A severed car grille? Super bowl ad time

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: Many commercials that appeared during Super Bowl XLII took a satiric tack, spoofing movies, television shows, video clips, celebrity misbehaviour and more. A typical cast of characters—animals, babies, pop stars—all made their appearances, lending a lighthearted spirit to the annual festivities.

For the most part, it worked. The tone was a welcome contrast to the angry, off-putting tenor of too many spots in last year’s Super Bowl, which were filled with crude and cartoonish violence. Although some sponsors decided to play it straight—with decidedly mixed results—the pervasive atmosphere was one of good-natured humour.

To be sure, not every satiric spot satisfied. Some misfires were more Mad magazine than Moliere. Others made the present-day “Saturday Night Live” seem like the earlier, funny “Saturday Night Live”.

One spot-on satire Sunday came from the Audi division of Volkswagen of America, which drolly spoofed The Godfather, complete with a cast member, Alex Rocco, from the original. The spot, by Venables Bell & Partners, replaced the horse’s head in the mogul’s bed with—gasp!—a grille severed from the front end of a Brand X luxury sports car.

Anheuser-Busch parodied another 1970s film, Rocky, with a Clydesdale as Sylvester Stallone and a Dalmatian in the Burgess Meredith role. The spot, among the best of the night, was created by DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group.

DDB also produced a hilarious commercial for Bud Light that poked fun at celebrity hucksters—including those who endorse beer for Anheuser-Busch. The spot presented the comedian Will Ferrell filming a fake commercial as a ’70s basketball player-coach named Jackie Moon. What makes Moon moon over Bud Light? “A magical blend of barley, hops and delicious alcohol,” he proclaimed, discomfiting the director of the mock spot.

Hyundai Motor America had the gumption—or the audacity—to run not one but two commercials that satirised Super Bowl ads. Both spots were from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, an Omnicom agency.