U-of-I study shows big game commercials weren’t that "Super"

Superbowl Sunday was far from “super” according to a group of University of Iowa students and faculty who watched and ranked T-V commercials during the football game. U-of-I marketing professor Baba Shiv says his survey found that with only a few minor exceptions, no one was too jazzed by any of the ads, which started at two-million dollars for 30-seconds.Professor Shiv says several of the males who did the survey mentioned liking the two Budweiser commercials that focused on people’s behinds — which Shiv calls the Butt-weiser ads — but the women didn’t like them. He says several people liked the Fed Ex ad, featuring a formerly-shipwrecked employee delivering a package. Shiv says it’s a reflection on the sour economy that few of the expensive ads were considered outstanding by his panel. He says businesses haven’t been advertising and even when they do, he says the often take the conservative route. Shiv says people who responded to the survey almost across-the-board hated the Levis jeans ad that involved a herd of buffalo.Another ad that got very low marks was for a pickup truck and featured a truck passenger choking on a piece of beef jerky which was extracted by the driver accelerating then slamming on the brakes.