Monday Cannon Fodder: Superb Owl

Cannon Fodder is back, y’all! After a much needed break to recharge my morning chit-chat ideas, I’m better than ever. Today’s post almost writes itself. It’s about the Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in one of the best Super Bowls ever. It would have been an even better game but for a holding call that gave the Chiefs an automatic first down and the ability to run out the clock before kicking a winning field goal.

Patrick Mahomes won Super Bowl MVP, but I think it should have gone to the Kansas City team doctors for whatever drugs they gave him so that he could play the second half on his bad ankle. Shout out to whatever pharmaceutical company developed them, too. You know the team gave him the stuff still pending FDA approval that doesn’t even have a name yet. That man won’t be able to feel his leg (or feelings) until at least training camp with the cocktail of meds he took at halftime. He was turbo-zooted.

I won’t get into the call. Y’all know how much I hate talking about referee decisions.

Instead, I want to talk about the commercials, because that’s what everyone will be talking about at the water cooler today. And this is our virtual water cooler, right? Overall, I thought they were much better than in past years. There weren’t as many (any?) commercials that had me crying from laughing so hard, but there also weren’t as many absolutely awful, unfunny commercials either.

Commercials I enjoyed, in no particular order of preference:

• YouTube TV + Keyboard Cat
• Dunkin Donuts Ben Affleck + J.Lo
• Avocados from Mexico Adam & Eve
• Draft Kings with Kevin Hart, Ludacris, Tony Hawk, etc.
• Bradley Cooper and his mother for TMobile
• Ben Stiller Pepsi Zero
• Michelob Ultra CaddyShack commercials with Serena Williams, Tony Romo, and others
• Will Ferrell for GMC Electric and Netflix (?)
• John Hamm, Brie Lawson, and Pete Davidson for Hellmann’s Mayo
• Bud Light Miles Teller hold music
• Premature Electrification, Dodge RAM electric
• Zach Braff, Donald Faison, John Travolta TMobile

This is the second or third year where my age demographic, kids from the late 80’s, early 90’s were the target demo. So many of the references were to things from my childhood. It makes me feel old, but at the same time, I enjoy it.

I thought the DoorDash grocery store commercial wasn’t very good. What was with that little animated, uh, thing on the shopping cart? And the #BinkyDad commercial was terrible. I could have done without the Jesus loves everyone ads from a religious / political group with ties to anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy, too.

The Farmer’s Dog commercial unfairly played on emotions, especially those of a new dog owner like myself. It defies categorization.

I don’t know if everyone got it on their broadcast, but the Fat Joe advocating for medical care cost reform was not something I had on my bingo card. In D.C., we got a particularly gruesome anti-TESLA ad aimed at the NHTSA. We apparently missed the Scientology ad in favor of an advocacy ad about Medicare, too. The vagaries of living in Washington, DC.

We also have to talk about the TWO Arsenal connections at the Super Bowl. First, we had an Arsenal.com splash screen for a good 3-4 seconds on the Prime sport drink commercial that aired just before kickoff. KSI and Logan Paul’s drink is massively popular among young people, especially in the U.K.

More importantly, Rihanna is a Gooner. She absolutely nailed the halftime show and did so while pregnant, her rep confirmed afterwards. She was wearing red as a nod to the iconic fashion designer Norma Kamali, but I’m going to say it was to support Arsenal. With a Gooner slaying the halftime show and the Kroenke-owned Rams lifting the Lombardi Trophy last year, I’m pretty sure Arsenal have won the last two Super Bowls.

What were your favorite commercials? Did any of the movie trailers get you particularly excited? Thoughts on the game itself?