Cindy Crawford or Clydesdales? Super Bowl fans know what I'm talking about.
Are you one of those who claims to watch the Super Bowl only for the commercials? That's sort of like those (back in the day) who claimed to only subscribe to Playboy for the articles.
For many, their favorite Super Bowl ad is supermodel Crawford's iconic 1992 commercial introducing Pepsi's redesigned cans.
You remember the one -- Crawford, dressed in cutoffs and a white tank top (modest by today's standards), pulls into a rural gas station and saunters over all sultry and windblown to the soft drink machine.
Two dumbstruck preteen boys watch from afar as the sexy Crawford chugs down the Pepsi in seductive slow motion.
"Is that a great new Pepsi can, or what?" one of the boys finally asks.
"It's bee-YOU-tee-full," the other answers.
It wasn't the Pepsi can older males were ogling.
Or maybe you love those Clydesdale commercials, especially the one in 2013 where, with Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" playing in the background, a Clydesdale foal is born on the horse farm.
The caring breeder sells the horse to Budweiser and three years later the Clydesdale team comes to Chicago where horse and breeder are reunited in the middle of the street.
It tugs at the heart. America voted and gave the baby Clydesdale the name Hope.
There were others. The Clydesdale "Best Buds" ad from 2014 comes to mind, as does Budweiser's 2015 "Lost Puppy" commercial where the Clydesdales faced down a sinister wolf that had eyes on the puppy.
Super Bowl Greatest Commercials 2017 airs at 7 p.m. today on CBS.
NFL great Boomer Esiason and Daniela Ruah (NCIS: Los Angeles) host a countdown of the best Super Bowl commercials and Crawford (still looking great at age 50) chats with Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Frazier on the 25th anniversary of her classic commercial.
The special will also feature the premiere of this year's "highly anticipated" humorous spot from GoDaddy (always pushing the envelope) and one from Buick that's getting lots of buzz.
Fox is reportedly charging more than $5 million for a 30-second commercial during Super Bowl LI, which is set to kick off Sunday about 5:30 p.m. after country star Luke Bryan sings the national anthem. This year's matchup features the New England Patriots vs. the Atlanta Falcons.
By coincidence (or maybe not) Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will star in an Intel commercial during the game.
And the Snickers Super Bowl 2017 ad features Girls and Star Wars actor Adam Driver, whose father, Joe Driver, lives in North Little Rock.
Lady Gaga will perform the halftime show, which was seen by 115.5 million viewers last year when it starred Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars.
Want to participate? Voting is now open on CBS.com for the Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials. Voting will continue until 6 p.m. today for the Top 2 with the winner revealed live at the end of the show.
There is a theme to the special: "Bigger Is Better" vs. "Less Is More," where five classic blockbuster, star-studded Super Bowl spots representing "Bigger Is Better" face off against five smaller, yet powerful, commercials that represent the argument "Less Is More."
Esiason will campaign on behalf of the former, including Apple's famous "1984" by Ridley Scott and the NFL's "Super Bowl Babies Choir" featuring Seal, and Ruah will advocate for the latter, such as "Lost Puppy" and Victoria's Secret's "Adriana 2008."
If you have to ask who Adriana Lima is, well, stick with the Clydesdales.
• Major Crimes. Good news for the many fans in Arkansas is that TNT has renewed Major Crimes for Season 6. The drama will close out its fifth season with an eight-episode run that begins on Feb. 22, at 8 p.m.
• This Is Us. Meanwhile, NBC has renewed its hit freshman drama for two more seasons with at least 18 episodes per season. The family drama, starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia and Sterling K. Brown, has proved a success among young adults -- the target audience for advertisers.
• Will & Grace. NBC has announced a 10-episode limited return for its hit comedy for the 2017-18 season. The series, which ran from 1998 to 2006, will star original cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally.
During its original run, Will & Grace was nominated for 83 Emmys, winning 16.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 01/31/2017