Many people like to fast-forward through commercials on TV.
However, there is one time when many people want to watch the commercials. And that’s during the Super Bowl football game.
The Super Bowl was played last Sunday.
It has become a tradition that the commercials shown during the Super Bowl are particularly interesting to watch. Many of them are funny.
For instance, in a Volkswagen ad, a dog sees a Volkswagen go by his house. He wants to chase it, but he’s too fat to fit through the doggie door. So he starts exercising himself to get in shape. He chases his own tennis ball, and he swims laps in a pool. Eventually, he is able to fit through the doggie door and chase the car. (See that commercial here.)
Some of the commercials, like one called “Big Game,” may give you goose bumps. The commercial shows two Port Credit, Ont. recreational-league hockey teams about to get on the ice for one of their normal, weekly games. However, unknown to the players, Budweiser is about to turn their usual game into a huge event. They brought in 600 fans, big screens, music, mascots, announcers and even instant replays, just like an NHL game. The players are completely surprised, as their weekend game with the boys becomes one of the biggest moments in their lives. (See “Big Game” here.)
Another commercial is a take-off on a famous movie called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, from 1986. In the movie, teenager Ferris Bueller skips school to have a series of wild adventures. In the commercial, the actor (a now-grown-up Matthew Broderick) calls in sick to his acting job. He takes off in a Honda to have a series of wild adventures. The commercial is shot just like the movie was. (See that commercial here.)
Commercials during the Super Bowl cost the advertisers a lot of money to run, because the audience is massive.
Many of the commercials that are shown during the Super Bowl are different in other countries than in the U.S., where the Super Bowl is played. However, Canadians and people in other countries can see most of the commercials on the Internet.
Note: Many of the ads are not appropriate for children, so kids who want to see them should have adult supervision.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Why are your favourite advertisements so memorable? How do they make you feel about the product? How do they make you feel about yourself?
Reading Prompt: Responding and Evaluating Texts
The commercials shown during the Super Bowl have become a very big part of the spectacle. In fact, even the entertainment performance during half time has become a big deal. How do the advertisements during the game add to or take away from the event?
Primary
Express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Intermediate
Evaluate the effectiveness of both simple and complex texts based on evidence from the texts (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Grammar Feature: Italics
Writers use different types of fonts at different times to tell different things. For example, a writer might use bold font to show that something is important. Another type of font that authors often use is called italics. When italics are used, each letter becomes slanted.
Today’s article contains italics in different areas. Why do you think the author of today’s article used italics in these parts of the text? When might you use italics in your writing?
