The Premiere of the Meta Ad

The superbowl ad competition has begun. Since I’m a geek and not at a superbowl party this year I thought I’d join the masses likely making commentary on the Superbowl ads coming out. So far the only one to have caught my attention is the FedEx ad. I find it unusual as an ad because it is one of those rare commercials that does not view itself as just a commercial but actually a metammercial (if I may flagrantly make up a word) that discusses the nature of the commercial while advertising its product. There have been a few of these in the last few years, particularly in the beer industry where there seems to be an unusual amount of trading of jabs and barbs within their 30 seconds. As a culture we have definitely accepted the advertisement as a work of art if satire of the form itself within the form resonates with most of us.

[Added at 8:14pm eastern] Of course, the only thing funnier than an ad making commentary on advertising is when it turns out to be largely correct. So far (half-time) I’ve seen a talking baby (Quiznos’ totally unoriginal contribution), a talking dog (Hyundai’s unoriginal contribution) and Brad Pitt running away from the paparazzi for Heineken. As the Fedex commercial early on stated the key elements for a commercial are celebrity, cute kids and animals — especially talking animals.