Image via Complex Original
For over three decades, the most watched sporting event, the Super Bowl, has played host to some of the funniest and most memorable commercials in history. But for every successful ad aired during the big game, a huge fail follows. Each year several companies pay out millions to secure a few seconds of TV time. Some hawk their latest products and services, while others exploit the spotlight to stir up controversy in hopes of becoming a trending topic (we're looking at you, Go Daddy). While most of us might place the Internet domain registrar at the top of the worst list, there's a strong group of contenders not far behind in the tech ad Hall of Shame. From wack online promotions to NFL champs pushing prepaid phones, brace yourself for this year's break-bumpers by revisiting the 25 Worst Super Bowl Tech Commercials of All Time.
25. Go Daddy "Enhanced" Advert
Year: 2009
Big-boobed airheads, horrible acting, and a misleading premise can only signify one thing: another Go Daddy Super Bowl fail. It's no wonder why the company has spokesperson Danica Patrick stripping for the cameras these days.
24. Overstock.com "What's This, Mr. Boozer?"
Year: 2009
We were able to look past the cringe-worthy answers Carlos Boozer gave to the little picking through his jewelry box ("That's bling-bling, my man"), but there was no way to ignore the toothache caused by this saccharine-to-the-point-of-cheesy commercial.
23. FloTV "Spineless"
Year: 2010
We'll save you the dreariness of having to sit through the 32 seconds of this commercial and instead provide you with a three-word summary: Bro, girls suck!
22. Motorola's "E-Messaging" Service
Year: 2000
Before offering A-list talent like Megan Fox and Fergie lucrative deals to star in commercials, Motorola requested the services of the minimum wage D-lister by the name of Yasmine Bleeth. Watch these shameless garage workers page every guy close by to gaze in admiration over the Lifetime original beauty. Sad.
21. Epidemic.com
Year: 2000
The viral marketer spent 1.6 million to promote its online referral compensation site. If you couldn't tell, the ad does a horrendous job of selling you on the service, and after burning through its first round of funding (est. $7.6 million), Epidemic.com became just another victim of the dot-com crash.
20. Groupon's “Save the Money” Spot
Year: 2011
“The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their culture is in jeopardy,” declares actor Timothy Hudson, who then breaks from his serious tone to promote a fish curry deal he scored on the coupon site. Human rights activists felt the spot was in poor taste by mocking the country's social issues. CEO Andrew Mason pulled the ad immediately and posted on the Groupon blog, “We thought we were poking fun at ourselves, but clearly the execution was off and the joke didn't come through.” You can say that.
19. Toshiba HD-DVD Player
Year: 2008
Let's see here: No information on the HD-DVD player’s specs, capabilities, or picture quality. Combine that with the makings of a straight-to-DVD Michael Bay film and you can see why Toshiba’s ad bombed.
18. Autobytel.com
Year: 1998
A woman in her PJs purchases an automobile online, gets sucked into the computer, and runs up a flight of stairs like Super Mario to pick up her car keys from a guardian angel-esque dealer. Truth be told, this commercial just sucks all around.
17. LifeMinders.com's "The Worst Commercial"
Year: 2000
It didn't hit the No.1 spot, but it definitely peaked high on the list. The disastrous ad featured a yellow backdrop and text saying what LifeMinders.com was all about and how it was “the worst commercial on the Super Bowl,” all while playing a botched piano version of “Chop Sticks”. “But we don’t know diddley about making ads.” That's for sure.
16. Intel's “Whodunit” Mystery
Year: 1998
Hold up: Someone stole the Intel Pentium 2 processor? Who gives a fuck? That’s the message Intel received after its mystery commercial bored viewers to death and tried motivating them to log on to Intel.com to vote for the character most responsible for the fictional crime. We know, we know, it’s the one in the radiation suit. Case closed.
15. Network Associates
Year: 1998
Two clueless Soviet nuclear-missile launchers can’t determine whether a real launch sequence has been activated or a hacker is messing with them. Knowing the world might end if they send off the weapons of mass destruction: Take a good guess what comes next? Answer: A $1.3-million dollar bomb.
14. Atari's "Little Boy" Ad
Year: 1982
Call it the campy theme music or the look of "aww" from the misses. Either way you put it, this Atari ad leaves cheese all over the screen. Watch a grown man unleash his inner child over a game of Breakout on the Atari 2600.
13. Garmin's "Ultraman"
Year: 2007
We’re suckers for Japanese monster film parodies. But the GPS manufacturer's attempt was more painful to watch than an episode of VR Troopers.
12. Go Daddy “Bribe” Commercial
Year: 2007
To no surprise, the web domain host needed 15 tries before being green lit by ABC censors. If only the board judged censorship on taste, then maybe it could have saved us from watching Go Daddy sex symbol Candice Michelle become a repeat offender with the same recycled material. One wardrobe malfunction spoof is enough.
11. Gateway "700XL" Ad
Year: 2002
A talking cow sold on a Gateway computer. Nuff said.
10. Sharp's "Little Sharps and Big Sharps" Spot
Year: 1985
The electronics manufacturer claims to make everything from portable TVs to Hi-Fi videocassette records. Add horrendous TV commercials to that list. "From Sharp minds comes Sharp products," huh? Far from it.
9. HomeAway.com
Year: 2011
CGI baby or real baby, HomeAway.com was in the wrong for smashing a newborn into a glass wall. After drawing major heat from child advocates and some of its vacation-rental partners, it didn't take long before the company removed the ad and issued an apology on Facebook, with CEO Brian Sharples stating the following: “We always want to do the right thing — and we're willing to admit when we're wrong. We all make mistakes — the best we can do is correct what we can, and learn from them — and this situation is no exception."
8. Energizer "Do Run Run" Commercial
Year: 1987
Before the Energizer Bunny ruled the scene, the battery maker had a wheel-powered robot outracing children around one the lamest obstacle courses ever built. Don't get us started on the music. View at your own risk.
7. Outpost.com
Year: 1998
Name recognition and branding is key in advertising. While the team at Outpost.com nailed that part, someone should have schooled them on informing the audience what it is they specialize in, because misfiring gerbils into a brick wall won’t get you far. Just sayin'.
6. Go Daddy "Spot On" Commercial
Year: 2008
While everyone’s watching the game, Dougie’s online waiting for Go Daddy to unveil Danica Patrick’s unaired “Exposure” clip. Everyone switches gears and overcrowds the PC to overanxiously watch the spokesmodel barely zip down her jump suit before the ad pulls up a black screen informing viewers to see the entire ad on the website. If there was ever one GD ad to pull from the broadcast, why couldn't it have been this one?
5. Boost Mobile's “Super Bowl Shuffle”
Year: 2010
As if the original Super Bowl Shuffle wasn’t torturous enough, Boost Mobile remixed the joint and brought back some of the Chicago Bears legends for this Super Bowl ad. A tight end rocking a cheetah thong, a Mike Ditka stash close up, and Jim McMahon catching a spray tan on a scooter? C’mon, son!
4. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Year: 2011
Sony’s Super Bowl XLV commercial had some dude running through the dingy streets of what appeared to be a third world country to give a back-alley surgery a pair of scissors, unveiling human thumbs on the Android mascot’s hands. That’s it. No live demo or spec info on the handset. No wonder it was DOA.
3. Chatter.com
Year: 2011
We get it: With the Black Eyed Peas performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, why not get the group's sartorially fearless leader to endorse your product? Makes sense. What didn't makes sense was the product. Billed as a safe and secure social network, Chatter.com failed to leave an impression on any of the millions of viewers who tuned in last year.
2. Apple's "Lemmings"
Year: 1985
One year after releasing its remarkable 1984 ad campaign, Apple put together this morbid “Macintosh Office” spot demonstrating a cult of office workers submissively walking off a cliff. Critics panned the ad for its depressing motif, IT workers, the very people they were trying to sell on their products, found it insulting, and children were terrified of it. Apple should have kept this one in the vault.
1. SalesGenie.com's “Panda” Advert
Year: 2008
SalesGenie had a few commercials air during Super Bowl XLII, and they all sucked. But none of them drew more beef than the animated clip of two Panda bears (one named Ling Ling) speaking in a stereotypical Asian accent and running a bamboo furniture shop. Creator and writer Vinod Gupta issued an apology stating the company “never thought anyone would be offended," before adding, "the pandas are Chinese. They don't speak German." Seriously, that was his response.