I know the Super Bowl is supposed to be about American football. However, the NFL kind of football has sections of play that last about 5 seconds and then everyone has to get in a huddle again for a restart.
It makes the game very stop-start, which I suppose is good for the advertisers. It seems to be about the advert breaks rather than the game, with everyone building special adverts just for the show.
I just knew the 'Advocados from Mexico' one would be good.
That's a problem watching Super Bowl on UK telly. The adverts are removed and we get men in suits in a studio demonstrating blocking moves instead. The studio time is almost as long as the game time.
Okay here's the other bit of the Advocados from Mexico. Subliminal.
So UK TV would have missed this Budweiser advert about two immigrants inventing the all American beers Bud and Busch. It doesn't seem to have gone down too well with certain folk.
We did get the coin toss on regular telly.
Cut from studio to ex President Bush rolling onto the field. He flips the coin and it falls under a cameraman's monopod. They announce the result.
Annnddd its another advert break - or in the UK back to the studio again whilst the Americans get 90 seconds on the latest Ford car initiatives and look at a cat with a box over its head.
Not a bad advert actually, with Nina Simone 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free' (gasp...but it is also that UK Film Night theme tune) and Bryan Cranston doing the voiceover.
Ford are promoting their Westfield World Trade Centre hub, which is like their version of the long-established L'Atelier Renault in the Champs Élysées.
Then back to the action. In fairness the Americans have found a way to speed up some parts of the game. It's legal in some situations to pass the ball forward.
A touchdown doesn't actually require to be touched down on the ground, like rugby try would. But then, the Americans don't seem to like kicking the ball. They even get someone else to hold it for the equivalent of a drop-kick.
Hold on. Time for another car adverts. The Merc AMG one is directed by the Coen brothers.
It also requires some skill to decide which is the best UK coverage.
The BBC went for a more realistic colouring than Sky Sport Mix HD which seemed to turn up the saturation.
I did prefer the latter, although both of them seemed to have quite pokey studios, with BBC actually getting one that looked as if it could directly see the game.
Okay here's another advert break.
This one is for...Cars.
Audi this time, but there's an edge. If Mercedes went for an all-American theme - Born to be wild, Peter Fonda etc., then Audi went for equal pay for women.
Yep a bit of politics for the Super Bowl.
And back in the game there's some scoring, with different pundits selecting each of the teams.
I can't help thinking that there's a quiet sporting agenda though. If you don't come from Atlanta or New England then it seems to be about wanting the New England Patriots to lose.
Advert time.
A bit more politics with this one.
The dark Handmaid's Tale which is set in the military dictatorship of the Republic of Gilead (formerly the United States of America), ruled over by Old Testament religious fanaticism. 'kay.
By now the scores are clicking up. But you know what? It must be time for a longer commercial break.
How about this one for Pepsi, which lights up the sky with branding?
Intel supplied the 500 drones used to make an American flag and Pepsi logo, although that part of the show was like the Chinese Olympics section, where it had to be recorded and was therefore 'Run VT'.
However, the spectacular Lady Gaga performance during which she managed to pull off singing Woody Guthrie's 'This Land was made for you and me', as well as her own diversity anthem 'Born This Way'.
I was impressed that she snuck some messaging in without it really showing too overtly. A well deserved mike drop and body drop at the end.
I guess after that it's best to just record the rest and watch it later on 30x.
Maybe hunt out some more of the adverts? I've even learned that the Big Mac now comes in three sizes. It had to happen.
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