Sunday, February 07, 2010

This Just In: Google Pays Tribute to French New Wave Director in Super Bowl Ad

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, who hung in there against the Indianapolis Colts and emerged victorious in Florida at Super Bowl XLIV! I have to admit, I was rooting for them to win, but it had nothing to do with any feeling that the city of New Orleans deserved a win like this in light of their post-Hurricane Katrina hardships. (Does that make me insensitive in some way?) Really, I just like to root for the underdog when I'm faced with two teams I otherwise would not care for in a championship game like this one. And Drew Brees and company pulled it out in dramatic fashion; as a friend of mine commented on Facebook when Saints cornerback Tracy Porter picked off Colts quarterback Peyton Manning to make the Saints' fourth-quarter lead just about insurmountable, who knew Manning would Favre the game away?

I didn't watch the whole game live; I was working in New York today (I work Sundays through Thursdays, for those who don't know by now), and in the middle of the game I was hauling my ass all the way back home to East Brunswick. So I didn't see The Who's halftime show until later (it was nowhere near as electrifying as their performance in The Concert for New York City), and I only now got around to catching some of the commercials that aired throughout the game on CBS. One in particular caught my attention: an ad from Google that detailed a whole courtship entirely through search-engine terms. If nothing else, my cinephile heart leapt at the Truffaut reference lodged in the commercial. But of course; his films are, on balance, far more approachable than Godard's. (But how about the recently departed Eric Rohmer? Now that would have been a brilliant shout-out, considering the kind of romance-related subjects he tackles in his Moral Tales.)

Here it is, for your enjoyment once again:

No comments: