Ads You Like It.

I was certain that the Superbowl was going to be shown on tv here in Japan today but it's not on any channel that I get. Of course, I don't even know what teams are playing! The only reason to watch this would be for the Half-time show and the ads.

I watched Prima Donna Pre-GagaMadonna and apart from a stumble, she really strut her stuff! This may prove to be the Year of the Madonna!



(Aside: I don't think I've ever told this story before. When I first arrived in Japan, I worked for NOVA in Tokyo and a fair portion of the employees for that firm were of the "Don't ask, Don't tell" persuasion. I was persuaded to go to a party with several co-workers and the host of the shindig was an incredibly weathy man. The mansion had a couple of floors and there was a surprisingly large amount of uncloseted gentlemen enjoying each others' company which is a side of Japan I hadn't witnessed before or since. My straight colleagues and myself pretty much stood by the sidelines and just relished in the surrounding glory, but after several drinks I decided to break away and make use of the karaoke microphone in centre stage. The audience was thoroughly enjoying my performance of "Like a Virgin" and I enjoyed vamping it as well. A few days later, I became privy to a couple of photos that were taken of my showcase. Much to my surprise, I discovered why everyone was applauding so profoundly. Throughout the tune, there was a young man with his nose sniffing my butt the entire time!!! I wonder if those pics will ever surface on the internet?

I found some video of my performance!

Back to the ads...
According to an official Superbowl Commercials site, here are their picks for the Top Ten:
#10 was an ad for a Samsung mobile. My impression: meh.

Their pick for #9 was pretty darned good. I saw a truncated version last week and I couldn't tell you what was added. I'd have rated it higher if only for the awesome cameos.

#8 is for Bridgestone and features some Basketballers silently dribbling. Big deal, I silently dribble all the time. Btw, did you know that Bridgestone is a Japanese company? I didn't until I got here. Bridgestone comes from a calque (word-for-word) translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese.

#7 is yet another car ad. Good thing we're cutting down on all those emissions! Done by a troupe of amateurs, it's fairly well done. Is that Richard Belzer's kid at the 30 sec. mark?

Wow, hard to believe, #6 is a car ad as well but you'd be hard pressed to realize it.

#5 is not all that different from #6, but at least it shows a car actually moving.

Apocalypse Chevy! #4 is cool, I wonder if Michael Bay had a hand in it.

I like #3 but had they used Newman instead of Leno, I'd have enjoyed it more.

WooHoo, Ferris Bueller is back! Obscure if you haven't seen the movie, but who hasn't?

@#1 is Clint yattering on about the US economy. It has already been pulled but I managed to watch it on my phone earlier in the day. It was okay but I wish I could have seen it on more than a 2-inch screen.

There are several more categories in the above website and I'll peruse them eventually. Personally, I would have added this spot for John Carter...it looks incredible!

But who are we kidding? The only reason I wanted to see any commercials at all was for the minute sneak preview of The Avengers! I do hope it'll come to Japan in a timely fashion, I had to wait several months for Cap and Thor!



Avengers Assemble!