Tag Archives: superbowl

Friday Links: A brief history of the computer

• Photo essay: A Brief History of the Computer.
• Periodic Table of World Internet Facts.
• Also, The Periodic Table of Smellements.
• Logos are dead: “They are a hangover from old-school thinking about branding. There is no desire by the public for a new logo.”
• Google Android Toys. My heart exploded when I saw that little green robot in shirt and tie.
• Read the first interview with Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson in 20 years.
• Fallon: Promotions emphasize ‘people-centered’ digital approach.
• How the iPad will change the advertising business.
• Why Animals Speak in Super Bowl Ads: How Rating Systems Have Ruined the Creative

Know your history: 38 years of Super Bowl Commercials

The Super Bowl is Sunday, and for those of us who don’t get into sports it can still be considered an event what with The Who playing the halftime show (though they do have big shoes to fill after The Boss’ performance last year), and, of course, the commercials. Before the big game, take a look at this archive featuring 38 years of Super Bowl Commercials. It’s a fun history lesson in pop culture, technology, and advertising.

Even if you don’t watch all the commercials even the thumbnails are pretty revealing. For instance, Michael J. Fox had quite a commercial run for Pepsi from 87-89 when in 90 he was usurped by Fred Savage.

Here’s the commercial for the Tandy computer, a steal at only $2,999 (1984):

Also running the same year (1984), the iconic Apple commercial:

I also loved this one for IBM Typewriters (1986):

Friday Links: Lady Gaga, iPads, and Super Bowl Ads, oh my!

• As Mark said, A Lady Gaga link from the Wall Street Journal? Yes, yes indeed: How Lady Gaga made her name in a digital world.
• 10 of the worst Super Bowl ads ever.
• The iPad and a generational shift in computing.
• From the headlines I will always click division comes: Unbelieveable Lego art from Nathan Sawaya.
• Newsday spends $4 million to redesign their site and put content behind a paywall only to garner 35 subscribers.
• Building developers houses instead of cubes. (via @konrness)
• Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, on using social media with a calm, clear head.
• Superhuman tape measure skills, surely you have 29 seconds to watch this awesomeness.
• Confessions of a Book Pirate.
• Audi my have Super Bowl PR nightmare on its hands. Of course, I had no idea the “Green Police” were affiliated with the Nazis but that might be because I slept through most of my History of WWII class in college.
• Now that the The Denver Egoist is expanding its empire I hope we see a Minneapolis Egoist soon.

A brief recap of Superbowl commercials

First of all, I hope we can all appreciate the humor of having an ad before a commercial. It makes me think the folks at Hulu are geniuses!

Anyway, based on the little bit of chatter I’ve heard around The Nerdery, the Doritos crystal ball commercial was a big hit.

My favorite was the Coke ad with all the bugs. It’s a very pretty commercial.

And even though Go Daddy tried really hard to have the most overtly sexist commercial, I think Pepsi Max wins the award with their diet pop that’s good enough for men (though I have to admit until the tagline, the commercial did make me laugh. What is it about people getting hurt that’s so funny? Reminds me of the famous saying: comedy is you falling down a manhole, tragedy is me stubbing my toe). Bleh.

You can vote for your favorite commercial on Hulu.

However, I hope we all can agree that the best part of all the Superbowl hoopla was Bruce’s slide into the camera man: