Johanna Blakley

I had a great time this fall working with video artist Kenzo Digital to identify zeitgeist-defining ads for the TED Ads Worth Spreading initiative. I think ads have a tremendous power to shape cultural dialogue and so it's worth our while to take a critical look at them and see what kind of story they're telling us about ourselves. Whether we agree with that story or not, it's an influential narrative informing opinions (and potentially fueling stereotypes) all around the world.

So I was wondering what kind of story the Superbowl ads might tell us about ourselves this year. Having seen a lot of truly inspiring and technically brilliant ads with Kenzo, my hopes were pretty high. One overarching theme we discovered was an effort to acknowledge the impact - both serious and silly - of the increasing intermingling of our digital and physical lives. Many of the cutting edge ads from last year grappled with the disconnect between the rules of our online lives and the rules that govern our physical bodies. So I was sort of surprised to see so little engagement with these ideas in the hyper-expensive A-list ads that aired during the Bowl. Instead, it was the typical mélange of cute dogs, hot chicks and childish whimsy - in other words, stuff you don't see on the field during the game.

Clint Eastwood's somber Chrysler commercial served as a surprising counterpunch to the seemingly endless stream of male fantasy ads - from Matthew Broderick's