Growing up, I had always watched the Super Bowl for both the game and the commercials. I looked forward to the unique take ad writers would do for their products when faced with a price tag of more than one million dollars for 30 seconds.
According to Wikipedia, this year's Super Bowl, to be aired on NBC, sold 58 advertising spots for a total of $75 million (the most expensive advertisement sold was $4 million). And with the price of ads for the Super Bowl, you know (or at least hope...) the ads are going to be memorable.
This Sunday the New England Patriots will take on the New York Giants for football immortality, but the commercials will also be talked about for days to follow.
So it got me thinking about ads from Super Bowls past, and which ones were my favorites that I'll always remember. Being a horse person, of course the No. 1 series of ads will always be the Budweiser commercials featuring their trademark Clydesdales. Unfortunately they've been on hiatus the past year or two, but I'm crossing my fingers that they will make a return this weekend.
One of the most memorable Budweiser Clydesdale ads has to be the September 11 tribute commercial aired during the 2002 game titled "Clydesdale Respect." This commercial tugged at Americans' heartstrings and was only aired twice—during that Super Bowl and one other time during the 10-year anniversary. (It still brings tears to my eyes!)
Then there are the commercials featuring adorable Clydesdale foals and their dreams of being part of the famous hitch. There are two that I can remember telling me to dream big. (Watch: "Dream" and "A Little Help.)
Then there are the funny ones like "The Streaker" and "Stick" which shows the playfulness of the big horses.
And, finally, two commercials that showed that hard work can pay off. One commercial-which is after my own heart because I want a miniature burro one day--is "The Donkey". This followed the training regimen of a burro that wanted to be a Clydesdale. (You've got to love the horses' reactions to his bray!) And "Rocky" showed us that you might not get picked one year, but if you work hard, you can accomplish anything.
Budweiser isn't the only company that features horses in their Super Bowl commercials. My favorite non-Clydesdale commercial has to be the spot for VitaminWater featuring professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal acting as a jockey and winning a race, by his nose, at Santa Anita Park. And now that I've been following the horseracing world a little more, it's cool how VitaminWater founder's own silks are featured in the commercial—you might remember those blue and orange silks with the R as being seen on top of popular racehorses Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty last year for owner Mike Repole.
Those are my favorite horsey Super Bowl commercials ... what are your favorite Super Bowl commercials featuring our favorite species?
