Testosterone Bowl

Between ads showing Fabio posed as a 120-year-old man and model Brooke Burke with her fellow "Whopperettes" dressed as life-size burgers, this year's Super Bowl commercials are bound to stick in the minds of the game's 90 million viewers. But one ad in particular had significant emotional impact. \nContrary to what some men believe or hope for, women do not spend half their lives working in the kitchen. And that goes for during the Super Bowl too. I hate to burst your bubble, boys, but during the Super Bowl, women are not preparing the chips and dips; they're watching the game. Nearly half of the adults 18-49 who watched the game last year were women, according to ACNielsen. Even more daunting is the fact that 91 percent of moms had this year's Super Bowl etched in their planners. So why are most of the Super Bowl ads aimed squarely at men?\nI'm not advocating a sudden boom in Tampax advertisements. And I am not, by any means, arguing that we need more ads featuring diapers and Clorox Wipes. All I'm saying is that considering women control 85 percent of the household spending, wouldn't it be logical for advertisers to at least want to pay attention to the female market (in a way other than featuring Jessica Simpson or other top-heavy models)?\nI applaud General Motors for introducing their updated Cadillac Escalade at a fashion show. Even better was Anheuser-Busch commercial that had women playing touch football. But the best ad to date was from the thoughtful folks at Dove. Dove had it right when they announced their decision to run a female-focused commercial about self-esteem. Set to the music of "True Colors," a dark-haired girl "wishes she were blonde," a red-haired girl "hates her freckles" and another child "thinks she's ugly." In the midst of a testosterone fest, this one really makes you think. \nFor some, that's just the problem.\nFor the average football-loving, beer-drinking, sports fanatic guy, nothing could spoil the mood more than a commercial about helping multiethnic girls accept themselves. The risk of the effect is akin to the whole "my parents are out of town, so let's throw a party at my house" scenario, only to have your parents arrive home -- surprise -- a day early.\nBut for high schoolers, throwing that risky party is worth it. It's worth it to be banned to your room if it means gaining recognition among your peers for one evening. And that's just the attitude Dove has. For Dove marketing director Philippe Harousseau, ruining a party is less of a concern than standing out among 50 other advertisers. \nHarousseau and the other employees at Dove were able to produce a campaign that was right for business development and also right for women and society. And although it wasn't the funniest or sexiest commercial, the Dove campaign scored big with women -- and with any guy who has a heart.\nWhile for many the Super Bowl was about drinking, joking, masculinity and just being a guy in general, for others, the Super Bowl was about spending time with family. And while for many advertisers the Super Bowl was about humor and sexuality in a way that left women out of the game, for one advertiser the 2006 Super Bowl was about including those who have been tackled in the past: the American mom.