State-Journal.com - Ads gave us a few laughs

Actress Betty White was in one of Sunday night’s funnier Super Bowl commericals.

Betty White plays football, babies talk about “milkaholics” and a house made of Bud Light cans falls slowly apart.

It must be the Super Bowl — or at least the advertising showcase that entertains amid the gridiron action.

The commercials got off to a funny start Sunday night on CBS, but not every commercial was strictly humorous. Automaker Toyota aired several ads before and after the game to reassure worried owners after the recall of several of its models with accelerator problems.

A commercial by conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, perhaps the most-discussed ad leading up to the game, hinted at a serious subject, although it, too, had a punchline. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother talked about her difficult pregnancy with him but ended with Tebow tackling his mom and saying the family must be “tough.”

From serious to silly, State Journal staff writers pick their favorites:

Coca-Cola

Sports Writer Jonathan Hines

There was no knockout commercial to complement the Saints’ knockout performance in Super Bowl XLIV. But after being subjected to the cacophony of ads featuring screaming chickens, talking babies and fiddlin’ rodents, Coca-Cola’s sleepwalker on safari gave me just the diversion I was looking for between shots of Peyton Manning on the sidelines.

The bit follows a sauntering somnambulist across the African savannah, past predator, over peaks and above water until he reaches the very thing he’s been dreaming of – a Coke, of course. The ad was like Baby’s Day Out meets The Jungle Book, a playful adventure with a sugary-sweet conclusion. And best of all, not one word of dialogue interrupted the fun.

Snickers

Sports Writer Chase Sewell

Two things are all that are needed to make a great Super Bowl commercial: football and elderly celebrities getting leveled – and the second commercial of the night from Snickers had both.

Watching Betty White, of “Golden Girls” fame, get blindsided on a quick slant across the middle was hilarious. And when Abe Vigoda – an impressively obscure celebrity – got sacked, I thought to myself, “Come one Abe, you have some pocket presence.”

The only issue I had with the commercial was the fact that Betty didn’t make the catch. I assure you, the bodacious Betty I know and love would not have shied away from the hit and would have pulled down the catch – poor scripting in my opinion.

Doritos & Budweiser

Staff writer Kay Harrod

In the first quarter, Doritos delivered my big laugh of the night.

A small boy watches as a boyfriend comes to visit his mother and watch the game. The suitor nervously turns to the little boy and addresses him while taking the remote. In so doing, he sits and grabs a Dorito from a bowl. Obviously, this is the last straw from the look on the child’s face as he delivers a slap to the guy’s face.

Matter of factly, and in a literal in your face message, the boy admonishes the boyfriend with the ultimatum: “Don’t touch my mama and don’t touch my Doritos.”

You go, little one.

As for my sentimental favorite, again Budweiser struck a home run with me with its Clydesdale commercial that began with a colt and a calf frolicking separated by a fence. Their friendship continued as they grew. And then three years later, the mighty horse came through the countryside pulling the beer wagon. The calf, turned steer, was elated to see his buddy, and tore down a fence to run alongside his longtime friend.

Two farmers delivered the message – “Nothing comes between friends, especially fences.”

I wanted to see it again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report