Super Bowl Ads

It's the day after the Super Bowl and "The Today Show" on NBC just finished its Super Bowl ad roundup, wherein it "analyzes" the ads and gets opinions on the best ones from various folks.

I actually didn't watch the Super Bowl. Instead I've looked at ads on such roundup segments and seen various ones online--including versions of the ads that didn't make the cut for broadcast.

Probably one of the most talked about of these was the GoDaddy.com ad, which features a young woman in front of a congressional committee. She has a "wardrobe malfunction" a la Janet Jackson at last year's Super Bowl halftime show.

The ad commentators on NBC sized up this year's ads as almost boring. One said advertisers swung the pendulum back too far on safe ground and the result was a lackluster group of ads.

I have to be honest: My not watching the Super Bowl was part of a recent trend in my life: Less TV. That also means fewer ads for me.

My wife and I were just commenting on this last night and noticing how much we like not being bombarded by the ads one gets on TV.

I realize this may make me sound like a fuddy-duddy, and perhaps it's dangerous for a culture editor. I'm not sure this trend of less TV will continue, but it may. And I DO think it's valuable for a culture editor to carve out the space to evaluate his own reactions to varied levels of media consumption.

I also have to add that, in keeping with what studies reveal, less TV for me corresponds to more time online. I read more global newspapers online, I consume more "alternative" media online, and I spend more time producing something (e.g. writing, updating sites) online.