New Orleans Saints

This is not a sports site like some others named for popular cable channels, we won’t offer much of a critique on the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. Let’s talk advertising.

Judging by the reaction of the rest of the group I was with in attendance at the Super Bowl party in Lake Tahoe, the winner is Doritos with the anti-bark collar :

There were the traditional Go Daddy Danica Patrick ads, competing commercials from major car companies- with the notable exception of General Motors- and the freaky baby ads of E*Trade. Personally I give a very close 2nd place to the first of the E*Trade ads with the “milkaholic” Lindsey:

Luckily at Ad Age’s Super Bowl ad page and YouTube you can relive the ads, although they will probably be shown more than once in the upcoming months. Only time will tell if the actual value of the $30 million is realized, but it is another diversion for those who may not be as interested in the game.

Well, there are plenty of other first time advertisers looking to make a splash with Super Bowl XLIV. These firms are looking to build on the success of past advertisers such as E*Trade, Go Daddy and Hulu.

An article in this week’s Wall Street Journal discusses some of those already confirmed such as Qualcomm’s Flo TV, KGB and HomeAway, replacing some of the larger companies such as FedEx and General Motors who are not currently planning to participate.

Other first time advertisers planning on joining are Time Warner’s TruTV, Electronic Arts, Boost Mobile and even a conservative Christian group, Focus on the Family, has also purchased airtime. How they will compete with the perennial big budget spots of Anheuser Busch InBev remains to be seen, but as always there is much to look forward to, both on the gridiron and in between advertisers.