Students and advertising aficionados gathered last evening in the Owen Fine Arts Center for the AdClub’s annual “Super Bowl Roast.” A four-person panel including Dr. Peter Noble, Dr. Glenn Griffin, former professor James Goodnight and Glenn Gill of the Point Group critiqued this year’s leading Super Bowl advertisements, and students voiced their opinions as well.

“The Super Bowl is the one time of year when advertising is really put in the spotlight and as students of advertising, it is important for us to study and understand what works and doesn’t,” AdClub American Advertising Federation Coordinator Adam Wallman said. “So what better advertising examples to look at than those that almost half of America will see and be talking about the next day?”

Among the most popular ads was the Budweiser series, including the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” spot. While Goodnight thought “the Bud series was the best,” Griffin commented that, as a whole, beer advertisements are “generic” and rely too heavily on “teenage boy humor.”

“The Budweiser ads were emblematic…of the theme within the Super Bowl spots this year,” Noble said. “And that was a theme of violence. They used violence to get attention and provoke humor.”

For students, the Nationwide commercial featuring Kevin Federline proved to be one of the most entertaining.

“When I first saw it, I couldn’t believe that they used Kevin Federline to look like a popular rapper. It seemed ridiculous,” AdClub member Morgan Paisley said. But then, “it switched to the scene with him flipping burgers at a fast-food restaurant, and I thought that was great.”

AdClub Programming Chair Chloe Chelemengos agreed, pointing out the creative style behind the commercial.

“Not only did it show Kevin Federline in a more humble light, it really got Nationwide’s ‘life comes at you fast’ slogan across well.”

This year’s commercials brought up larger issues facing the advertising industry today. In particular, the Snicker’s ad, which has been publicly condemned by Rosie O’Donnell for its alleged “gay-bashing,” prompted heated criticism from Griffin.

“As advertising professionals, we need to aspire to something higher,” Griffin said. “Ads like this are why people think we [advertisers] are worse than car salesmen.”

Additionally, the panel questioned the overall effect of the ads and if they were truly worth the price. Each year, the cost of production and broadcasting fees rise, putting more pressure on companies and advertisers to produce an effective product.

“Each second during commercial breaks is worth roughly $86,000,” Noble said. “Is the exposure really worth it?”