Super Bowl XXXIX

Commercials

As usual, the television coverage of this year's Super Bowl was the showcase for the most expensive commercials in television -- both to produce, and to buy airtime (at the rate of $2.4 million US for 30 seconds).

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One ad that drew the ire of many — including the NFL — was for the internet domain provider GoDaddy.com, which tweaked the controversial halftime of last year's game with a mock censorship hearing featuring a comely woman (played by part-time WWE Smackdown diva Candice Michelle) having a "wardrobe malfunction". Fox pulled the second airing of the ad, scheduled for the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter, along with a five-second plug, and it was replaced with a promo for the popular cartoon series The Simpsons. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based World Wide Web domain registration company got a refund on the second ad.

Related Topics:
WWE Smackdown - Candice Michelle - The Simpsons - World Wide Web

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Another popular ad was made by the NFL. It featured players who weren't in the Super Bowl, headlined by Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being at a beach resort, despressed he didn't make it in. Legendary quarterback Joe Montana comforted Roethlisberger, and soon both Montana and Roethlisberger joined many other players in different locations in an off-key, yet rousing edition of "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie. The commercial ended with the tagline, "Tomorrow, we're all undefeated again."

Related Topics:
Pittsburgh Steelers - Ben Roethlisberger - Joe Montana - Annie

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A complete list of the ads shown in Super Bowl XXXIX as well as links to news coverage are at superbowl-ads.com; iFilm has the actual commercials at its site.

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