Super Bowl Commercial

The Super Bowl ad that I chose as my favorite was this one for Skittles. Skittles is known for their off-the-wall, goofy commercials and this one is no different. In this commercial, there is a very obvious story being told about a town that settles all disputes through arm wrestling. It's not obvious at first, but the viewer slowly develops an understanding of what the "usual way" is. As with good story telling in any form, the viewer/reader isn't introduced to the entire story at once and in the beginning, but slowly and in stages. This commercial is only thirty seconds so there is only one stage of a story being told, but it is still entertaining. 

http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35133.html

In addition to the Skittles commercial, I also enjoyed the "Avocados from Mexico" commercial. This commercial had a funny story-line too, but I omitted it as my favorite because I liked the simplicity of the Skittles ad. 

http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35154.html

Although I chose a funny commercial as my favorite, I really appreciated the story and message being told by this PSA about domestic abuse. I had heard this story about a woman calling 911 and ordering a pizza on purpose before, so it took a little of the surprise out of the ad for me, but all the same it does an excellent job of telling a very important story. The choice to have the visuals of the commercial not match the audio (still photos of a torn up house while the call is being made) is very effective in this case. It adds to the uneasiness of the situation. 

http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35008.html

Although the Skittles commercial strikes my funny bone, it certainly doesn't blow me away. In truth, I wasn't extremely impressed with any of the ads that aired during the Super Bowl. After reading some reviews, it seems others have felt the same way. Story-telling plays a huge role in commercials for television, it could be argued that it is really the only role. Telling a story is what brings the viewers in and keeps them interested.