The Best Super Bowl Commercial Ever Is From Minnesota

Super Bowl LV is set for Sunday in Tampa and will feature several new advertisers debuting their commercials for the first time. None of them, though, will be as good as this one, which was produced right here in Minnesota.

Several usual advertisers are sitting this Super Bowl out-- Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser are a few of the big names whose commercials you WON'T see this year. However, CBS, the network broadcasting the festivities this year, says it still sold out all its inventory during the Big Game, so even though the messaging during our ongoing pandemic might be a bit different, there will no doubt be some clever commercials that will still stand out.

I'm not sure why, but the past couple of years, the Super Bowl commercials haven't seemed as good to me. Maybe it's because we can all see them ahead of time, as advertisers leak them online in the days leading up to the game. Whatever the reason, none of them seemed as good as this classic Super Bowl commercial that's still my favorite-- which happened to be produced right here in Minnesota.

The commercial I'm talking about is now over 20 years old (21, in fact.) It made its debut during Super Bowl XXXIV, back in January of 2000. That was the year the Rams were also involved (they beat the Titans), and it was also the year a lot of 'dot com' companies bought commercials during the Big Game. One of them was the firm, Electronic Data Systems, or EDS. Their commercial, ‘Cat Herders’, was described by an advertising trade magazine like this:

“Cowboys talk about their life herding cats, describing the challenges of taking domesticated kitties (as opposed to longhorns) through the open country to their destination at the ranch.”

If you have cats, like we do, you'll no doubt get a kick out it. And, it's extra cool in that it was produced right here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes by a Minnesota firm, too– at the ad agency, Fallon, in Minneapolis.  Check it out below. And, speaking of advertisers, keep scrolling to check out the 100 Most Popular Brands in America-- and see how many your YOUR favorites!

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc