As a Canadian I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.”
Well, the same kind of statement can be said for the Super Bowl XLVII between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, since most people watch the game for the sole reason to see the crazy expensive commercials that companies produce only to be shown during the Super Bowl.
Maybe the saying would be something like this: “I went to a marketing film festival and a football game broke out.”
I have to admit that I tend to error more on the side of “watching it for the commercials” vs. actually watching it for the football game. I actually remember one year, while in college, when I had a dozen or so people over to watch the Super Bowl. I spent my time running outside to flip the burgers and chicken wings when the game started and back inside when the commercials started.
I lived in the US of A for close to a decade and I grew very accustom to watching the Super Bowl commercials.
When I moved back to Canada I knew I was going to have to find a ninja-like-way if I wanted to be able to watch hulu, US Netflix or listen to Spotify (which I did by the way) but I had no idea that I wouldn’t get to see the awesome commercials that they play during the Super Bowl.
The first year I was back in Canada watching the big game, I started to get excited when the first set of commercials started to play. Then, what do I see? The same old Tim Horton’s commercial that I’ve seen 313 times by now. WHAT!?!?!?
Oh, just another content related thing that the United States is “showing” Canada up on (pun intended).
Now I know that I’m not alone when it comes complaining about seeing the same local car commercial during the big game.
Here is a quote from the Super Bowl Advertising entry on Wikipedia: “Complaints about the non-availability of the U.S. Super Bowl ads are common in Canada since, even though American network affiliates are widely available via cable and satellite television, the U.S. ads are still “blacked out” in most areas in favor of domestic commercials.”
Now, with Super Bowl XLVII set to go down on February 3, 2013, I was wondering if there was a way to get the Super Bowl commercials up here in Canada.
Since I won’t actually know if it’s possible until the game is played, I wanted to share a great way to watch countless hours and past Super Bowl commercials up here in the Great White North.
This actually brings me to something that most people don’t even know. There’s tons more content on Hulu in addition to the popular TV shows. If you haven’t checked out the TV on the Internet guide a friend and I spent weeks putting together, now is the time. It’s 75 pages long with more than 2,000 clickable, searchable links sorted by genre.
The other day, after I watch an episode of Modern Family, I was surfing through Hulu and it dawned on me to check to see if there were any Super Bowl ads from past games.
JACKPOT! I hit the treasure trove! There is a complete section on Hulu where all the greatest ads from over the years are consolidated. Here’s a screen shot of what it looks like:
Hulu has the best of Super Bowl ads for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and even has some teasers for Super Bowl 2013!
But wait, there’s more! (I’ve always wanted to say that!)
There is also a section called Advertising Age: Super Bowl Ads that has a ton of the best super bowl ads EVER! Plus a section with nothing but celebrity super bowl ads and even behind the scene interviews! See for yourself:
If you have a hankering to watch some of the best (and most expensive) ads ever made, you need to get around the geo-block that Hulu has in an attempt to only let people living in the USA and Japan watch their amazing free content.
In order to get around the blocks that Hulu places on their site you will need HMA.
If HMA means nothing to you, or you want a refresher, all you need to do to be able to watch Hulu in Canada (yes, it is posisble) is to follow our step-by-step guide on how to watch Hulu in Canada.
I’d love to hear what your favorite Super Bowl ad of all time is… so please, leave a comment below with your favorite Super Bowl Ad ever!
Enjoy watching Super Bowl commercials in Canada!
Logan says
My favorite super bowl ad of all time has to be the Cindy Crawford Pepsi commercial. I was at the exact right age growing up where that ads just spoke to me. It didn’t work though, I’ve been a Coke drinker all my life. haha
Dawn says
My favorite is the Apple commercial from 1984.
Baby Lover says
Any of the e-trade baby ads! So cute!
Joanne says
the pet company that did that sock puppet was probably one of the worst, but here we are more than a decade later still talking about it. so, maybe it was in fact one of the best ever?
Brent says
Good point… I think that company imploded not too long after that (as did not dot coms in that day and age).
Shawn says
Any of the Budweiser commercials. The Coke ones too. Some of Go Daddy’s are funny other are just too over the top for my taste.