Thanks to all the media coverage of Super Bowl commercials leading up to the big game, there were very few surprises when it came to ads.
What makes the Super Bowl so much fun to watch on television is not only the anticipation of two great football teams going head to head for league bragging rights, but the comedic and innovative commercials rolled out by some of the nation's leading advertising companies.
Not anymore.
Ever since Super Bowl commercials became watercooler talk at offices across the country several years ago, a non-stop ad blitz previewing game-day spots has ruined the fun of watching them.
So it was with great joy that I racked up an hour of the game on my DVR and was able to fast forward through most of the Super Bowl commercials Sunday night.
It was actually a cool game. There I was trying to spot an ad that I hadn't already seen while fast forwarding through the breaks. I stopped only three times, and two of those times were for ABC promotions.
Not surprisingly, the GoDaddy.com girl caught my eye, and I rewound far enough to see the ad that portrays marketing staffers from the domain registration service talking about being rejected by network censors several times before sending in the hot chick for a final pitch.
Her tank top straps snapped. Thanks, GoDaddy.
Another cause for stoppage was the sight of more flesh speeding by my television screen, except this time it was a promo for ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," which cleverly played on Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" two years ago.
"Wardrobe Malfunction?" the spot asked. "You wish."
Yup.
I almost stopped to watch an ad for one featuring dinosaurs, but I thought it was an ad for "King Kong" hitting DVD, so I kept going. There's no way I'm wasting any more money on that bomb. It's bad enough I saw it in a theater.
The third stoppage occurred for yet another ABC promo, this one for "Desperate Housewives," with famous men, including Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame, talking about the show. It was a clever way to get men engaged in the Sunday night soap, but not even Eva Longoria could tear me away from "Cold Case."
If I were giving a Grrr! award for the best Super Bowl ad, I would give it to the ABC promotions department.
As for the Clydesdales, Jessica Simpson and Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, the Careerbuilder.com monkeys, and ESPN mobile, they all sped across my screen like pixels in the wind — because I already saw most of them on various "news" segments.
That's not to say there were not some really funny ads. I'm just saying I saw most of them before they "debuted."
Speaking of Clydesdales, what's the use of Budweiser.com making someone enter a valid birth date (over 21) in order to view all of the Super Bowl ads on its Web site? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life.
What, are they different from the ones aired on the national broadcast that any person of any age can see?
And while I'm not on the subject — but for some reason the entering of a valid birth date that anyone with fourth-grade math could do reminded me of it — what is with guys on elevators waiting for the only woman on board to exit before they do?
I can understand chivalry and am all for it, but when the woman is all the way in the back of a packed elevator, every guy moving over so that she can exit first isn't chivalrous.
It's stupid. Just get off.
And with that, your Grrr! for today.
Respond to Mike | Grrr! Lexicon
VIDEO: Watch Mike's "Real Deal" webcast.
PODCAST: Take The Grrr! Column with you. Paste the link below into cast aggregator.
http://www.foxnews.com/xmlfeed/podcasting/0,4369,92,00.xml
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox