tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post9197793191112019739..comments2024-03-27T23:28:20.274-04:00Comments on Face to Face: When did the Super Bowl become about everything but the game?agnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-13259407990773119612013-02-10T21:54:57.073-05:002013-02-10T21:54:57.073-05:00"Hey, remember when beer ads had Bob Uecker a..."Hey, remember when beer ads had Bob Uecker and Rodney Dangerfield clowning around in a bar?"<br />________________________________<br /><br />I used to tell my high school students that I remembered a time when beer was sold as a cold, refreshing beverage (which it is), with nary a link to mating games and fast times.<br /><br />You're too young, Ag, but maybe a few readers recall that on a Saturday afternoon in the heat of the summer, when only one network carried a nationally televised baseball "game of the week" (late 50s, maybe early 60s too), Hamm's Beer ran ads during that Saturday baseball game: their "mascot," a plump, cute cartoon bear floated on his back on a cool mountain lake drumming his tummy while the catchy jingle sang, "Hamms....the beer that refreshes.....da da da da!"<br /><br />That's it. Just a reminder that a cold ale on a hot day would refresh. <br /><br />Once a year my dad, upon hearing the ad, would ask my mother to look at the supermarket to see if they "Had gotten any of those pony 6 packs in yet."<br /><br />She would, and if they had, she'd buy one. Dad would have maybe three (pony cans, that is) over the course of the entire summer. after he had mowed the front lawn and was wiping his brow sitting on the porch stoop. By the middle of fall, my mother would ask if she could throw out the remaining cans to make room in the fridge. "Yeah," he'd say. "Go ahead." <br /><br />Marketing has come a long way, unfortunately. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-65408796809556504112013-02-06T19:49:23.423-05:002013-02-06T19:49:23.423-05:00Yeah I saw that one, taking its Affordable Luxury ...Yeah I saw that one, taking its Affordable Luxury appeal so seriously. Back in the '80s people had a better sense of humor about status-striving in their beer ads:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7t7qT-R_10" rel="nofollow">Spuds Lifestyle ad</a> agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-48027459427216464952013-02-06T18:28:01.307-05:002013-02-06T18:28:01.307-05:00Watching the Super Bowl, I was struck by a Budweis...Watching the Super Bowl, I was struck by a Budweiser ad for one of their upscale beers. It featured young, attractive and (presumably) wealthy adults at a toney gathering. I asked aloud, "Hey, remember when beer ads had Bob Uecker and Rodney Dangerfield clowning around in a bar?"Frontiernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-77929843875018443362013-02-06T02:52:26.197-05:002013-02-06T02:52:26.197-05:00Seems like the years pre 1998 that focused entirel...Seems like the years pre 1998 that focused entirely on the "acts" were the years produced by Disney, MTV, or Pepsi/Coca Cola. Once 1998 hits the half time show is largely the production of the music industry. Michner, MTV, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-13968101623482342752013-02-06T02:44:22.575-05:002013-02-06T02:44:22.575-05:00We have to look at when it began growing to try to...We have to look at when it began growing to try to explain it or link it to other changes, though. It's like genetic selection -- it rises slowly at first, then rapidly -- but that doesn't mean that the selection pressure began once it was in its sky-rocketing phase. It was there once it began rising.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-20854883415429815762013-02-05T23:03:56.387-05:002013-02-05T23:03:56.387-05:00Looking at your graphs, by far the largest shift d...Looking at your graphs, by far the largest shift didn't happen until the turn of the century. The 90's - really the late 90's - only augured the 2000's glorification of Superbowl commercials and halftime shows at the expense of the game. <br /><br />Ranjihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01991158226921895446noreply@blogger.com