andPOP » Super Bowl

DreamWorks To Provide 3-D Glasses For Ad

Ilan Mester — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:58:25 +0000

DreamWorks has handed out around 150 million 3-D glasses in the U.S. so that television viewers can watch a commercial that lasts 90 seconds during the Super Bowl game on February 1.

The animation studio announced the give away before the telecast, which will feature an ad for their latest animated movie “Monsters vs. Aliens” with 3-D effects.

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said the cost for the give away will be around “tens of millions of dollars”.

The CEO added the quality of the 3-D effects will be high and the glasses will use updated technology as opposed to the older red-blue system.

“Monsters vs Aliens” is set to release in late March. The animation features the voices of Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rogen, among other famous actors.

Glasses can be picked up free of charge at 28,000 locations. There’s no need to panic if you don’t have glasses, the ad can be seen as an ordinary image for those without them.

Fox Under Fire – Arcade Fire Song Controversy

andPOP Staff — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:47:46 +0000

Did the Fox network super rip off the Arcade Fire?

The band was reportedly surprised to hear their song, “No Cars Go” in a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. According to PitchforkMedia.com, “Fox never even asked the band if they could use their song, and they certainly weren’t given permission to do so.”

Reportedly, the band’s reps are looking into the matter, and there is the possibility of a lawsuit.

The song was featured in a montage ad for NHL on Fox that appeared during the halftime show. Some fans have pointed out that the song has been used “on NFL on Fox ads throughout the football season.”

EA Predicts Patriots Victory This Sunday

andPOP Staff — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:15:20 +0000

According to EA’s Madden NFL 08 engine, the New England Patriots will become the first team in NFL history to have a perfect 19-0 season defeating the New York Giants 38-30 in this year’s Super Bowl.

The engine used the most current information the team’s roster and their player stats for the simulation.

According to the press release:
The simulated game got off to a very close start with two touchdowns by Patriots running back Laurence Maroney and three field goals by Giant’s kicker Lawrence Tynes. Late in the third quarter, the Patriots led by only one, 24-23. They were able to add to their lead with a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tom Brady to wide receiver Randy Moss. Entering the fourth quarter, the Giants trailed 31-23 with an opportunity to tie-up the game with a big drive. But instead, a tipped pass by quarterback Eli Manning was picked off by Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel. The Patriots scored with their possession from the turnover, increasing their lead to 38-23. The Giants scored one last time and the game ended 38-30.

We will find out sunday if EA’s streak of predicting the Super Bowl winner will be extended to six.

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Amazon Beats Apple For Super Bowl ‘Berth’

andPOP Staff — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:43:45 +0000

In a Super Bowl commercial four years ago featuring the music of Green Day, a promotion between the major record labels, PepsiCo and Apple was unveiled to give away 100 million songs through a then-fledgling iTunes. Now, four years later, the Pepsi promotion is back and they’ve dropped Green Day and Apple in favour of JT (Justin Timberlake) and Amazon.

As reported by Jeff Leeds of The New York Times, “the switch is an indicator of the continuing tension between the music industry and Apple.” Pepsi’s previous Super Bowl ad encouraged music fans to ditch their pirating ways in favour of legal purchases and led to iTunes’ eventual dominance as the leading digital-music store. In a twist of irony, however, the music industry has taken a liking to Amazon’s rival music service, introduced in September, and is teaming up with Pepsi to shake the scene up a bit.

All the controversy surrounds DRM, or digital rights management software. Though it was Apple CEO Steve Jobs who, in February, called on the industry to drop its perpetual insistence that the software be used citing DRM’s failure to rein in piracy, the major record companies still require Apple to sell their music wrapped in the software. Amazon’s service will gain an enormous edge: the companies have agreed to offer their music catalogs for sale in the MP3 format, without the digital locks that restrict users from making copies of the songs.

DRM has been accused by some consumers of creating confusing problems, such as a lack of compatibility between most songs and the devices sold by Apple and Microsoft. Apple sells all single tracks for 99 cents, while Amazon sells them from 89 cents and up.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Rock Super Bowl Halftime Show

andPOP Staff — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:46:29 +0000

Since Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction of 2004, The Super Bowl’s halftime show has played it safe when choosing its featured artists. This year will be no different.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will take the stage during the halftime show in Arizona on Feb. 3, E! Online reports.

The veteran rocker and his band are set to headline the legendary event, following in the footsteps of Prince, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.

Petty and the Heartbreakers have been around for thirty years and have sold more than 50 million records.

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Maroon 5, Kanye West to Kick Off NFL Season Opener

andPOP Staff — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:01:13 +0000

The Super Bowl has always been as much about the halftime music performances as it is about who gets to flash their championship rings for the next 12 months. Now you can get a taste of what’s to come in January five months earlier when the National Football League kicks the season off by bringing music and football even closer together.

On Sept. 8, ABC will broadcast an hour-long ?NFL Opening Kickoff 2005? special, which will feature performances by Green Day, Santana, Kanye West, Maroon 5, and taped footage from the current Rolling Stones tour. The live performances will take place in three cities to highlight the history of the big championship game.

Fans of West and Maroon 5 will be able to see the Grammy winners perform for free outside the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the first Super Bowl was held.

Meanwhile, Green Day and Santana will play at the home of last year?s Bowl winners, the New England Patriots, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Right after, Trisha Yearwood is slated to sing the National Anthem before the season opener, which pits the Patriots against the Oakland Raiders.

Finally, the Stones clips will come from their Aug. 31 concert in Detroit.

The special will be hosted by actor Freddie Prinze, Jr., who stars in ?Freddie,? a new ABC sitcom premiering this fall.

The “NFL Opening Kickoff” has become a bit of a tradition ever since 2002?s first kickoff event in New York with Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Alicia Keys, and Eve. Last year?s show featured mega-stars Destiny?s Child, Mary J. Blige, Elton John, Toby Keith and Lenny Kravitz.

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