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Readers: Bud had best Super Bowl ad

Touching tale of a Clydesdale reunited with his owner

By Bill Cromwell

February 6, 2013

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clydesdales From a young Clydesdale reunited with its former owner to an ad that extolled the many virtues of the humble farmer, this year’s best Super Bowl ads were the ones that pulled at the heartstrings.

And Budweiser’s Clydesdale-themed commercial “Reunited” was the very best of the bunch, according to media buyers and planners.

They voted Bud’s ad the top Super Bowl spot in a poll posted on Media Life yesterday inviting readers to weigh in on this year’s crop of big-game ads.

Asked which commercial was the Super Bowl’s best, 32 percent of readers picked Budweiser’s “Reunited.”

The ad shows a Clydesdale lovingly cared for by his owner until the day the horse joined Budweiser’s famous Clydesdales team. When, sometime later, the team made an appearance in a loal parade, the horse’s former owner attended.

At first it appeared the horse did not recognize him, but when the owner was about to drive home the Clydesdale suddenly reappeared to track him down, resulting in a touching reunion.

“Their Clydesdales commercial was touching but not too over the top,” one reader noted. “The relationship between the man and the horse was a great synonym to a man’s relationship with Budweiser, irreplaceable and life-long.”

It wasn’t the only sentimental ad in this year’s game. Ram’s “God Made a Farmer” showed images of American farmers during a narration by late radio personality Paul Harvey espousing their American values.

The Ram ad received 25 percent of the votes for best ad, second behind Budweiser.

“Ram did a wonderful job portraying who their trucks are made for,” noted one reader. “They focused on promoting to the farmers of America, the people that we don’t always think about. They branded themselves as a worker company that builds trucks meant for those who spend their lives working.”

Tide’s “Miracle Stain” was the only funny ad to crack the top three, finishing third with 9.3 percent of readers’ votes.

It chronicled the joy that arose from a stain shaped like Joe Montana that spattered a San Francisco 49ers fan’s shirt, until his Baltimore Ravens-loving wife washed it out with Tide.

There was a lot more agreement on the big game’s biggest bomb.

Asked which Super Bowl ad was the worst, 61 percent of readers chose GoDaddy’s “Perfect Match,” in which supermodel Bar Rafaeli made out with a frizz-haired geek.

Smilarly, a Calvin Klein’s spot with a hottie shown only in his undies came tied for second for worst ad with 13 percent of the vote, tying with Mio’s commercial featuring Tracy Morgan.

Overall readers were unimpressed with this year’s commercials.

Asked if they were better or worse than last year’s, 47 percent of readers said they were about the same, while 43 percent said they were worse.

Just 9.5 percent said they were better.

Media Life also invited readers to judge this year’s ads on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being terrible and 10 being terrific. The greatest portion of readers, 31 percent, rated them a 6, for mediocre.

Forty-one percent of readers rated them a 5 or lower.

Also, the Clydesdales spot aside, readers felt that Anheuser-Busch had a down year. The usual king of Super Bowl advertising had several ads for its new Black Crown that readers feel missed their mark, and their two Bud Light ads weren’t as funny as past spots.

Asked whether A-B has lost its advertising touch, 46 percent of readers said yes, while 40 percent said no.

Noted one, “Anything not featuring a Clydesdale was a miss.”

Finally, Media Life asked readers whether Super Bowl ads have become overhyped.

A large majority, 75 percent, answered yes, agreeing with this statement: “Between the early release of so many spots on the web and the huge amount of anticipation for every brand, it’s impossible to live up to expectations.”

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