The one time of the year that people purposely tune in for television commercials is the Super Bowl. This year was no different as millions watched the most expensive ad buys of the year. Most of the commercials were lackluster but they weren’t as bad as the sound of the Black Eyed Peas’ half-time performance or Christina Aguileria’s botched National Anthem. Although, Skechers comes close with their Shape-Ups “Bye-Bye Trainer” Super Bowl spot.

Skechers brought on reality TV star Kim Kardashian to promote their shoes. It could be seen as a smart move as she has a large mainstream following. Anumber of women have dole me that they like Shape-Ups are they’re good workout shoes. Although, I question Skechers commitment to fitness with the message they use in this spot. Sure, dudes might like it but women are the one buying the shoes and they completely alienate women in the spot. Guys, buy your woman Shape-Ups and you can stop worrying about her leaving you for her trainer.

Kim was a spokesmodel for Reebok’s version of toning shoe – Easy Tone a couple years ago. Why would Skechers enlist the very woman who was promoting a competitor’s shoe? Had they talked about why she dropped Easy Tone for Skechers perhaps it would make sense. As it is now – not so much. It looks like they are trying cash in on the latest craze of “toning shoes” but totally miss the boat with their Super Bowl spot.

The spot begins with Kim being mounted by a hardbody lad, her moaning, sweating and grasping her breasts. Sex. Yes, it’s often used in commercials because it sells. It’s an easy route to take in advertising, which is why it’s done so often. It requires little creativity or originality.

Kim is the only one who talks and it goes…

I don’t really know how to say this, other than to just say it.

You’re amazing.

The best I’ve ever had but things just aren’t working out.

Well, that’s not completely true.

I am working out.

(pan to her rear assets and hold)

It’s not someone else.

It’s something else.

(show sketchers shoe)

Bye-bye, Trainer. Hello, Shape-Ups

End with an awkward ending of a less handsome fella and Kim saying, “nice shoes” as he ties his own pair of Skechers.

I’d like to see Skechers use their shoes to promote fitness and training instead of claiming their shoes should replace a trainer. As most of you reading this know, it takes far more than a pair of shoes to become a hardbody. Kim is beautiful, the shoes look pretty slick but the message sucks.

For that, Shape-Ups gets our “C’Mon Man!” Award for the Super Bowl.

What did you think of the spot?

New York City is setting out to scare people with their latest commercial and it does a pretty good job at the end. The commercial takes aim at sugary beverages and hits home their point with sugar stats.

You probably don’t want to watch this commercial if you’re eating, it’s pretty gnarly at the end.

How much sugar do you drink in a day?

I tweeted about this spot a few weeks ago but in case you’re not one of the HardbodyNews followers here it is again. This commercial is for Planet Fitness Gym and features IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, Jerome Ferguson. It’s a pretty amusing spot and one that didn’t require a lot of acting on Jerome’s part. Anyone who knows Jerome knows he’s a colorful character and a bit over-the-top.

Planet Fitness made headlines a few years ago over their “No Grunting” policy.

The Snazzy Napper might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen all year. “It’s like privacy in a bag”. Hilarious.

Thanks to @RebeccaStaggs for the link.

This is hilarious. Gotta love Ellen.

Thanks to Jeff Taylor for the link.

Weird and yet amusing.

I love the line that Heather Bergeron says in an Adidas commercial for the 2010 CrossFit Games. “You can’t wait for tomorrow. You can’t wait to crush something you suck at right now.”

Do you have an extra $20,000 laying around? If you do and you’re looking for a ridiculously, awesome camera check out the Mamiya DM33. It has a 33 megapixel sensor which equates to insane quality. Wait. Wondering why I’m geeking out about a camera that costs more than some cars? Check out the commercial below, it features IFBB Bikini Pro Tabitha Klausen (now Leandri). Props Tabitha!

I like the approach Nike is taking with this ad. They’re calling out the people who think a shoe is the “quick fix” to getting fit. Reebok’s advertising has made claims that you’ll get a tighter booty wearing their EasyTone shoes. Nike takes a different path in this ad saying, “The Nike Trainer One is not a magical toning shoe. It’s a training shoe. Its DiamondFLX technology activates your muscle to work how they’re supposed to, giving your faster results from all those squats, lunges and classes that you do. So you get fit faster.”

New Nike ad from CNBC.com

Nike is great at marketing and has been for years. There is an interesting article about the new toning shoe market on CNBC.com. It talks about the explosion of this new market targeting women and how Nike has avoided it. Check it out, it’s worth the read.

Check out the new T-Mobile commercial that features a female bodybuilder’s image. I could be wrong but it looks like the woman is Nikki Fuller. The commercial is pretty lame if you ask me.

Can you spot whose booty is featured as part of this new EAS Myoplex ad?

The rest of the ad reads: Your Glutes…Work ‘Em Out and Show ‘Em Off.

If you’ve got a booty like this I say HELL to the YA. Show it off!

I LOVE the work Oakley is doing with their new women’s campaign. “Perform Beautifully” is an example of how a company can empower women in a tasteful and classy manner.  The photography, video and more importantly the message is great. Karena Dawn says it best in her video, “any woman can perform beautifully”. If only the supplement industry would take note on this approach.

Karena Dawn featured in new Oakley women campaign.

Check out the videos on oakleyshopping.com. Two thumbs up for Oakley Women!

The commercial says it’s ridiculously simple but I’d say it’s simply ridiculous. Terrible message. Two thumbs down for crappy weigh-loss marketing.

Thanks to Kayde Puckett for the link.

Dog owners take note… You’re making life hard for your dog if you let him become a chubster. Check out this amusing ad for a diet dog food product.

Ad via adland.tv

Do your pooch a favor and don’t let him get fat or he’ll never get any action.

Banner ads have been around for years but this is without question one of the most creative approaches I’ve seen. It’s an ad for Gold’s Gym and well take a look…

If you’re on a MAC (sorry PC users) you can see the banner in action here.
Via Ads of the World.

This ridiculous commercial guarantees you’ll have great legs in just three minutes. WHAT? YES, it’s a “three minute miracle”! Oh and let’s not forget if you use this you will get “firm lifted buns” too! This $200 piece of crap cracks me up. Sorry, my bad if you order right away it only costs $149.95.

The things people think up…

Cracking eggs is pretty simply, right? Apparently not for some people and that’s why there’s EZ Cracker. Oh brother…

This is a different approach to advertising a protein product. This ad is part of a new campaign targeting athletes and every day consumers. The product is an organic protein called EcoProtein. Since I can’t read a word of what their web site (ecoprotein.com) says, I’ll take their word for it. The ad illustrates the organic connection by showing the roots to the runner.

Will it be effective? Who knows but it certainly cuts through the clutter.

via adsoftheworld.com

This commercial with dancer Sofia Boutella is a few years old but it’s pretty sweet and a number of the moves performed remind me of an IFBB Pro Fitness routine. Check it out. I dig.

You might recognize fitness model Lindsay Messina from a variety of places. She’s notched a few covers under her belt with the first being this Muscle & Fitness Hers issue.

Now the stunning cover girl is rock’n it in a new commercial for KNOCKOUT ABS®.

If I tried this thing it would probably whack me in the face.

I ran across this little nugget this morning.

A study from Arizona State University, University of Cologne in Germany and Erasmus University in the Netherlands found that campaigns utilizing real sized women, which includes ‘plus-sized’ models, “are unlikely to work on their intended customers”.

“We found that overweight consumers demonstrated lower self-esteem — and therefore probably less enthusiasm about buying products — after exposure to any size models in ads (versus ads with no models). Also, normal-weight consumers experienced lower self-esteem after exposure to moderately heavy models, such as those in Dove soap’s ‘Real Women’ campaign, than after exposure to moderately thin models.”

An interesting finding that came from the study was that the size of the reader relative to the size of the model is a factor in self-esteem.

- via agencyspy

This story supports the need for more Hardbody women in ads.