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Super Bowl ad stars leave pants on the ground

By Bruce Horovitz, USA Today, Source: MCT News Service

I see London. I see France. I see the Super Bowl's underpants.

Just six years after Janet Jackson's famous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" during a halftime show, it's the Super Bowl advertisers _ including Dockers, CareerBuilder.com and Bud Light _ that seem to be itching to show some skin, again.

Or, at least a hint of it.

The Super Bowl has always been a catalyst for cultural advertising trends from the sexy to the sophomoric. But these latest commercials are less about being sexy and more about showing everyday _ very everyday in some cases _ people in their undies. And that, says advertising psychologist Renee White Fraser, is brilliant marketing.

"People love to imagine other people in their underwear," she says. "It's a provocative _ but safe _ way to get viewer attention."

Not everyone agrees with that.

"I think people just lose their minds when it comes to advertising in or around the Super Bowl _ and this is proof of that," says Barry Schwartz, professor of psychology and social theory at Swarthmore College.

Here's who's going long on briefs for the game:

_DOCKERS. The struggling khaki-pants maker will air a commercial that features about 30 men marching in unison in their undies while singing the song I Wear No Pants.

It's about guys who no longer wear the pants around the house. "Our culture kind of celebrates that guy," says Jennifer Sey, Dockers marketing chief. "We're encouraging men to not be that guy."

_CAREERBUILDER.COM. The online job search specialist, partly owned by Gannett (parent of USA Today), still is tabulating online votes for its consumer-generated Super Bowl ad, but one of the two finalists takes place in an office where "casual Friday" attire means a work force that's decked out in nothing but underwear.

"This is just an exaggeration of a bad work environment," says Richard Castellini, chief marketing officer at CareerBuilder. "It's a way to let people laugh at the experience of the job search."

_BUD LIGHT. In a new spot posted on its Facebook fan page, Bud Light features an office full of folks who are only too eager to strip down to their briefs _ or less _ so they can donate their duds to a clothing drive in exchange for free Bud Light.

While the ad won't air during the Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch _ which will air five minutes of Super Bowl ads during the game _ says its aim is to display Bud Light as playful and to get folks talking ahead of the game. "January is the time to put stuff like that out there, leading up to the big game," says Keith Levy, marketing vice president.

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(c) 2010, USA Today.

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