Geeky Super Bowl Commercials

Super bowl commercials are as old as the game itself. In fact, the championship that pits the two best teams in American Football turns 45 this year. The Super Bowl is the most watched event of the year and the ad space is worth millions of dollars, but who cares about sports? Seriously, folks, why does everyone watch the game now if not for the commercials? In the past few weeks, the 2012 Super Bowl commercials have been unveiled and are being shared on Facebook walls across the world. With the Avengers spot, the G.I. Joe Retaliation commercial, and an homage to Star Wars on the slate this year, I thought we could take a look at Super Bowl commercials of years past.

Macintosh – 1984 
This commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, was envisioned by a young Steve Jobs, who wanted to introduce the Macintosh personal computer to the world. The commercial’s plot seems to be ripped from the pages of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” where IBM is represented as “Big Brother” and Apple are the liberators which will put the power of information back into the hands of the people.

Xerox – Monks discover the copy machine
This commercial shows a monastery in which manuscripts are in high demand. Rather than copy them all by hand, one monk decides to enlist the help of his friends at Xerox, who have developed a new product that can help make his copies.

Radio Shack TRS 80 – The Dawn of a New Era 
Here, TV’s Dr. David Banner, Bill Bixby, advertises the Tandy by Radio Shack. It just so happens to come the same year as the introduction of Macintosh, 1984 was certainly a year of technological innovation. Bixby was still a household name in 1984, The Incredible Hulk having just ended in 1982.

Dante’s Inferno – Go to Hell
This ad from 2010 showcases the Electronic Arts game Dante’s Inferno with the song “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. Dante descends into the circles of Hell in search of his love Beatrice in the video game named after Inferno, the first canticle of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

Apple – HAL
Another commercial from Apple takes a note from 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this commercial, HAL 9000 explains the Y2K bug and confesses that Macintosh computers are the only computers that are able to resist problems of the year 2000.

Volkswagen – The Force
In 2011, Volkswagen used the force to sell their new Passat. In this commercial, a tiny Darth Vader displays his skills throughout the house, finally using it to start his parents’ new car.

So here they are, some of Super Bowl history’s geekiest commercials. Which top your list? Check out Ad Land to view forty years of commercials and share your favorites!

Nerd up!