Yes, I watched The Big Game......

Yep, I watched Super Bowl XXXIX last night. Once again, I wasn't rooting for either the Patriots or the Eagles. As with previous years, the main reason for me to watch the game shifts from the teams to the commercials.

This year, I rated the ads on a 1-5 scale, with a 0 for offensive ads. I also added a +/- value for ones that fell between two numbers. Here's the scale:

5 is ROTFL / "Holy Sh--!" / a commercial that's remembered for years (Examples: Apple "1984", EDS "Cat Herding")
4 is LOL / "Whoa!" / a commercial that's remembered the next day (Examples: Budweiser "Bud Bowl" series, monster.com "Kids")
3 is chuckle / "Cool!" / a clever commercial (Examples: Most Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi commercials)
2 is no reaction / "OK" / Typical Super Bowl ommercial (Examples: Schick, Gillette, Master Lock "Bullet through the padlock")
1 is bored / "Ho-hum" / I've seen it before (Examples: Ads for the NFL or other network programs)

Thanks to Nipplegate last year, there were no 0s this year, in my opinion. But there were no 5s either.

( Here's the complete list of commercials with ratings. )

Trends: Most of the commercials I liked were clever, ironic, or humorous, and aired in the first half.

So what were my favorites this year? McDonald's: "Lincoln Fry", FedEx-Kinko's: "10 Things", Diet Pepsi: "The Hunk", Degree: "In-Action Heroes".

Honorable mention: DirecTV: "History of TV", Ford Trucks: "Bikers", Volvo: "Rocket", Budweiser: "Clydesdale Donkey II",
Subway: "Lovers' Lane", Bud Light: "Cockatoo", Anheuser-Busch: "Hero's welcome", Ameriquest: "The Cat", Toyota Prius: "Spinning Wheels".

View the commercials here if you missed or skipped the game. (Requires Flash player and a fast internet connection.)

[Updated 2/7/05 15:39: USA Today has their ad-meter (and downloadable commercials) here.]

This week's debate question: Death penalty for pedophiles?

It's time to open up the Coffee House section of the tavern, brew a couple pots of joe, some decaf, and heat up some water for tea or cocoa. Help yourself as we debate this week's question: Should convicted pedophiles be sentenced to death?

( Background information, along with the pros and cons. )

(Note: I'm going to initially set all comments on this topic to "screened" for 7 days in an attempt to increase feedback on the topic. If you don't want your comment unscreened, please indicate it in the comments.)