I did not know this but somebody ranks the Superbowl commercials using focus groups. Since I don’t trust USA Today to leave their chart up for any length of time, I’ve re-posted the ranking here. After all the magic eight-ball questioning about whether Napster was really a better deal than iTunes, I’m glad to see that people noticed it was just a lousy ad that used hardly any imgination. Why do I get the distinct feeling that a nosy VP of marketing decided they were a creative director? “A sign at the Superbowl! It’s grass roots!” Yeah. Except that it’s a superbowl ad, dummy. Read more…

[Disclaimer: I've done work for Anheuser-Busch, just so you know. I think it's probably the only time that I've drank their beer (because it was free)] More on the superbowl ads: Anheuser-Busch produced an ad in which soldiers walking through an airport are applauded by citizens. I’m extremely anti-corporate and believe in the the war-corporatism theory but I have to say that the effort felt sincere. Throw your logo up at the end, fine. Of course, what I really liked about the ad was the notion of soldiers coming home. It would definitely be nice to see that. But before all else, if I were standing around in an airport and soldiers walked by, they would receive my applause. And because of that I have to applaud Anheuser-Busch for looking beyond a 2.4 million dollar opportunity to merely endorse their product and attempt to say something serious with their time.