LVII = 57

Can you believe this was last weekend? I watched "The Big Game" and took a few pictures of the TV to help discuss what I saw. To be clear, I'm not discussing my accounts of the game. That's prohibited without the consent of the NFL. Also, to be clear, my discussing of the game might count as free promotion of it, so too bad for them.

I actually watched a fair amount of football this year. Some people think it's "complicated" and maybe it kinda is, but that's also what helps make it so strategic and interesting. But thankfully this one game also has the benefit of attracting companies to run ads of the highest caliber. So a lot of viewers are here oddly enough for the commercials, and not the game. And I can comment on those without NFL consent, right?

The first "good" commercial I saw was for Pepsi Zero, with Ben Stiller. He was talking about acting, and then drank some soda which he genuinely claimed it was really good! Or... was he acting? It was a good attempt at getting the audience to try it themselves, but also seemed to imply the soda might also NOT be good. I guess they are so confident that it's good, that they are willing to say it might not be, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I'll take more Zoolander however I can.

There was a trailer for the new Batman movie! Even Michael Keaton himself could barely restrain a smirking smile telling everybody he's back! Wait, this is a Flash movie? I'm pretty sure they would sell twice as many tickets if they called this a Batman movie that had The Flash in it instead. Sorry, Flash. To be fair, even in the trailer Flash seemed to be excited to see this version of Batman.

There was a commercial for the Major League Baseball where the players were answering phones to sell tickets. This Mets pitcher sold some and proclaimed he was a good closer. We live near New York, and wondered if other portions of the country got a version of this commercial with their own local team's players. 

We bought chicken wings over a week ago, but I don't think there was a supply-chain-shortage this year. If you recall, there was a recent time when chicken wings became hard to find. My friend winced when I told them we had broccoli poppers, because... broccoli? But I'll tell you they are good, and it's been a while since we've had some.

WHY would this Jeep commercial show the electric cars in the mountains?! Oh, it's cute that the charging station is in that field! Except, there is NOT going to really be charging stations in the middle of the wilderness! Enjoy being stranded in the mountains when your electric Jeep runs out of power. And they point that out in their own ad? I hope your phone is charged so you can call for help.

Rihanna's Halftime Show remined me so much of The Masked Singer, that I swear I could hear Nicole and Jenny yelling "WHO IS THAT!?!" The way she slowly moved around while a gang of costumed backup dancers went nuts around her, that's exactly what The Masked Singer does. It might have been obvious, but I KNOW you can't make the assumption that Rihanna was showing a baby-bump, which I can now say, because it's been confirmed. So, congrats!

Of course I have to mention the Breaking Bad commercial for Pop Corners. It was so good! It involved all aspects of that show, from the writing and directing as well as the actors. They need to make SEVEN of these commercials! You make SEVEN!

The surprising favorite commercial had actors waiting on hold for a phone call, with the lame music on speaker phone. They grabbed some Bud Light and instead danced like crazy to the silly tune. If you've ever waited on hold, and recognized that music, I bet you liked this commercial, too.

The Mr. Peanut commercial was advertising... the whole commercial? I get the connection between a celebrity "roast" and how you would cook peanuts by roasting them. And I guess they must have a ton of material of comedians telling jokes about Mr. Peanut. But when I saw this, all I could think about was how little content there was in THIS commercial.

It's a quasi-holiday, so it's okay to snack all day. Free ad for M&M minis, the perfect ice cream topping. The Maya Rudolph ads for M&Ms, or Ma&Ya's filled with um... clams(?) was not my... flavor... of humor, and wound up as a total miss for me. It was funny for a moment when her commercial ended with a desperate plea, that little part was funny.

Again, thanks to the NFL policies, I can't talk about the game. Somewhere in the stadium is an equal amount of un-used green confetti. We live closer to the green team, so we were rooting for them, but I'm okay with Patrick Mahomes winning. He seems like a cool guy, and he's the only person who can successfully pull of "The Broccoli" hairstyle. And even HE kind-of looks silly with it, but... he gets away with it.

After the game, there was still a few commercials to be seen. This one trailer for a movie with talking animals was shocking TERROR as the small dog got swooped away by a hawk! It was supposed to be funny, but this situation is a total NIGHTMARE for anybody who owns a small dog. I'm a little shaken-up even remembering this while writing this comment.

Of course we get the ad for winning-team merchandise. What "I" really want, is the loosing team's version of the winning team's merch. Because you know they made some to sell right after the game in the stadium. We all assume they donate those shirts to needy places around the world, but I think it might be fun to have a false t-shirt anyway. I'd like to think most people would find it hilarious instead of get mad at you for wearing it.