How would you describe this year’s Super Bowl? Uneventful? Unmemorable? Just plain boring? Any way you look at it, this year the Super Bowl wasn’t as exciting as past ones have been. If there was anything good about this year’s Super Bowl, it was probably the commercials. It was because of these advertisements that the three-plus hours spent watching the big event weren’t a total wash. The sponsors of the big game ranged from AOL and Anheuser-Busch to Reebok and Visa. On a whole, these multi-million dollar commercials were fairly decent. However, there were a few which stood out among the rest as either extremely funny, creative or just plain stupid.

The Best

Anheuser-Busch – “The Clown Suit”: As usual, beer company Anheuser-Busch stole the show with a grand total of 11 Super Bowl commercials, more than any other sponsor. I thought that one of their best this year was “The Clown Suit.” This commercial features a man in a clown costume going into a bar after participating in a parade.

This may not seem too odd. However, the clown costume makes it look as if the clown is walking on this hands. When the clown starts to drink the beer, it looks as if he is drinking it from his butt. All the other people in the bar stare in amazement and disgust as this clown drinks from his butt. The pure zaniness of the commercial makes it extremely funny and creative.

Diet Pepsi – “The Mosh Pit”: The commercial starts off by showing punk rockers MXPX and an extremely large and violent mosh pit. All of a sudden, a teenager looks over to see his dad jumping away, looking quite at home in all the chaos. The dad then looks over to his son and says to be on a look- out for his mom, whom he lost somewhere crowd-surfing. I’m sorry, but there is just something extremely funny about seeing a 40-year-old man jumping around in a mosh pit. The tagline for this commercial was “Think young. Drink young,” and this commercial definitely gets this point across. This was definitely one of the most creative commercials among the bunch.

Fed Ex – “Castaway”: Although a bit strange to be releasing this commercial now, (“Castaway” came out two years ago) this commercial answers the question of what exactly was in that package that saved Tom Hanks’ life for four grueling years. If only he were to open this package, he could have had a satellite phone, fishing rod, seeds and a water purifier. This commercial is so funny, mainly because of how ironic it is; if only the castaway were to have opened that package, he could have been saved!

Reebok – “Terry Tate”: This commercial answers the age-old question: what would happen if pro-football players were to work in corporate America? In it, the CEO from the fake company Fletcher & Sons tells about how great the company is doing now that they have hired Terry Tate, an official linebacker. Tate makes sure things run smoothly in the company and will tackle anyone who is not helping to increase productivity.

This commercial really didn’t have much to do with Reebok or its products. However, there is just something surprisingly funny about seeing a 300-pound football player clotheslining some poor woman who picked the wrong time to make unsanctioned photocopies.

The Worst

Hanes – “Jackie Chan & Michael Jordan”: Can someone please tell me what Jackie Chan has to do with Hanes? Now, Jordan I can understand, since he has been the spokesman for Hanes for a while. However, was Jackie Chan in this commercial for any reason? And do we really need special t-shirts that have the tags taken out for us already? They’re called scissors; it is really quite simple. I guess you could say it was almost humorous to see Chan jumping around trying to scratch his back, but it really just came across as dumb.

Levi’s – “The Stampede”: Hands-down the worst commercial of the bunch. First, can someone please tell me how an entire herd of buffalo gets loose in a city? Secondly, does anyone else own a pair of jeans that make them invulnerable? If so, please tell me because I sure could use a pair. I mean, Levi’s must be making some pretty damn strong jeans if they can survive being trampled by over 100 buffalo.

ONDCP – “Pregnancy”: What a downer this commercial was. Every single Super Bowl commercial this year was funny and lighthearted. This commercial about the dangers of marijuana was anything but. While it was playing, my friends and I were trying to figure out what was going to be funny about it. Was the new addition in their family going to be a car? A beer? What was it going to be?

However, in the back of my mind, I somehow knew this commercial was going to end badly. Then they show that the 14-year-old girl was the one who would be pregnant. Whether or not you agree with the message these commercials are trying to send is irrelevant. They just brought a depressing feeling to the whole day.

Quizno’s – “Chef Jimmy”: This is a classic example of a company simply running out of ideas. Last year’s Quizno’s toasted sandwich commercials were some of the funniest of the bunch. They featured a taste-test between toasted sandwiches and regular sandwiches;

This year, the commercial featured a chef who thought about nothing other than making the best sandwiches. He neglected his fish and even went out of the house without any pants on. Compared to last year’s Quizno commercials, it lacked creativity and new humor. Dissapointing? Yes. Just remeber, there’s always next year.