
-Doritos: New Flavor Pitch
-E*Trade Baby Golfer
-Samsung/NFL Super Ad Contest winner, Reginald Castilla's "That's How I See It"
-Hyundai Contract
-State Farm: Lebron James Plays Football
-Universal Inner Super Hero
-Hyundai Genesis Coupe

1st Half Ads:

-Bud Light Meeting
-Audi Jason Statham Chase Scenes
-Pepsi Forever Young Refresh Anthem
-Doritos: Free Doritos
-Bud Light Conan O'Brien only in Sweden
-Toyota Venza
-Bridgestone Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
-Castrol Grease Monkies
-Doritos Power of the Crunch
-Go Daddy Shower Scene
-Pepsi Max I'm Good
-Pedigree Strange Pets
-Budweiser Clydesdale Jealousy
-Budweiser Horse Lovers
-Gatorade Talking Heads
-Cars.com David Abernathy's Life
-Hyundai, Like Sunday, Outrage
-E*Trade Singing Baby
-Bud Light Skiing
-H&R Block Death and Taxes
-Teleflora No More Mean Flowers in Boxes
-Cheetos

Halftime Ads:

-Sobe Lizard Lake
-Sprint/Nextel Roadies
-NFL Network
-Overstock.com Deals with Carlos Boozer
-Universal Inner Super Hero

2nd Half Ads:

-Coca-Cola Avatar
-Bridgestone Moon Riders
-Denny's Gangsters
-Monster.com Moose End
-Budweiser Jake the Clydesdale
-Career Builder Tips
-Coca-Cola Heist
-Frosted Flakes
-Miller High Life 1-second ad
-Hyundai Contract
-Coke Zero with Troy Palamalo
-Cash4Gold with MC Hammer and Ed McMahon
-General Electric Scarecrow, If I Only Had a Brain
-Hulu
-Pepsi and SNL's Macgruber
-Bud Light Lime
-Go Daddy Enhancements

Postgame Ads:

-E*Trade Baby Golfer
-Denny's Nannerpus

Super Bowl 43: Pepsi Refresh Anthem

Bob Dylan and Will.I.Am, both innovative political activists as well as music artists, conjoin in this ad to show you how times have changed, while remaining basically the same. Ray-Bans are back in style, people are still coming home from wars to hug their children, skateboarding is still gravity-defying, the martial arts culture continues to attract attention, people put their lights up at concerts, surfing is still hip, kids still cram into cars, walls are still scrawled upon, green animated characters continue to entertain us, chubby movie stars get laughs, strange dancing still attracts a crowd, and revolutions rage throughout the country.

Pop culture icons I have identified include Bruce Lee, Gina Carano, Gumbi, Shrek, Jake Blues (The Blues Brothers), and Jack Black.

I'm beginning to see Pepsi's logic with the new logo. They don't want Pepsi to appear as the old 90s and 00s Pepsi. They want a totally reinvented message, while still sticking to their roots. Their revolution. With this method they can stay "forever young" and continue to prosper.

Guru Grade: 8.5 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Pepsi
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz
CD/Copywriter: Brett Craig
Creative Director: Joe Shands
Art Director: Bill Hornstein
Copywriter: Anthony DeCarolis,
Eric Fahrenkopf
Director of Broadcast: Richard O?Neill
Agency Executive Producer: Anh-Thu Le
Agency Senior Producer: Mila Davis
Agency Producer: Rob Saxon
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Dante Ariola
Executive Producer: Jeff Scruton
Producer: Natalie Hill
Director of Photography: Chris Soos
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Kirk Baxter
Producer (Editorial): Mike Goble
Executive Producer (Editorial): CL Weaver
Online/VFX: Method Studios
VFX Executive Producer: Helen Hughes
VFX Producer: Scott Boyajan
VFX Creative Director: Alex Frisch
VFX Supervisor: Gil Baron
CG Supervisor: Andy Boyd
Lead Compositor: Jake Montgomery
Mix: Play Studios
Executive Producer (Play): Sara Hartman
Mixer: John Bolen

Super Bowl 43: Pepsi Max

When I first saw this, I thought all of these tough guys were saying "I'm good" because they drank a Pepsi Max and were energized beyond belief, causing them to feel no pain. Instead, the tendency to avoid injury is simply a manly generalization in this new spot for Pepsi Max. They've dropped the "diet" out of the name along with the introduction of their new logo. This one should go over well with the football crowd.

Guru Grade: 6.5 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Pepsi Max
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz
Creative Director: Brett Craig,
Joe Shands
Art Director: Susan Alinsangan
Copywriter: Ron Schlessinger
Director of Broadcast: Richard O?Neill
Agency Executive Producer: Anh-thu Le
Agency Senior Producer: David Hoogenakker
Production Company: Epoch Films
Director: Matt Aselton
Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza
Producer: Marc Marrie
Director of Photography: Tami Reiker
Editorial Company: Venice Beach Editorial
Editor: Dan Bootzin
EP/Producer (Editorial): Hunter Conner
Online/VFX: The Mill
VFX Executive Producer: Ben Hampshire
VFX Producer: Asher Edwards
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Giles Cheetham
Flame Artist: Ross Goldstein
Lead CG Artist: John Leonti
Mix: Play Studios
Executive Producer (Play): Sara Hartman
Mixer: John Bolen


Next up: a monkey.



What is this, a reject from the first spot?

Guru Grade: 3.5 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Pepsi Max
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz
Creative Director: Brett Craig,
Joe Shands
Art Director: Susan Alinsangan
Director of Braodcast: Richard O?Neill
Agency Executive Producer: Anh-thu Le
Agency Senior Producer: David Hoogenakker
Production Company: Epoch Films
Director: Matt Aselton
Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza
Producer: Marc Marrie
Director of Photography: Tami Reiker
Editorial Company: Venice Beach Editorial
Editor: Dan Bootzin
EP/Producer (Editorial): Hunter Conner
Online/VFX: The Mill
VFX Executive Producer: Ben Hampshire
VFX Producer: Asher Edwards
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Giles Cheetham
Flame Artist: Ross Goldstein
Lead CG Artist: John Leonti
Mix: Play Studios
Executive Producer (Play): Sara Hartman
Mixer: John Bolen


And one more. These people act like the new Pepsi Max is the blood of God. Is it really that good?



Guru Grade: 4.5 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Pepsi Max
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz
Creative Director: Brett Craig,
Joe Shands
Art Director: Susan Alinsangan
Copywriter: Ron Schlessinger
Director of Broadcast: Richard O?Neill
Agency Executive Producer: Anh-thu Le
Agency Senior Producer: David Hoogenakker
Production Company: Epoch Films
Director: Matt Aselton
Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza
Producer: Marc Marrie
Director of Photography: Tami Reiker
Editorial Company: Venice Beach Editorial
Editor: Dan Bootzin
EP/Producer (Editorial): Hunter Conner
Online/VFX: The Mill
VFX Executive Producer: Ben Hampshire
VFX Producer: Asher Edwards
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Giles Cheetham
Flame Artist: Ross Goldstein
Lead CG Artist: John Leonti
Mix: Play Studios
Executive Producer (Play): Sara Hartman
Mixer: John Bolen

Super Bowl 43 Commercials Preview

UPDATE: Click here for live Super Bowl 43 commercials coverage!

The Super Bowl is an extremely momentous occasion. It's the ultimate finale for the National Football League championship. Every year, a record amount of viewers tune in to see the two teams face off. Super Bowl Sunday has become a ritual for many Americans, providing a chance to show off new big screen TV's, take a gamble with the office pool, pig out (Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day), and watch outrageous things happen during the halftime show. But there's one more aspect of the Super Bowl that attracts a great deal of attention-- the commercials, of course! It's the most important advertising day of the year. So to prepare you for the upcoming onslaught of high-profile ads, I have made a list of some things you should know and other stuff that you can expect.

• Date: February 1, 2009
• Location: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida
• Who's Playing: Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals
  
• Network: NBC
• Halftime Performance: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
  
• Cost of a 30-second ad: $3 million

That's right, $3,000,000. Nothing compared to the bailout but c'mon... that's $100,000 a second! The links below lead to pre-released Super Bowl commercials. Be sure to check them out.

• There will be an ad competition between Monster Worldwide (who have not aired a Super Bowl commercial for four years) and careerbuilder.com
• Five minutes of Anheuser-Busch. Budweiser, Bud Light, maybe even Bud Light Lime.
• Coke... (Coke 2) although Pepsi paid a premium to keep them out of the first half.
• Pedigree dog food will air their first ad ever in the Super Bowl.
• Bridgestone will sponsor the halftime show and will run two 30-second ads.
• Cash4Gold, unfortunately, bought a last second slot from NBC
  
• Cars.com has a 60-second ad in the second quarter.
• Doritos will have at least one 30-second ad.
• The E*Trade baby makes a comeback!
• Denny's has two spots
  
• GE, owner of NBC, will run a spot.
• GoDaddy: at least one 30-second ad.
• Hyundai will present two commercials for their Genesis Coupe.
• Castrol Motor oil
• Teleflora flower delivery
  
• The NFL will air one 60-second spot during halftime.
• PepsiCo Beverages are sure to make an appearance with their new branding.
• Audi has a 60-second ad inspired by classic Hollywood chase scenes
  
• Movie trailers: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, Monsters vs. Aliens, and 2012
• Heineken
• SoBe
  
• PETA (not)
  

Last year's slew of ads were quite disappointing. Let's hope Super Bowl XLIII has some better prospects.

For a minute-by-minute update of the Super Bowl commercials, be sure to stop by here. I'll be updating live for the first time. So be sure to visit the TV Ad Guru and voice your opinion on the biggest ads of the year!

Pepsi's New Logo Emerges for 2009

Alas, the updated Pepsi logo has made an appearance on national television. The spot reminds me of an iPod commercial, what with the vibrant colors and unknown (yet catchy) song.

By the way, the name of the song is Energy by The Apples in Stereo.

Personally, I think the style of this commercial is soooo 2008. Yo, howdy, aloha, konnichiwa, buon giorno, good morning/evening/day! It's time for optimism and blank blank blank blank? Come on already...

The people responsible for the ads are a graphics company called Imaginary Forces.

At the end of the commercial it directs you to RefreshEverything.com, the platform for their brand relaunch. The majority of people I've talked to don't like the new logo. What do you think?

Guru Grade: 4.5 / 10

Channel Surfing: New Pepsi Logo

This segment features specialty marketing that may go beyond the usual limits of this blog.

Well, there it is. Surprising eh? I can't believe Pepsi is abandoning such a well known brand icon. Already people are voicing their opinion about the face lift...

The new logo is just a small part of PepsiCo's $1.2 Billion attempt to try and get back some drinkers who have drifted to the Coke side of life. Over the course of three years, Pepsi hopes to increase their market share with new packaging, merchandising, and advertising.

So why the new logo? Is Pepsi trying to tell us something about who they want for president, or which airline they prefer? No, apparently the white band is supposed to be a smile. Other brands will also be getting remodeled as happy mouth shapes: Diet Pepsi will be a grin and Pepsi Max will be a laugh. Also, Mountain Dew will become Mtn Dew. Srsly.

They claim that Coke is not the culprit, but the bad economy. People have stopped buying carbonated soft drinks, and they hope the change can bring back drinkers. Unfortunately, the move also comes with a 3,000 person job cut, and six plants will be shut down.

Note: All of these images have been stolen from the internet, and are in no way mine.