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So the big game is on Sunday. If you want to get super hyped-up, we suggest you read Big Daddy Drew’s Jamboroo over @ Deadspin.

The upstart New York Football Giants face the dynasty everyone is sick of, the 18-0 New England Patriots, but being New England Football fans in NYC…we’re excited.

Between all the football and face-stuffing, you’ll probably see some commercials that range from ultra-crappy to pretty-fuckin’-sweet.

We would love to sit and pontificate about which spots we think will be the best, but that’s a waste of everyone’s time. It’s like those pre-tests you took in 6th grade math…before

Let’s just skim over the obvious:

Hyundai has dropped out.

This is who’s buying airtime.

Bud Light’s spots will probably be funny, Budweiser’s spots will be heartwarming.

GoDaddy will probably use a hot chick to make you buy yourname.com…or not.

It’s a bit predictable…but who knows…

Last year we got a robot to commit suicide and two hairy dudes to make-out (which actually happens ALL THE TIME in our neighborhood).

Here’s one of our favorite’s of all time:

We’ll preview the game and go over the latest in advertising land tomorrow afternoon…

You can gather all that speculation elsewhere.

We prefer to sit back and watch the ads with a Miller Lite in one hand and big batch of chili nachos on our lap…in a bowl on our lap, that is.

Tiki Barber: Great NFL Back or Next Patrick Ewing?

In some non-advertising, Super Bowl related news, we find it tremendously humorous that NONE of the Giants will give Tiki Barber an interview on NBC’s Today show (Market Watch).

Problem is, Barber is persona non grata now. Based on media reports, he stands a better chance at scoring a sit-down with Osama bin Laden than with Eli Manning or Michael Strahan. Barber is on the outside looking in at a very bad time for NBC.

We never really liked Barber, mostly for Fantasy Football reasons.  We had him when he was Mr. Fumble and we refused to draft him when he was leading the NFL in all-purpose yards. Grrrr.

Whether the Giants win the Super Bowl or not, we think that Tiki has more than fulfilled the Ewing Theory, as explained by One Bill Simmons. 

This is sorta how we feel about most of our ex-girlfriends.  Sorry Tiki!

Toshiba, The Poorly-Run Evil Empire

On January 9th, we gave you a brief, informal history of HD DVD vs. Blu-ray DVD.

Apparently the folks @ Toshiba have not been paying attention to the news.  Every major studio has sided with Blu-ray, yet Toshiba has purchased $3m worth of Super Bowl air-time.  Ha!  “Worth.”  It was awfully silly of us to use that word!

We wish Toshiba the best of luck in selling the rest of their $499 $149 HD DVD players that will, soon enough, not play DVDs from major film studios.

In the meantime, rumor has it that Microsoft is scrambling to put together a deal that will allow their X-BOX gaming console to house a Blue-ray player. 

The Blogosphere, Slighted Again!

Boo-freakin-hoo. 

The latest anti-blogging sentiment is coming out of Target’s PR department.

Apparently ShapingYouth.org  got all bent out of shape over and advertisement that “targeted” a female’s crotch.

You can see the image here.

Target’s response was a bit snippy:

Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets.

We think it’s a bit of a stretch to get offended by this ad.

Either way, it’s important to remember the following, whether you’re a blogger or a large corporation:

BLOGGING IS NOT JOURNALISM. And it doesn’t aspire to be. It’s a completely different art form that has absolutely nothing in common with journalism. They aren’t the same thing, and they aren’t supposed to be.

A blog is a blank website with roughly 17 trillion potential applications. You can use it to make stupid dick jokes. You can use it to post pictures of your trip for your family and friends to check out. You can use it to sell t-shirts…It has no rules. No supposedly built-in set of ethics. No style guidelines. It’s a blank canvas, for you to do with as you please.

Thanks to Deadspin’s Big Daddy Drew for this rant on blogging.  We think it will happen everyone understand the big picture of what blogging REALLY is.  You can red the full rant here.  (Deadspin)

 Other Boxworthy Items:

We’re happy to see that Steve Carell has no interest in talking to TMZ.  Smart guy. He must have attended a quite splendid academic institution. (TMZ)

Wendy’s is moving their creative chores over to Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners.  We expected this, and we’ll miss Mr. Wendy and his red wig. (ADWEEK)

Jeff Zucker is tossin’ the high heat @ mobile companies, commenting on the fact that mobile providers are short-changing content companies as part of mobile deals. (ADWEEK)

Don’t call Mary-Kate Olsen.  Thanks.

On that note, let’s talk about PSAs.

American PSAs suck.  And if they’re not gawdawful, they’re being shown late at night, and infrequently. (ADWEEK)

We would like to see a shift in the PSA creative towards a decidedly more Canadian look:

Speaking Of Canadians…

The NBA has REALLY stepped up its commercial spots this year.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners developed the “Where Amazing Happens” campaign, and it has been mostly awesome.

The latest installment is the journey of Phoenix Suns star, Steve Nash…as told through his GPS device.

The best part?  It was directed by Aaron Ruell.  You know him as “Kip” from Napoleon Dynamite.

We dig it.  Amazing is happening. (Motionographer)

Also Amazing?  Mash-ups.

Other Boxwrothy Items:

Kurt Cobain’s [fake] cigarette is for sale on Ebay as part of an ad stunt for an anti-smoking campaign.

We would put in a bid, but we’re holding out for Heath Ledgers Non-narcotic laced [fake] $20. (Ad Land)

This film looks delightfully silly and ridiculous.  It stars Jack Black + Mos Def...directed by “that guy who did Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.”  (Experience Curve)

…but we did see Amy Poehler, Dax Shepard, and another-dude-who-is-probably-insulted-that-we-didn’t-recognize-him walking into The Spotted Pig this afternoon. And we’re NOT reporting this to GAWKER Stalker.

We told Dax how much we enjoyed “Without A Paddle.” How that movie only gets a 5.7/10 ranking on IMDB is beyond us. For shame.

Sure, when your best line in the movie is “I never thought I’d be happy to hear anything that sounds like Creed,” you’re not going to win any Oscars…but only 5.7/10?!

Ok, enough celebri-tard news for now…we’ll give you our thoughts on Amy Winehouse later on in the show…

Other Boxworthy Items:

Need further evidence that music venues will be the final frontier for making money off music? Our advice to aspiring artists is this: Do what 50 Cent did, invest in energy drinks. Electrolytes, it’s what people crave. (NYT)

We have a membership to Hulu. It’s awesome. Soon enough, you will be able to indulge in the excellence that is Hulu. Check out this exclusive interview with CTO, Eric Feng. (TechCrunch)

Smoking pot will turn you into a caterpillar, and eventually into a butterfly! old man…just watch (GSD&M):

In other news…

It comes as a huge surprise to us that Amy Winehouse even made it to rehab. We figured she would have died on the way. It’s really a matter of time before she shows up on the Faces Of Meth website.

Whether or not she actually uses meth could be the deal-breaker…but seriously, check out the before and after (on the left)!

To Watch Tonight:

FOX - 8pm - Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

NBC- 8pm - Chuck

ION - 8pm - Momma’s Family

OK, For the love of GOD, would the writers strike end already?!

Listen the fortune cookie, yo.

Lots of things going on today, and we’ve got lots to say about it.

ADWEEK is reporting that LOTS of Moms will be watching the Super Bowl this year. Ok…and?

And there’s more:

“According to a new survey, 80 percent of moms plan to watch the big game and 60 percent say they will watch just to see the commercials. But 76 percent say they don’t think the ads are targeting them.”

So true, so true. The survey we’d like to conduct is the one that calculates ad recall among drunk male fans during a game. Can someone get on that?

New York Times Chips In With This…

Stuart Elliot has stumbled upon the brilliant notion that product placement works better in reality shows than it does in scripted dramas. So let us get this right, when you see a real person using a real product…nevermind. We’ll just stop right there.

But wait, there’s less…

In-program ads target the issue of break erosion, making your advertisements all the more sticky and valuable. Crazy. Didn’t even cross your mind, did it?

Of course there’s also the clever play of “branded content.” Also commonly known as sticking a brand name on some videotaped garbage, branded content is fast becoming a favorite tool among “new media” execs.

Daisy Whitney brings us the pairing of Kid Rock & GM to the table in her TV Week blog. We’re sure GM thought this would be like pairing a delicious Alsace Riesling with a fresh fillet of flounder. Well, to us it’s more like pairing leftover biscuits and sausage gravy with malt liquor. Then again, it is Detroit.

Either way, we’re not interested in seeing ANY more of this.

Other Boxworthy Items:
When we look @ these financial figures for Apple, we think to ourselves: Isn’t Apple just Microsoft with cooler gadgets and better products? (Engadget)

Richard Branson is finally making our dream of being an astronaut blogger come true. Fantastic. (TechCrunch)

Everything you need to know about Pysop going public. Can someone tell us what a reverse merger is? (Motionographer)

ESPN has suspended Dana Jacobson for her Eff Notre Dame Jesus remarks. We’ll really miss Dana on ESPN’s First Take this week. Just kidding. (Huffington Post)

So Morgan Spurlock, of “Supersize Me” fame, did NOT find Osama Bin Laden. No word yet on whether or not Morgan will shave his facial hair in attempt to look a bit less like an adult film star. Gawker says he owes the President an apology. Other say President Bush owes an apology for not reading the sign that Spurlock allegedly came across warning of “the strict prohibition against foreigners in their lands.” Maybe Bush thought that the Pakistanis were unaware of the 21st Amendment? (GAWKER)

Interesting Buweiser spot we’ve got here…verrrrrrrrrrrry interesting:

Just a regular Tuesday here @ SB1748.  We’re a fortnight away from the Super Bowl, which means two weeks of over-hyping a game that really needs no hype.

Take a look @ who is buying spots for this year’s marketing clusterbang.

We need to get a couple things out of the way:

Please don’t tell us that you’re surprised to hear about Amy Winehouse’s rock smokin’ habits.  Seriously folks, have you seen her?

Jerry O’Connell is funny.  For now.  Stand by for the official’s review on that call.

Leave Tom Brady ALONE! 

Other Boxworthy Items:

Those sausages we promised!  Ad Chops loves the humor so much that he’s going to actually BUY some Bud Light…and give it away to strangers before buying some higher quality, hop-infused beverages.  We suggest that he try some Belgian Brew if he’s stuck thinking that German Beer is where it’s at.

Elsewhere on the interwebs, AdRants suggests that this spot could have as much stickiness as the  “wasssssup” spots from several years back.  Please.  This sausage spot is funny, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  I’ll stop being a Debbie Downer when the youth of New York City start running around the subways yelling “sausages” in their best cockney accents, but until then…get real.

Fear not, residents of Green Bay, Wisconsin: Help is on the way.  Now that gunslinging Brett Favre has gunslinged you guys out of the NFL playoffs, you can redeem your parting gift.  HBO will now be putting their shows online @ HBO.com for current subscribers.  Starting in Cheese Country, the service will slowly roll out across the country over the first 1/2 of this year.  Bout time!

So we’re not sure if this new AXE spot is for a chocolate-scented body spray…but we do love that our favorite Lady’s Man line has now been acted out in an ad: “I would like to take a bite outta yo butt!” 

You know it’s a slow news day when you’re celebrating commemorating the 10 year anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky Scandal.

Ah, the memories…Slick Willy and his beret wearing, cigar loving heffer.

Sure, The G.W. Bush Administration lacks the hot and heavy scandal of the mid-90s. I guess we can blame that on the fact that he gave up on booger sugar and moonshine long ago, but at least help is on the way for our fledgling economy…can’t wait to get my $200 check to spend on consumer electronics, tractors, bomb-making products @ Home Depot…student loans! Talk about revitalizing the economy!

But hey, it’s still better than living in Canada.

Other Boxworthy Items:

Does it help for creative people to ‘look’ creative? 30 out of 52 people say YES! (Scamp)

We say HECK and YES!

Maybe if someone told Philip Rivers about these wonderfully advertised condoms avec l’assaisonnement de fruit (that’s ‘with fruit flavoring’ for you non-French speakers out there) he wouldn’t be so pro-abstinence.

Wait, it wasn’t about the taste, Mr. Rivers? Oh, nevermind…

This new spot from Discovery titled “Lobstermen” is cool and all…but I grew up in Maine…and Lobstermen (and women) do not go out Lobstering at night in lightening storms. Yeah, really.

If Discovery got Lobstermen to do such a thing…well good for them…but seriously, this is just silly. (CREATIVITY)

Surprise! Rachel Ray is who we thought she was! (AdFreak)

If your football team is still in it this weekend…and ours is…BEST OF LUCK!

(Note: This does not apply to Chargers fans.)

If you’re in the Green Bay area, well we’ve got a deal for you. Yeah, you better go ahead and hold that:

It’s been a crazy week @ SB1748. It’s already Thursday and we’ve been to Washington, D.C., spied on Vegas and watched the stock market begin to collapse before out very eyes! Can’t wait for this recession.

It’s been busy over the last couple weeks: Jenna Jameson retired, Steve Jobs introduced the thinnest laptop ever made, and Eli Manning won a freakin’ playoff game…AGAIN!

Apparently it’s raining “wicked hard” outside right now, so let’s jam out some boxworthy items before getting soaked. We’ll be back tomorrow with a more extensive post.

Boxworthy Items

Memo to Lesley Stahl: ~600 Facebook friends is pretty weak. You’re on 60 Minutes. Gary Vaynerchusk from WineLibraryTV has like 4,000+. Pshhhhhh. (Jaffe Juice)

If you can’t stand Steve Jobs, or you want to get around hearing “This is really cool!” 4890234 times, here is the MacWorld Keynote in 60 seconds. (Daisy Whitney)

Cool Monster spot from BBDO. But is it really a good piece of advertising? You be the judge… (CREATIVITY)

Crispin Porter, the agency everybody loves to hate, is rocking out some digital work with this new Domino’s Pizza Builder. Can’t hate on something that tastes looks that delicious. (Adverblog)

I’m going to take this advice, get a bottle of wine, and bang out a brilliant idea tonight! (Advertising For Peanuts)

We were going to rock out our first Green Column today, but we’ll let Marc Gunther make it happen for us until next Thursday. (Marc Gunther)

We insist that you check out Psyop’s latest nugget brilliance commissioned by BBDO’s Ireland office:

The Best Part Of CES?  It Means MacWorld Is Coming Soon.

We love that Steve Jobs gives CES the ol’ middle finger every year and unleashes Apple’s new gadgets during his own damn keynote at his own damn branded expo!

What can we expect this year?

We were hoping for Apple TV + Bigger HD + WiFi-enabled Movie Library + New iTunes Visualisers all controlled by our iPhone.  If Jobs can’t deliver, we’re dumping all of our Apple stock.

Silicon Alley Insider can tell you 5 more things you won’t see @ MacWorld.

Daisy Whitney relays G4’s list of Top 5 CES Gadgets from this year’s Show.

Don’t Tase Me Bro!  I Didn’t Do Anything!

This is beyond scary.  We think Steve Jobs is secretly behind the new Taser + MP3 player.  Why?  For the next time he meets Steve Ballmer in a dark alley.

Here’s another question: WHY DOES THIS EVEN EXIST?

We can’t even begin to wrestle with the obvious question: “What if you accidentally tase yourself when you were just trying to listen to Britney’s latest single?”

Furthermore, shouldn’t this device play CDs cassette tapes?

 Other Boxworthy Items: 

Isiah Thomas wins SHOTY (Deadspin)

Best & Worst CES Ads (Engadget)

Win Super Bowl Tickets From Coors! (NYT - Stuart Elliot)

Starting next week, we will be focusing on a green initiative each Thursday.  Here’s a “recycled” spot to get you ready:

Breaking Rumors! Breaking Rumors!

AdRants reports that Wendy’s might be giving the axe to Saatchi & Saatchi. Whatever. We don’t care as long as we can get a JBC, 5-spot nuggets, and a small Sprite for $2.98. Oh baby, that hits the spot.

Good news? Bad news? Depends on who you ask, but it’s happening (NYT):

The Weinstein Company, one of Hollywood’s biggest independent film companies, is expected to formally announce an agreement with striking writers as early as Thursday, according to Harvey Weinstein, the company’s co-founder.

Other Boxworthy Items:

Coca-Cola’s HR DepartmentGets A Sweet Makeover Thanks to AKQA (CREATIVITY)

The recent development of a potential music tax is music to the ears venue owners. Pun intended. (TechCrunch)

Big ups to Burton for their new interactive campaign that encourages snowboarders to “Sabotage Stupidity.” (Beyond Madison Avenue, Adverblog)

If you have some free time, and you’re Australian…feel free to vote for the ‘word of the year.’ (BBC)

WSJ is moving closer and closer to free online content. Let’s not fool ourselves, they’re going to make more money with advertising sales than they ever dreamed of making with subscription fees. Rupert Murdoch is not running a freakin’ charity, folks! (TechCrunch)

Your very own guide to becoming a brand strategist. (Satchel Of Gravel)

MJ’s last sneaker will be black and red…and GREEN. (Mark Gunther)

Don’t forget, Puff Daddy will kill you if you forget to VOTE: