Super Bowl time is almost upon us and with it a veritable plethora of clever television commercials (which is the only reason I watch the Super Bowl). Super Bowl ads also have the reputation of being the most expensive television commercials for the year. However, this year that is not quite as true this year because, for the second time in history, prices for Super Bowl ads have dropped from the previous year.

Given these hard times, I'm curious about which sponsors will even run commercials for the game. Big names like GM and Pepsi aren't even advertising. It would be sort of cool if AT&T and Verizon would continue their ad war through the Super Bowl.

If Mad Men is any indication of what its like to work in the real advertising world, then the writing process alone must cause more migraines than swimming in radioactive sewage.

That's still no excuse for stealing material, if that is in fact the case with this British ad. UK comic Micky Flanagan claims an ad agency stole a joke from his act for a phone service commercial and is a stone's throw away from filing a lawsuit. Punchline Magazine posted videos of the joke and the ad. Is this just a coincidence or is the ad pulling a Carlos Mencia?

First, listen to Flanagan's joke...



And now, watch the ad, which is after the jump.

Controversy raged last weekend as fans and media types reacted to a new DirecTV ad using the late Chris Farley in scenes from Tommy Boy. Now, some aggressive YouTubers are taking their shot at offending some people (with DirecTV execs at the top of the list).

The original ad featured a live action David Spade discussing DirecTV against Farley's antics from Tommy Boy. While Spade insisted Farley wouldn't mind, a lot of his fans took offense to using a dead man to hawk a product.

But the video below, from a YouTube page, The Landline, lights up the satellite TV provider with an edgy send-up of the "dead talk cash" stunt with faked DirecTV ads featuring a pseudo Heath Ledger, John F. Kennedy, and someone else you'll recognize.

There's a conspiracy theory floating around that this is actually clever viral marketing from DirecTV itself -- since no publicity is bad publicity. But, if that were true, and word really got out, it'd be "deadly" to the company's business.

The Obama campaign has put a line in the sand regarding which networks will broadcast its prime-time campaign advertisement air on Wednesday night. The campaign has passed on ABC, which will be showing a new episode of Pushing Daisies against the ad to be shown on CBS, NBC, Fox and Univision at 8 p.m.

If the Obama campaign was going to pass on a network, you'd think it would be Fox since Fox News is the mortal enemy of his political party. What does the campaign have against the House of the Mouse? You can't get more American than Mickey.

The makers of a deodorant have paid Fox TV an undisclosed amount of money to acquire the licensing rights to create 24-themed content on a new web site and in a series of TV ads in order to promote their product.

The Unilever Company, which produces Degree deodorant, will run original online material and TV ads following the exploits of a 24-like CTU rookie, Jason Blaine, a Navy Seal sniper who, the web site says, "can carry four lattes without spilling a drop."

When you go to the "CTU rookie" site, you can watch the first "chapter" in the life of newbie agent Jason, complete with a ticking 24 clock, music similar to what you hear when Jack Bauer is huntin' nukes and a CTU office setting. What is different about the content is that the rookie is sent to fetch coffee rather than meet with "good" and "bad" terrorists. While the first chapter doesn't show Jason doing anything more than making sure an old lady and her dog don't get run down by a speeding vehicle, it does show him getting ready to thwart a would-be robbery, even though he doesn't have a gun.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't quite understand this ad campaign. Sure, the first "chapter" is pretty amusing, as is the tagline, "Every great CTU agent has to start somewhere." But how does Unilever think this is going to sell deodorant? Surely they'd sell more if they ran an ad that said something like, "Jack Bauer wears Degree. Do you ever see him sweat?"

Genndy Tartakovsky, the mind behind cartoons such as Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars has created this animated commercial for Nicorette. If you have trouble seeing the movie, right click on the link and "Save Target As." The animation has Tartakovsky's signature style, or I guess you could call it the "Cartoon Network" style. Either way, you have to appreciate the scientific accuracy of the ad: every one of us has tiny little screaming blobs inside our brain that get angry when we stop smoking. I've named all of mine after presidents.

The spot was created through The Orphanage, a video effects company that has also worked on the films Superman Returns and Sin City, among others.

[via Cartoon Brew]

I found this little gem via Cartoon Brew and our own Chris Thilk, editor of TV Squad's sister site Ad Jab. It's a commercial for chocolate milk featuring 3D CGI versions of Tom and Jerry. Apparently the chocolate milk gives Jerry the power he needs to outwit Tom and crash through walls. This is absolutely true, and any children reading this should drink a glass of chocolate milk and immediately run into a stationary object as fast as they can. The commercial is foreign, and I'm told it's in Hebrew, but I wouldn't know. I don't really care all that much, either, I just think it's fun to look at. You can watch it here.

Remember back in the day when Run-DMC rapped about their Adidas? Before long, anyone who wanted to be "down" was sporting a pair of them fly shoes and trying to sound cool by using words like "down" and "fly." Anyway, apparently that era is gone because a song by rap group The Pack, titled "Vans," has been shunned by MTV until the group edits their video and changes the name of their song. The network claims the video is too much like an advertisement and not enough like a video. Nevermind the fact that all videos are essentially commercials created to sell albums. It's all part of the package these days, and the only reason the likes of Britney Spears and Shakira are even on the radar. I placed the video after the jump for educational purposes. Oh yeah, and I totally used to have a pair of Vans like the skateboarder is wearing in the opening shot. Damn, I was stupid fresh.

Today, Ford launches a new line of commercials featuring American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. He'll be singing 'Possibilities' to promote what Ford is calling its "year-end" sales event even though it's only June. This press release includes a statement from Taylor Hicks that makes me think he has suddenly become a tool, "I'm thrilled to be given a chance to perform it [Possibilities] as part of the Ford family." Hmmm... I wonder who gets more money out of that deal: American Idol or Taylor?

I know this is something we usually reserve for AdJab, but I'm curious about what all you TV fanatics think. Have you seen the new 'Safe Happens' advertisements by Volkswagen? They feature people driving in a car, having a normal conversation about a movie or the overuse of the word 'like' and then - WHAM! - all of a sudden another car slams into the Volkswagen. It scares the hell out of me every single time. And, interestingly, when I was driving around running errands today, I kept thinking about it. I was tense behind the wheel, as if I was about to get hit by an oncoming vehicle. I guess that's terrorizing effective advertising.

What commercials stick with you?

AmericanIdol.com, the FOX-sanctioned forum for American Idol, is holding a contest to get its users to send in ten-second commercials about why they love the website. The Top 5 spots will air during American Idol in May, when the competition really gets down to the nitty gritty (or, in the case of this season, down to the contestants who suck the least).

The contest is forgettably called 'Video Chance for Fame', and the winners will be voted on within the online community. And, freaking out about Constantine for ten seconds will not get you on television. Read the rules, people.

[Via Lost Remote]

The news service over at Sci Fi channel has an interview with Loni Peristere, visual-effects supervisor for Serenity, who reveals how to find the easter egg on the DVD. Here's how:

• In the main menu, highlight 'Play'
• Press left on your remote
• A marker on the right side of the menu will highlight
• Press enter

[Via Pop Candy]