1/29/2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - A Pepsi commercial featuring Bob Dole topped the Michigan State University Department of Advertising's list of the best commercials of Super Bowl XXXV.
While football fans watched the Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants in Sunday night's game, MSU advertising professors huddled around the TV to watch and rate the commercials. Of the nearly 60 commercials that aired during the Super Bowl, the experts rated Pepsi's Bob Dole commercial as the top ad.
"Bob Dole may not have won the election, but he won the ad war," said MSU professor of advertising Linda Hagan. "Everybody got the joke, and it was a real winner for Pepsi."
Commercials for E*Trade and Anheuser-Busch also scored high marks from the advertising faculty.
Using a 10-point scale, the professors rated each commercial based on creativity, production and overall quality. The team of professors considered whether each commercial's strategy was unique and relevant to the appropriate target consumers. They also determined whether its execution was memorable and bolstered the reputation of the product.
Among the commercials that failed to meet the experts' expectations were ads from Accenture and Levi's.
"Accenture needs a consultant," said MSU professor of advertising Steve Edwards. "They couldn't have done a worse job of trying to redefine their brand."
MSU's Department of Advertising is consistently ranked among the top advertising programs in the nation.
Here's how the commercials rated according to MSU's Department of Advertising faculty experts:
The Top Ten Touchdowns:
1. Pepsi - "Bob Dole"
2. (tie) E*Trade "Sock Puppet"
2. (tie) Bud Light "Heavy Dog"
2. (tie) Budweiser "Geeks' Whazzup parody"
5. Bud Light Dancing Cassanova
6. Pepsi Subway Dream Sequence
6. Diet Dr. Pepper
8. Volkswagen GTI
9. Budweiser "Alien Whazzup"
10. Snickers
The "Five Fumbles" of the Super Bowl or worst ads, in order of worst first:
1. Accenture
2. Accenture
3. Levi's
4. Accenture
5. Doritos