Did A Great Game Ring In A New Era?

Since copyright laws are confusing, I 've simply decided to post a pic of myself at Newport last March.

      Another Super Bowl has come and gone. This was a good one, no doubt about it. The fact that a power outage almost won the game for the 49s was enough to make it memorable. Apparently the television ratings for last night's matchup broke records, too. I'm happy to know that. Football really is America's game now. It unites us. Piers Morgan may think we're silly, but everyone knows it's condescending Europeans who are silly, so there you have it.  

      As for the commercials, they, as a whole, were memorable, too. What made them so was the fact that some of them were actually nice. Sure, GoDaddy spent a mint to air an ad which pretty much gave the finger to parents, but, unfortunately, there's millions of generally sad and disappointed individuals out there who find such inappropriate crap cathartic. The fact that Madison Avenue now caters to these unfotunates means the rest of us are going to have to suck it up, at least for the time being.

      Besides, it was the good stuff that stole the show last night. Budweiser ran an amazing Clydesdale ad (even by Clydesdale ad standards) which pulled at the heart strings and pulled at them well (not an easy thing to do, by the way). Ram Trucks also placed a terrific piece praising farmers. I saw some of the offended class complaining about this particular ad on Twitter because it primarily featured white males. Let's face it, though, members of the offended class would probably be happier just ignoring the big game next year and hanging out with Piers.

      Then there was Jeep's masterful ad, which was narrated by Oprah and featured the plight of veterans and their families. I'm sure the offended class was somehow put off by this commercial, too. We'll never know for sure, though, since no one speaks out against anything Oprah touches (in this case, I'm actually happy about that). If you haven't seen it, check it out online, along with the Budweiser and Ram ads. They're all well worth your time.

      Of course, sincere and powerful commercials have never really gone away. In recent times, however, they've certainly fallen behind crasser and less intelligent fare. In the end, however, Super Bowl 2013 may have brought nice back into the American consciousness.

      Not a moment too soon, either.