Gallery: Movies, Sci-Fi, Tablets: Wired's Guide to Super Bowl XLV Ads
01apple-1984
One of the most Wired parts of any Super Bowl are the commercials, which can run the gamut from movie trailers to straight-up hilarity to major product announcements. And it makes perfect sense, because it's not often that you're guaranteed to get [hundreds of millions of pairs of eyeballs](http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3i543ab57159cb298af8f3d4f5411889eb) at any one time, but Super Bowl XLV on Sunday will offer that to any advertiser willing to fork over some $3 million for air time. Here's a sneak peek at some of the more Wired-type ads that will have people tweeting and updating statuses Sunday night, starting with a look back at the one that started it all. __Above:__ Apple Sets the Standard ----------------------- Say what you want about Apple, but the company knows how to innovate, both with its hardware and its advertising. That fact became clear to an entire nation of football fans back on January 22, 1984, when this [Ridley Scott-directed ad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_%28advertisement%29) ran for the one and only time on national TV. Two days later, [Steve Jobs unveiled the Macintosh](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44) at Apple's annual shareholders meeting, but anyone who had watched the [Los Angeles Raiders destroy the Washington Redskins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XVIII), 38-9, that previous Sunday already had a good idea of what was to come.
02transformers
Every (Robot) Car Must Go! -------------------------- Shockingly, there is yet another *Transformers* movie coming this summer, and since [a teaser trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJYU57y3L5w) has been out for a while, the best tie-in execs could pull off was a Chevrolet ad that features Bumblebee from the forthcoming *Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon*. It's done up in a faux, local-car-dealership kind of manner, but after watching, all we really want to do is buy a transforming super car, rather than a [2011 Chevy Camaro](http://www.nitrobahn.com/news/super-bowl-mvp-to-get-chevrolet-camaro-convertible/) (which will be given away to the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player after the game). And if you're keeping an eye out for movie trailers, you'll see footage for *Captain America: The First Avenger*, *Rango*, JJ Abrams' *Super 8*, *Kung Fu Panda 2*, *Thor*, *Cowboys & Aliens*, and *Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides*.
03godaddy-com
Controversial, But Consistent ----------------------------- Oh, GoDaddy.com. You of the ever-controversial, scantily clad Super Bowl commercials. It's back again this year with longtime endorser and race car driver Danica Patrick as well as *The Biggest Loser*'s Jillian Michaels and ... well, we don't know much more about it, other than seeing stage crew members stand agape and knock things over. We'll see if we get any more context during subsequent ads on Sunday's broadcast. (Michaels, for her part, [doesn't really care](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/jillian-michaels-defends-racy-super-95193) what you think.)
04angrybirds
This One's For the Birds ------------------------ There is no more popular game these days for iOS devices than *Angry Birds*. And so game publisher Roxio has teamed up with 20th Century Fox (which is owned by News Corp., whose Fox TV network is broadcasting the Super Bowl) to publish a specially branded version of the game in March to coincide with the new animated, bird-centric movie *Rio*, opening April 15. The new game, called (you guessed it!) *Angry Birds Rio*, will be featured in a commercial airing on Sunday that'll tease the game's release, but it'll also [contain a secret code](http://adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148602). If you pause the commercial at the right spot and find the code, you can use that to play a secret level in *Angry Birds*. Beat that level and you could win a trip to Brazil for the March 22 *Rio* world premiere.
05kia
Getting Carried Away -------------------- Not to be outdone by Chevy, KIA is planning its own sci-fi-themed minute-long commercial, complete with [aliens and space travel](http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/2709.html). (It's evidently part of some contest to give away five new 2011 KIA Optimas.) The complete spot has not been pre-released, but this brief preview supposedly sets up what you'll be seeing on Sunday. (KIA also released [a cheeseball teaser photo](http://www.insideline.com/kia/optima/2011/photos/2011_kia_optima_actf34_ns_12511.html) that's looks like bad concept art from an old Irwin Allen flick.)
06darth-vader
The Force Is Strong With This One --------------------------------- It's shaping to be another big year for the Star Wars franchise, as the entire series is set to [debut in high-definition Blu-ray](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/star-wars-blu-ray/) this September. Until then, you have this cute Volkswagen ad featuring the 2012 Passat and a lil' tike dressed up as everyone's favorite Sith Lord, learning that even the Force has its limits. But the real lesson here is that George Lucas will license Darth Vader for a Volkswagen commercial but not [Admiral Ackbar as the Ole Miss mascot](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/playbook/2010/09/ole-miss-admiral-ackbar/). (No, we're still not over that.)
07motorola-xoom
Xoom Goes the Dynamite ---------------------- Motorola's had a good month, showing off their [upcoming Xoom tablet](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/motorola-xoom-droid/) at CES and then being a key player in Google's announcement this week of its [Android Market web store](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/02/android-market-web-store/). Now, with major tablet announcements expected from HP and Apple in the coming days, Motorola will try to make an impression on the tablet-buying public with a Xoom-centric ad during Sunday's game. The actual spot is being kept under wraps, but here's a teaser that gives you an idea of where the company's thinking is.
08image
The Ad CBS Doesn't Want You to See ---------------------------------- The big elephant in the room this weekend is, of course, the impending labor battle facing the NFL and its players, as the [collective bargaining agreement](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/01/20/cba.qa/index.html) is set to expire on March 4. To that end, the NFL Players Association cut together a 60-second ad called "Let Us Play," a clear lobbying tool meant to garner public opinion. [CBS rejected that ad](http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/NFLPA-makes-Let-It-Air-ad-after-Let-Us-Play-?urn=nfl-316125), so the NFLPA created a *second* web-only ad titled "[Let it Air](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmBQyqEUvQg)," which is all about — you guessed it — the original, rejected ad and why that one should be allowed to air during the Super Bowl broadcast. Of course, neither of these ads will be aired Sunday, but it's a prime example of how some of the most meta in advertising lies in the commercials you *won't* see.
