Pre-mumble:  I am an avid Boston sports fan.  The Super Bowl loss was painful, albeit not as bad as 4 years ago.  The better team won;  what made this one hurt is that despite a horrific first quarter, the Pats went into halftime leading, brilliantly marched down the field to open the second half, and were set up to win if any of 3-4 plays occurred in the fourth quarter.  But they didn’t.  So — ouch.   What that also means is I was not in the best mood, nor relaxed enough to take in the ads by themselves during the game.

But, all things considered, I had the perfect sample in my Family Room.  Three generations amongst the 9 people.  Ages ranging from 17 to the low 80s.  5 women, 4 men.  8 Pats fans, 1 Giants fan who luckily left part way through to go to a better party (yes, he is the one in his 20s; smart boy).  Retired business executive, 2 17 year old high school seniors, pending HBS grad, a law professor, a lawyer, a musician, an owner of a not-for-profit cat shelter who grew up in a car family, and yours truly.  That means we hit all things politics, economy, parenting, kids, animals, business, car lover, and marketing.  Works for me — 100% statistically significant sample.  (whatever — run with it).

So, here are my top buckets — based on official Family Room feedback.

DOWNRIGHT FAIL

Century 21 ads.  Let’s see:  let’s get a disconnected set of celebrities to get together to talk about something randomly, and then that will make me list my most prized possession with them?  I’m guessing the research will play out completely differently — “if you need a house and really need a realtor, go anywhere else but to Century 21.”  Just saying.

I DON’T GET IT

The Coca Cola Polar Bears.  True, some of the women thought they were cute.  And there seems to be all this wonderful buzz on the web and social networks about what they’re saying, but to me they are tired, boring, and try too hard.  (Branding?  Brilliant.  You see a polar bear, and you think Coke.  But that’s from a decade ago — you need to have better ideas, people.)  Here’s one of the commercials.  Meh.

OFFENDED

Maybe we were not the target audience, but every single person, to a T, gasped.  Death, destruction, dying frogs, a poorly-placed joke about a competitor (who sells more trucks, btw), and someone eating Twinkies.  I know way too much about General Motors from 15 years of working with them — and I just don’t see this one helping get butts in seats, or test drives, or sales.  Maybe I’m getting old, but that one ranked highest on the “offend” meter.

CAPTIVATED, NOT OFFENDED

Beckham in his underwear for H&M, and a captivating Catrinel Menghia in the Fiat commercial about man and his relationship with his car.  Lots of buzz out there about sexism, and inappropriate imagery.  Well, to the group of us, we all stopped, stared, didn’t breathe, and didn’t talk.  Every single one of us, young and old, male and female.  Beckham is a stud, for all to see.  And the Fiat commercial was a powerful way to show a man’s love for the seduction of a car;  the Italian words only dialed up the romantic energy, and the commercial got laughs when Ms. Menghia ended up being a car.  The marketer in me asks “will it move the metal?”  I don’t know — but it definitely got Fiat onto the talk list, for a brand that needs awareness.

POWERFUL — BUT WILL LOSE BRAND CONNECTION

The 2-minute Chrysler commercial with Clint Eastwood was another brave, daring move by Chrysler.  Given the election year, it spoke about all sorts of issues that are front and center.  It is getting rave reviews and generating controversy all over the web and social channels, so it has been successful at driving conversation and buzz.  But — unlike last year’s ads with Eminen driving through Detroit, this one lost the connection with Chrysler and its vehicles.  Last year elevated the brand, inserted the vehicle into the story, and showed a remarkable contrast of beautiful machine with the hard-nosed neighborhoods of Detroit.  This year didn’t make that connection for me.

MY TWO FAVORITES

Many just seemed like a waste of money (why the need for :60 and :90 second spots?) or a missed opportunity (I LOVE Ferris Bueller, but a Honda CRV?  Not working for me) or a reach (sorry, but “Platinum” and “Bud” do not go together).  A few other ones creep closer to the top of the list (The VW Beetle one with the dog working out, several of the Hyundai ads were new and refreshing, everybody laughs at monkeys, the Doritos baby and grandma was humorous, and there’s something about a kid peeing in the pool that is humorous even if the connection to a tax preparation brand is off).  But when it comes down to it, these two had them all:  energy, fast paced, clear brand message, fresh, human, and clever.  And they generated the most smiles and laughs (during a game that was intense!).

Hats off to the Doritos “Man’s Best Friend” and Kia’s “A Dream Car.  For Real Life”