SBB's favorite and least favorite Super Bowl ads in the news

Right after watching SalesGenie's "Two Pandas" ad during the Super Bowl, I predicted some PR fallout was on the way. Now, just three days after the Big Game, SalesGenie is pulling the spot amid criticism from viewers. Today's New York Times reports on the company's half-hearted apology:

Vinod Gupta, the chairman and chief executive of InfoUSA in Omaha, the parent of Salesgenie.com, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that a commercial featuring two animated pandas speaking with what were intended as Chinese accents would be withdrawn.

“We never thought anyone would be offended,” said Mr. Gupta, who developed and wrote both commercials himself.

“The pandas are Chinese,” he said. “They don’t speak German.”

Still, “if I offended anybody,” Mr. Gupta said, “believe me, I apologize.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Proctor & Gamble is getting the most for its Super Bowl dollar by building off the buzz from its awesome Tide-to-Go spot. This from yesterday's Cincinnati Enquirer:

The Cincinnati-based consumer products giant used the ad to send consumers to a Tide To Go Web site, www.mytalkingstain.com.

Surfers to the P&G site were greeted with games, prizes - 1,000 will be given away each day - and a chance to submit their own YouTube.com ad spoof. The best ad submitted will be aired on prime-time TV later this year.

By the end of the night Sunday, mytalkingstain.com had received more than 30,000 unique visits, and more than 5,500 customized ads were created, the company said. The ad spot was also viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube.com, P&G said.

The next time you're looking for examples of the overall effect--positive and negative-- that ads can have on an advertiser's brand, remember Super Bowl XLII.