THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Days away from the Super Bowl now, and the single biggest event of the sporting year. Come Monday morning, the game usually isn't what's talked about around the water coolers, particularly if it's a one-sided affair, as much as the commercials are under discussion.
We'll all be debating which of the TV commercials made the biggest impression on us. The Super Bowl ads have become a big tradition and sometimes a launching pad for glitzy new marketing campaigns that can turn an entire industry around. This year we're told it's back to basics in the Super Bowl. Here's one that we'll see on Sunday night for Levi's.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, LEVI'S COMMERCIAL)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAFFERTY: Joining us now is ad maven Barbara Lippert who's with "Adweek" Magazine. I have no idea what those gyrations mean, but it's a pretty good video.
BARBARA LIPPERT, ADWEEK: Yes ...
CAFFERTY: What ...
LIPPERT: ... it's Flyweight jeans, so it makes your legs ...
CAFFERTY: Oh okay.
LIPPERT: ... feel all Gumby-like, I guess. But it was shot by Spike Jones from "Being John Malkovich" and ...
CAFFERTY: Okay.
LIPPERT: ... in fact it's one guy -- one guy's torso and other guy's legs. It's a fantastic digital effect, and it's just the kind of thing you want at the Super Bowl, because people are kind of, you know, drunk, choking on pretzels, and they want to see outrageous stuff, and it makes them laugh. CAFFERTY: Yes. No, that's terrific. Now the other big one that everybody's looking forward to is the Pepsi campaign with Britney Spears, and it's a little -- it's a little different from what you might expect out of Britney. She has a whole new look. Let's take a look at a piece of that commercial, and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hear something new at Fountains today. People who think young say. "Pepsi please."
BRITNEY SPEARS: The lively crowd today agrees ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAFFERTY: Looking like a what, a 1940s movie actress ...
LIPPERT: Yes kind of channeling Marilyn Monroe by way of Peggy Lee. And then in the next one they do an early '60s thing, and we get Britney Funnicello where she's a beach ...
CAFFERTY: A beach blanket bimbo.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Bingo, I'm sorry.
LIPPERT: Exactly. But, in fact I think it's going to appeal a whole new audience. I think older people will have a whole new appreciation for her now that see her, you know, sans (ph) belly button and in these things, and she actually seems like she can sing.
CAFFERTY: What is it that's propelled us toward this theme of nostalgia? I mean where ...
LIPPERT: Well it's ...
CAFFERTY: ... is that coming from?
LIPPERT: ... been -- obviously it's been a very tough year with the attacks and with the economy, and I think these companies want to show that they have a real rootedness in our culture, that they're deep in our bones. They're no Enrons. They've been around a long time, and they're going to be around forever, and that makes us all feel good. Also when we hear those old songs, they conjure up so much. People really remember them and feel something when they hear them.
CAFFERTY: All right, you mention it's been a very tough year and indeed it has, and one of the things that came out of the September 11th events was an absolute unwillingness across this society to deal with any kind of black humor. It just wasn't appropriate, you know, and anybody who tried to go there was soundly criticized for good reason. But there is one commercial in Sunday's game that broaches the subject. LIPPERT: Well it more than broaches the subject. The woman, you know, is hit with a dart and falls over, and this is exactly -- everyone in the industry was saying we will never see that kind of commercial again.
CAFFERTY: Right.
LIPPERT: It's brought to us by the same agency that did the gerbils being shot out of the cannon.
CAFFERTY: Oh, that was the ...
LIPPERT: ... two years ago.
CAFFERTY: ... that was one of the Internet companies ...
LIPPERT: Yes, that was one of ...
CAFFERTY: ... right?
LIPPERT: ... the Internet companies that died.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
LIPPERT: Alpos.com, so here's the new one. It's the Quizno's sandwiches.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Toasted.
(SNORING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dives right into the untoasted sub.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Well, that was a little twisted, but not bad. So it will be interesting. Which ones ...
LIPPERT: Well, that one will get attention, I think.
CAFFERTY: ... which ones ...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: ... yes which one will be the top attention-getter on Monday?
LIPPERT: Well Pepsi is always the top attention-getter and Budweiser always has a big round of commercials, funny ones, sentimental ones, all kinds of commercials. They have one with these fighting robots where one is a mini fridge with a bottle of beer inside, looks pretty funny. CAFFERTY: All right, appreciate you coming in.
LIPPERT: Thank you.
CAFFERTY: Thank you. Barbara Lippert is an ad critic at "Adweek" Magazine. The Super Bowl is Sunday, and we'll have the appropriate review of all of these commercials on "AMERICAN MORNING" Monday. Back after this.
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