DAILY DIRT: Most memorable parts of many Super Bowls have not been the games

Daily Dirt for Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025

What about a remake of “The Showdown” with two of today’s NBA standouts? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,193 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The best part of many past Super Bowl games have been the commercials.

If pressed, I think many of us would admit we look as forward to the commercials each year as the game itself. And with some 30-second spots having been sold for north of $8 million for Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX, advertisers desperately need their product to be remembered.

Here are my favorite commercials from Super Bowls past:

1 “The Showdown” (1993): The famous Larry Bird-Michal Jordan H-O-R-S-E game that was titled “The Showdown”. The commercial was a McDonald’s ad that pitted the two basketball rivals against each other for a Big Mac and fries. Few commercials have achieved the legendary status of “The Showdown”.

2. “Hey Kid, Catch!” (1980):It was one of those early Super Bowl commercials that helped turn the game into an advertising showcase — Coca-Cola’s “Hey Kid, Catch!” spot, starring Mean Joe Greene of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The commercial actually first aired in October 1979, but took on a life of its own — forever — in the January 1980 Super Bowl. Mean Joe was leaving the field, when in the tunnel beneath the stadium, he turned and tossed his game-worn jersey to a young fan. This commercial will forever have what they call “enduring charm”.

3. “Puppy Love” (2014): Take Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdale horses and throw in an adorable puppy. The result is a Super Bowl ad that was both surprisingly funny and heart-warming. (Let’s be honest, just about any of those Budweiser Clydesdale commercials could be inserted here.)

4. “Where’s the Beef?” (1984): Who knew that three little words uttered by one little old lady would go on to become one of the biggest catchphrases of the decade?

5. “Frogs” (1995): The three frogs whose combined croaks formed into “Bud-Wei-Ser” became so omnipresent that the following year a California research group found that more children were familiar with the frogs than Smokey the Bear. 

Honorable mention: “Playing Like Betty White” (2010). Watching Golden Girl Betty White get creamed on the football field was the perfect way for Snickers to sell its tag line, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

2. Did you know (Part 268)

• That 30-second commercials will be the most plentiful Sunday, with a handful of 60-second and 15-second spots.
• That eight of the 50 Super Bowl advertising spaces will be filled by snack foods. Pepsico, Dorito’s and Lay’s have two apiece.
• That Totino’s Pizza Rolls and Haagen-Dazs will make their first-ever Super Bowl advertising appearance. So will Angel Soft toilet tissue, which has bought a spot right before halftime to give viewers a “potty-tunity”.
• That beer companies will have six commercials. Budweiser leads the way with five.
• That auto/truck ads will be almost non-existent, including Kia, which had advertised in 14 consecutive Super Bowls.

3. At this writing, Super Bowl tickets are averaging $7,800 apiece, with the cheapest seats going for $3,600.

The most expensive tickets, which started out at more than $56,000, have plummeted to just over $20,000.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — The National Retail Federation estimates 203.4 million U.S. adults plan to tune in to some or all of the big game. More than 100 million say they will be hosting some sort of Super Bowl event.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He’s more concerned about the food than the game.