Super Bowl Ads: Scott Hinkley

I can't say that any one ad really stood out for me this year. My overall recollection of the campaigns I saw was one of mild amusement, but not really anything I would continue to talk about. In absence of specifics, I will say a bit about the resurgence of our bizarre American ideology which seems to have been a driving force in most ads I watched on Sunday: we're not dumb, but we like to act dumb, and also that we should be rewarded for it. I cannot say where this capitalist mantra originated, but I have been encountering it for all of my life, and while the overwhelming number of those ads subside at times, they always seem to keep a front-runner status.

Let me pause and say that I think it is funny to see people run around with no pants on, get tazed, be embarrassed, etc. I just think it is unfortunate that for some reason American consumers most strongly identify with the person who is the butt of the joke. Isn't the gag that the clown falls and we laugh, not that after the clown falls he gets a free cellphone, leaving all of us to wonder if the clown isn't on to something? I appreciate that there are plenty of expressions of elitism in advertising as well (just take any luxury sedan), but is there no happy medium? As a final note, I hate talking babies. Very much.

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