Superbowl vs. Olympics:

Ads during the Superbowl: As derivative, stale, pointless and boring as the half-time show.

Ads during the winter Olympic Games: Creative, fresh, entertaining and smart.

Yep, about a week ago, I thought that maybe all of the chatter about TV advertising's impending demise was true. I mean... this was the Superbowl. This was the annual showcase of the best ads money can buy. Right?

But they were all poorly designed. Poorly executed. Poorly delivered. (Granted, some were less horrible than others, but for the most part, they were just expensive pieces of junk.)

My point is, if this was the best that money could buy, if these were the most creative ads that titan agencies could come up with... then we had pretty much hit rock-bottom.

TV advertising was circling the drain.

Scary.

But after watching day one the Winter Games, I discovered that Superbowl was a fluke. Without the pressure of the Superbowl, without the competition, without the hype, ad agencies were still more than capable of producing really great ads. And for an advertising junkie like me, that's good news.

No... it's great news.

My picks so far:

General Electric
Visa Card
Go RV'ing
Toyota Corolla
Chevy Suburban
Goodyear tires
... and every ad that incorporates the Games' coverage.

Wow. What a breath of fresh air. You have no idea.

And man, did we need it.