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2011 Super Bowl XLV TV Spots: What To Expect [UPDATED]




As we get closer to the XLV Super Bowl, commercials that will air on the championship game are starting to leak onto the internet. Most of those advertising on the year's most expensive media buy [$3 million for a 30 second spot] are no surprise, given they are the same brands that have been dominating the air time between the game for the past few years. But there are a few companies advertising on the game for the first time ever and some new faces shilling for old brands.

This new ad, airing during the game, for the 2012 Volkswagon Passat features two things that are hard to ignore; children and The Force:


Volkswagon will also attempt to bring back the allure of the beetle by teasing you with this agile CGI generated bug:


Coca Cola introduces an ogre in one of their two spots that will air during the game:


Kia Optima is presently running this teaser to get you to tune in to their spot:

The still below gives you an idea of what's to come from Kia:


As always, there will be lots of automobile ads and the expected beverage ads; Coke, Pepsi, Pepsi Max and Budwiser to name a few. Doritos will continue with their user-generated spots [you can vote for your favorite at www.crashthesuperbowl.com].

This Chevy ad that will air starts as a simulation of a cheesy dealership spot and segues into a promo for the next in the Tranformer's movie franchise:


Audi uses the children's book Goodnight Moon as inspiration for this spot which spends almost 60 seconds telling you they are not Mercedes:

Audi will be featuring other spots on the game that take a swipe at "old school luxury." The still below is from their :60 second spot "Release The Hounds" in which 2 stuffy wealthy fogies attempt to break out of a luxury prison:


This Honda CR-V ad, "Forecast" will break on the Superbowl as well:


If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it

The talking babies for ETrade are back for the fourth year in a row with 2 new spots:


Careerbuilder brings back the chimps:


Danica Patrick appears again [this time with Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels] for Go Daddy and once again attempts to drive you to their site with a promise of a titillating 'web only' ad:


And Budwiser's classic Clydesdales are back as one of Bud's five spots to air, this time in a Western Themed spot:


The New
Some of the newer companies [ and concepts] that will air include the following.

Mercedes Benz USA is advertising in the Super Bowl for the first time this year, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Karl Benz's patent. Two of their five new models will be revealed in the :60 second spot:


Another car company to advertise in the big game for the first time is Suzuki. They will be taking on snowmen, in a spot called "Wicked Weather.":


Kim Kardashian will be shilling for Sketcher's Shape-Ups:


The new edition of the highly addictive game Angry Birds, Rio, will reveal a level code in their spot:


Stella Artois will feature a serenading Adrien Brody:


And Justin Beiber teams up with Ozzy Osbourne for Best Buy:


Bridgestone tires will appeal to your love of woodland creatures with their beaver spot:


And Faith Hill will appear in a spot for Teleflora:

images and info courtesy of CNN and individual brands

No need to DVR or Tivo the game for the commercials anymore since so many sites dedicate themselves to posting and sharing the commercials.

Pantone Color Chip Cookies! Kim Neill Bakes Up Deliciously Divine Design.





Freelance designer and illustrator Kim Neill was inspired to turn Pantone color chips into edible cookies after finding the Pantone color tins by Seletti at a nearby art supply store.


above: Kim Neill with her fabulous Pantone Chip cookies in the Pantone Tins, above right

As a holiday gift for her clients, she filled the tins with rectangular sugar cookies topped with colored icing and used an edible marker to indicate the PMS colors.




Kim even made METALLIC pantone chips. Using bottles of silver and gold edible luster dust to rush atop the icing, she created cookies in PMS Metallic Silver 877, Gold 871 and Pink 8062.



The cookies in the tins were a huge hit with her clients. The faves? Seems that the PMS 485, PMS 183 and Silver 877 were the most popular.

How to make Kim's brilliant PANTONE CHIP COOKIES:

FOR THE DOUGH:
She used Mary’s Sugar Cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Super tasty. Recipe here.

Roll dough out between 1/4” and 1/8“ thickness. Thinner cookies keep their shape better. Cut 2” x 2.5” rectangles out of dough (using a stencil from cardboard may make it easier). Cook until lightly golden brown, keeping an eye on them as they cook because they cook quickly.

Note: If you are filling a Pantone Tin, three batches of cookies will only fill up the tin halfway. They are big tins, so to resolve this, Kim ended up lining the bottom of the tin with folded over bubble wrap to make the tin appear full.

An alternative to the tin would be to fill with Pantone mugs with the cookies, which make for a nice individual gift. Purchase the Pantone Storage Tins or the Pantone Mugs for your cookies.

FOR THE ROYAL ICING:
This is a great recipe to use because it keeps color vibrant, doesn’t fade and dries nice without being too hard. Flavor with white vanilla here if you can. Regular vanilla tends to darken the icing a bit. You might want to add a bit more milk then the recipe calls for to get the perfect spreading consistency. Recipe found here.

DECORATING THE COOKIES:
Make a big bowl of white royal icing. Start by spreading a strip of white icing across the all the cookie bottoms and let dry. Now use what’s left of your white icing to make colors.

Scoop 3-4 heaping tablespoons of icing in a tiny bowl and then color with solid food coloring. This will color 3-5 cookies. Once you are done with one color, rinse your bowl out and start again. Doing colors this way keeps the mess down and you don’t have to worry about what you just mixed drying out. Using a food dye pen, write the matching [or closest] PMS number down on the cookies.

Kim used Gourmet Food Writers, available for purchase here. To make the Metallic Chips, use a soft brush or cotton ball to burnish icing surface with gold or silver luster dust, available for purchase here.

all images and recipes courtesy of Kim Neill.

Mia Van Beek Turns Your Kid's Art Into Actual Jewelry, Keychains & Bookmarks.




Jewelry designer Mia Van Beek of Formia Design has come up with a way to turn your children's art into fabulous everlasting mementos in the form of pendants, charm bracelets, earrings, brooches, keychains and bookmarks.



Working with all types of metals [sterling silver, gold, stainless steel, etc], she expertly transforms two dimensional drawings into metal versions of the same.



She can create them as either positive or negative [outlines] pieces and is able to reproduce anything from stick figures to even the most enigmatic representation of a child's imagination.




Words do not suffice, take a look at these examples.

Pendants:







Keychains:





Earrings:

Bookmarks:

Charm Bracelets:


To learn how to submit the art and order your own wonderful piece of her work, go here.

About Mia:

Education and experience:

1988-1991 Jewlery school in Sweden

1992 Journeyman diploma

1996 Goldsmith Master Degree

1997 Degree in design at Collage of arts in Linkoping, Sweden.

2001 set up my own business Formia Design in Stockholm, Sweden

2004 Received Best New Designer of the year award at Stockholm Jewlery show

2004 Established Formia Design LLC in Virginia, USA

She not only creates these whimsical pieces, but it an expert goldsmith and creates other fine jewelry. Visit her website to see her many other jewelry designs.

follow her on Twitter.

Shop her online store.