Biggest Super Bowl Corporate Sellouts
 

I guess integrity always takes a back seat to the bottom line these days. Which of these two unlikely corporate shills surprised you the most during the Super Bowl? The Simpsons and Mastercard, or Orange County Choppers and AOL?

Simpsons and Mastercard didn't bother me.. but Orange County Choppers with... AOL? but... AOL isn't cool.....

So you think someone having some fun and making money doing it is selling out? please.
Orange county choopers probably got a good offer from AOL and it does well to increase awarness of thier show. Thats a winning situation for them.
As for the simpson's. The mastercard series of commercials is a classic in it's own right at this point and the simpsons staff was probably eager to do such a commercial. The mastercard series has won a great deal of awards, as have the simpsons.

Why must people call something a sellout when they do something for money? To do something you enjoy and get paid for it isn't selling out, it's having fun. I can't argue with that, heck i respect that.

Superbowl commercials are disgusting, and they keep getting worse every year.

Unfortunatley they never air the superbowl advertisements on Australian TV, alos i am at work so i missed the game anyway (monday morning for us ;) )

That said, i just like to say that i like the term Corporate Shill
good stuff :D

The biggest superbowl sellout? Is the superbowl itself. I'm sorry, but IMO their main demographic would rather see Metallica and Aerosmith than P.Diddy and Kid rock. They disrespected a lot of what the superbowl stands for. A good, WHOLESOME American game. Not a Pimpfest with Janet Jackson showing off her tits.

I for one was very very dissapointed. How about the NFL gets some talent during the Half-time shows to match the talent on the field!

Sorry if that was to out there, etc, but i just feel rather betrayed by all this, and im only 18!!!

But of your choice, OCC, though it was pretty funny.

I saw very dissapointed by OCC and AOL :(

I saw that commercial for AOL "Topspeed" internet with the motorcycle guys from that one TV show, and I was like "WTF!?". If that bike ran on AOL, a pinto that was on fire, with no tires, no engine, anchored down by a 100-ton weight would be faster.

I truly hate sports, but I was forced to watch a few minutes of it.

There was a lot of commercials, but Id give it to the simpsons, They are fictional characters and they can morph into whatever they are needed to be. Easy as 123, and ABC. :D

Thats just MO.

You obviously have some stong feelings about AOL. Of the three versions of that commercial that I saw, the only one I found even remotely funny was the one where the entire car disappeared and the guy came back from the Renaissance. I got a good chuckle out of that.

what about Aerosmith? they were at the pregameshow with a nasa theme and they did walk this way with nelly,britney spears, and nsync a little ways back.

look, selling out is the american way. If you can get alot of dough for minimal effort or past accomplishments, who here wouldn't do it. ( Hmmm.. maybe this should be a poll...) I would do if it wasn't against my strong moral code. Now excuse me while I go to the tittie board.

Are you all kidding? The OCC/AOL spots were fuckin' great. It just shows that they can make fun of themselves and AOL at the same time. They at least had some humor and thought behind them... it wasn't just boobs and bright colors.

Right on! Well said!:cool:

You can't claim the Simpsons sold out for the super bowl... they sold out a long time ago for Butterfingers. But I though it was a great commercial, because it was completely in the Simpsons spirit.

The OCC suprised me a bit. My dad loves that show, so he was pleasently suprised.

Nothing does suprise me anymore. A few years ago it was hard to even get up from the couch during the game because you didn't want to miss any of the commercials. Not so this year. There weren't really any that stuck out. IMO -- The Pepsi commercial with the kids and free d/l's was the most original.

If the Simpsons did it because they NEEDED the publicity, that's one thing- but the Simpsons need no one. FUNNY is FUNNY, no matter who it's for, or who's paying you. The Simpsons people KNOW funny.

Nothing wrong with the commercials, but as said by one other.

The superbowl its self is a sellout, last 2 years have turned into such utter shit its not even funny.

The MTV Rap/Pop awards halftime. Bring back the hardrock half times or somthing entertaining that isnt music.

Selling out!? Are you kidding? It's about entertainment, that's what sells. The commercials were entertaining, well, some were anyway.

Define selling out? Who or what exactly did the Simpson's sell out? And the OOC guys, you blame them for capitalizing on their recent and probably short lived success? Hey, make it while you can, they probably won't remember you tomorrow.

The Superbowl a sell out? Heh, no way, that was a great game. You're going to let the sidewhow, er, halftime show diminish what the players did on the field? Sorry, not buying that around here.

I suppose it would be better to just have a marching band at half time, then it would feel more like a football game right? And boy, I really can't stand the fact that they allow cheerleaders on the field, they never should have allowed that, only players should be allowed on the field. And get those camera people out of there too, they distract the players. TV! Oh brother. You aren't watching football unless you're there. You watch it on TV and you're selling out.

Come on.

Where's your arbitrary sellout line going to be this year? It is what it is, you watched it didn't you?

The commercials for AOL and Mastercard were pretty funny but I was kind of surprised to see the Simpsons endorsing Mastercard. AOL is losing membership and you can see how desperate they are by throwing tons of money on all the commercials during the Superbowl.

As long as a Led Zeppelin song is used to sell cars, I don't think we should get upset at a cartoon being aligned with a credit card company.

Let the people make their money.

...let the cartoons get paid too.

Good point. That's why I included option 3 in the poll - it's been going on for quite a while - Bob Seeger selling Chevy trucks; Steve Miller touting the Postal Service; all the way up to Britney and Pepsi. And yes - even Led Zeppelin hawking Cadillacs.

I guess by using the word "sellout", I was showing my age - it's been going on so long now that generations of consumers know nothing else - that's how long cash has been king. Just as a history lesson, though - it used to be that people didn't sell their image to corporations - they only supported products they truly believed in. And people used to be wary of Corporate America, but we grew complacent and now they own us. Now it's all about the money. Sometimes I forget.

And if AOL offered me a couple of million $$ to sell their stuff, I'd probably do it, too - I have officially become comfortably numb.

I liked the AOL/OCC commercials. The OCC guys may as well cash in now while they still can. It's not like they are going to be famous forever. I remember reading an interview a couple years ago with some musician from the '70s (can't remember who) that didn't sell out because they didn't believe in it. They said if they could do it over again they would have cashed in because they don't have any money now.

Amen! I remember those days too, I don't remember when I made the switch to not caring.

I guess there's a fine line between earning a living and selling out. For the person doing it---they're earning a living.


For the fan, who probably has a totally different view of the song, character or person......SELL OUT!!!

Nothing suprises me anymore, even the Simpsons.

Selling out is so ingrained in Western culture, it's almost pointless talking about it anymore. It's been this way for years. Everyone takes the cheques. And who here wouldn't?

Who can name a band in the public eye that hasn't 'sold out'? It's money that makes the world go round, and you gots to get paid.

Nazggul - you're the consummate capitalist, i'm sure you'll go far someday.

i'm tired of people screaming 'sell-out' at everything..

The superbowl sucks, now even the commercials are fucking stupid.

What about Jimi Hendrix selling out to Pepsi?

Jimi didnt sell out. How could he? He's been dead for 30 years.

and at least one big name rocker has never sold out:

This Note's for You
Neil Young

Don't want no cash
Don't need no money
Ain't got no stash
This note's for you

Ain't singin' for pepsi
Ain't singin' for coke
I don't sing for nobody
Makes me look like a joke
This note's for you

Ain't singin' for miller
Ain't singin' for bud
I won't sing for politicians
Ain't singin' for spuds
This note's for you

Don't want no cash
Don't need no money
Ain't got no stash
This note's for you

I've got the real thing
I got the real thing baby
I got the real thing
Yeah alright