super

America has a relationship with sex that can best be described as uncomfortable.

Over the years, the wily manipulators at Go Daddy have tried to soothe -- or, for some, exacerbate -- this discomfort with various sexual exploits at Super Bowl time.

This year is no exception.

For the company has decided to offer an ad in which Bar Refaeli kisses a nerd who is not quite as pulchritudinous as herself.

Which nerd could be?

The point of this is clearly strategic. Go Daddy as a brand is both sexy and nerdy. Of course it is.

And of course certain … Read more

You know it's going to be wonderful. Or terrible. Or just dull.

Yes, I'm talking about the Super Bowl. But I'm also talking about BlackBerry's new ad for its Z10 smartphone that will debut during Sunday's game.

BlackBerry doesn't have a florid history with respect to advertising. Can you even remember one BlackBerry ad that moved you to anything other than obliviousness?

This time, though, it's going to be different. Perhaps.

So, as CrackBerry.com reports, the brand formerly known as RIM today tweeted one still frame from its forthcoming ad.

It was … Read more

You've got the beers, the wings, the dip, and the chips. Are you really planning to watch the big game on your beat-up old 37-inch TV? Time to man up! (Which, in my world, means buying fancy electronics.)

Today only, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the Insignia NS-55E480A13A 55-inch LED HDTV for $679.99 shipped (plus sales tax). If you really do need it in time for the game, you may be able to pick it up at your local brick-and-mortar BB. (Click "Check Stores" to see availability in your area.)

Update: Weirdness at Best … Read more

Forget diamonds, graphene is now the world's hardest material. And all sorts of developers most likely want to get their hands on it.

Nokia looks to be ahead of the game in this graphene race. The Finnish mobile-phone maker announced today that it was one of the recipients of a $1.35 billion grant from the European Union to do research and development on the supermaterial over the next 10 years.

"Nokia is proud to be involved with this project, and we have deep roots in the field -- we first started working with graphene already in 2006,&… Read more

It's not that the NFL is run by draconian white men in suits who try to prevent you from uttering the word "Super Bowl" in an ad unless you pay them vast amounts of money.

Well, actually, that's how it sometimes seems.

So Samsung has decided to take the rise out of the trademark trickeration that rises out of Super Game ads every year.

In an ad that teases its forthcoming Super Contest spot, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd are attempting to get around their inability to make an ad that features phrases like "Super … Read more

We're on the ground in NOLA gearing up for Super Bowl XLVII. Many of our shows, crews, and talent have been here for days. Now it's a whole lot of buildup and anticipation for super Sunday -- the biggest day of the year in television, sports, advertising, and marketing.

For many people, it's a national celebration -- a day of fun, cheering, bonding, eating, and drinking in front of the TV. For teams it's an epic battle, the single biggest day of the year for sports. For advertisers, it's a rare and valuable opportunity to … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This man will take your picture while macing you.

- Ticketmaster does one thing right, dumps captchas.

- PornHub's rejected SFW Super Bowl ad is brilliant marketing.

- Swedish police raid teenagers playing Call of Duty.… Read more

Do you know who will win the Super Bowl in New Orleans this weekend? If you're a San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens fan, I can venture a guess as to who you might choose. But let's put aside your bias for a moment.

Using the video game Madden NFL '13, EA ran a mock game featuring the 49ers and Ravens to determine who would take home the Vince Lombardi trophy. If you think the prediction is hogwash, you're probably correct on some levels (it is just a video game, after all), but it's worth noting that the annual simulation resulted in correct predictions for seven out of the last nine Super Bowl showdowns. Such accuracy must mean something, right? EA summarizes the first few quarters: … Read more

Here is today's Super Bowl prediction: Craigslist is not StubHub.

Whenever there is a big game, nefarious beings will creep around the Web trying to find the passionate and the gullible, from whose emotions they can steal a little money.

Some people's desperation to secure tickets will exceed their ability to turn on their skepticism controls.

The Osgood family, from Hayward, Calif., were so keen to fly to New Orleans for Sunday's Super Bowl that they found an ad on Craigslist that offered tickets.

Cheap, they were not. But the four tickets were advertised at $5,900, … Read more