"Video Killed The Radio Star" or "The Death of 'Super Bowl Ads'"

A little while ago, on Twitter I noted that I wasn't really into the Super Bowl. I don't follow Pro Football, I work in Advertising so I don't care about the ads, etc... I got a couple of replies/DMs wondering why I wasn't into the ads, they thought for sure I'd be all over that. Aren't I into all the cool, clever ads that debut during the Super Bowl?

I am. I suppose I misspoke when I said, "work in advertising, so don't care about commercials". I do care about the commercials. I really do look forward to our industry's most creative time of the year, and knowing who some of the players are only increases the anticipation (What crazy shit is Crispin Porter & Bogusky gonna pull out of their ass this year?). What I should've said was, "work in advertising, so don't care about the broadcast". That would've been far more accurate statement.

When I get to work on Monday, between 9 AM and 5 PM I'll probably get over two dozen emails with links all over the internet enticing me to view and possibly vote on "the best and worst super bowl commercials". Yahoo will probably have a spot devoted to them (with HD versions, I'm sure). Same with America Online. They'll have a prominent button there when everyone logs in that they can click and pick and choose which of the most insanely clever spots they want. Heck, sort by popularity, then you won't even have to bother with the crap and the bottom. Then I realized, it's not just me, it's everyone. Mainstream America will all be able to wake up tomorrow and go to CBS.com after watching the morning show, or head over to CNN's special Super Bowl Commercials page, or Fox's, and browse the nicely displayed listing of "all the best" Super Bowl ads in one convenient place. You don't even have to watch the game...

See where I'm going with this?

Is the broadcast that special now, if even the casual audiencemember, who used to tune in for the commercials, like myself, just shrugs it off and waits for the inbox followup? How long will it take before this happens? I figure the internet's been around in this "social, high bandwidth, video sharing" form now for about three or four years. That's about how long it's taken *me* to become conditioned to not give a shit about the super bowl broadcast. Am I an "early adopter"? And if the broadcast isn't the event it once was, are the ads for that event "less special"?

All I know is one thing. I'm not a big Pro Football fan and the only reason I previously ever watched the Super Bowl is now sent directly to me, for me to pick & choose and watch at my own leisure. That certainly seems like a different dynamic than the dynamic of the LAST 42 Super Bowls, and I wonder if I'm the only one.

UPDATE (10:48 PM): Of course Hulu.com has all the Super Bowl Ads in one high quality, nicely presented, socially sorted place!

UPDATE 2 (12:14 AM): Or I could just embed a custom widget they provide and highlight all the best Super Bowl ads right here in this here blogorini.


UPDATE 3 (12:18 AM): Oh, and the game totally blew away the commercials this year, in my humble opinion.