Five Gems To Embrace

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This past Saturday I spent the day at Gonzaga Prep for the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference. It was the sixth time I attended the gathering since moving back to Spokane and this year the event organizers didn’t have to go far to find their headliner. Bishop Thomas Daly, the leader of the Diocese of Spokane, served as the main speaker as he delivered three different talks throughout the course of the day.

Bishop Daly spoke to the male faithful at the 2026 Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference at Gonzaga Prep. I took this photo during the bishop’s first talk.

Bishop Daly is a rock star and kept the nuggets of gold coming all day long. In fact, you didn’t even have to be Catholic to appreciate the insight that the seventh bishop of Spokane was dispensing. I thought I would share just a handful of the gems that Bishop Daly shared on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.

It is always a treat to listen to Bishop Daly speak. He was the headliner at the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference.

– Although I had heard Bishop Daly say it before on a podcast, his anecdote of children listen to their mothers but watch their fathers never gets old. It is a reminder that dads have a high call to set the absolute best example for their children because you better believe that they are watching.

– Sometimes life can hit us hard and we find ourselves in desperation. It is possible that praying is the last thing we want to do. But Bishop Daly challenged us to pray when we don’t feel like praying. Whenever any anti-prayer thought enters our mind or heart, the only logical response is to drop down and pray. This even applies when times are really good and prayer might seem unnecessary or when we find ourselves in a prayer rut. Respond to any voice that says prayer is obsolete by—yes—praying!

– A good piece of advice for me to heed from Bishop Daly was his reminder that when we complain about something, we lose God’s graces we could have gained from it. I am fantastic at whining when I get a man cold (just ask Sidney) but if I could instead just take it on the chin perhaps I could recover from it with better perspective and heightened respect from my wife.

– To begin the retreat, Bishop Daly offered mass. During his homily he sternly told all of us men in the pews the following: Don’t be so occupied with fending off evil that you fail to do good. It is admirable to avoid doing bad things but we have to do more than refrain—we actually have to DO. If we just hide all the time, when are we going to evangelize or do all the good acts that Jesus commanded us to do?

– I easily could have stretched this blog post to 10 items but since I capped myself at a handful, let me end with the most fitting and all-encompassing thing that Bishop Daly said. The path of holiness is not beyond us. We can all take up our cross, do good, and live as saints. When Daly was about to become a bishop, he had a mentor who told him the following: “Remember Tom, 11 of the 12 apostles were martyred.” So is it going to be easy? No. But is it achievable? With God, anything is.

Bishop Thomas Daly offers mass at the Spokane Diocese Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference inside the Gonzaga Prep chapel. During his homily he would tell those in attendance to not become so occupied with evil that we don’t do good.

Thanks to Bishop Daly for speaking at the 2026 Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference and for being so open to all of us in attendance. May God continue to bless him. Don’t Blink.

The Best Super Bowl Commercial Ever.

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Tap here to watch EWU’s Super Bowl commercial

When I wrote my Super Bowl LX review, I scrutinized the commercials. However, except for a brief mention, I didn’t say much about the ad that meant the most to me during the big game.

Perhaps my relative silence was due to conflict of interest because the commercial I watched/appreciated the most was that of my employer. I am referring to the Eastern Washington University spot that ran three times during the Super Bowl broadcast.

The Super Bowl commercial that I enjoyed the most was the one we did! This is the opening screen for the spot we created in a very short period of time.

This academic year at EWU has been special because our university president accepted a marketing proposal my team submitted. Because of her willingness to move forward with the plan, our marketing program was significantly funded with the resources needed to do some pretty cool things. While our brand marketing strategy is digital-first, that doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye to traditional advertising. And because we haven’t lost faith in the power of traditional advertising, we did just about the coolest things you can do with it—we decided to run an ad during the Super Bowl.

Thanks to our decision to pay for a lot of TV inventory up front in the early fall, we were allotted local spots to run during the Super Bowl. The plan was to run our brand anthem commercial during our moment in the sun but then something remarkable happened that scraped those plans.

When Championship Sunday concluded and the teams for the Super Bowl were decided, there was something that had any Eastern Washington University fan beaming from ear-to-ear: The Seattle Seahawks (Cooper Kupp) and New England Patriots (Efton Chism III) each had an EWU alumnus playing on their teams.

Our University Relations and athletics departments did everything possible to celebrate/market that two Eagles were playing in the Super Bowl. From flyers to stories to website banners to a watch party, we had it covered.

But what about that Super Bowl spot?

We knew creating an entirely new spot that was Super Bowl-worthy in less than two weeks would be extremely difficult. So we decided to hedge our bets. Our team worked with our marketing agency to create a social media video that was focused on our brand identity as the region’s polytechnic while infusing Cooper and Efton to make our hands-on promise quite literal. Although the plan was to use it solely on social media, we knew it might have greater potential.

Our spot was 100% on-brand with our identity as “the region’s polytechnic” but at the same time it infused the timeliness of two of our alumni playing in the Super Bowl.

When the video was finished, there was no doubt it was too good for just social. Working with our media buyer, we were able to swap out our brand anthem commercial for our new Super Bowl masterpiece.

The spot premiered during pre-game just moments before kickoff. It was then shown during the actual game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It then had an encore showing as the Seattle Seahawks celebrated with the Lombardi Trophy.

Another screenshot from the commercials shows the point when Efton Chism III was introduced.

The reaction to the commercial was overwhelming pride. The EWU community was amazed just by the fact that we pulled off a Super Bowl spot in the first place. But to make it timely and aligned with our brand positioning as the region’s polytechnic? There was no doubt about it…we had scored a touchdown.

Even though it was just broadcast locally, running an ad during the Super Bowl was probably one of the most exciting things I have done in my career. Thanks to my talented team and our partners at idfive for making it happen. Don’t Blink.

Deep Undercover Thursday Rundown

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It is now the Lenten season and I hope things started right for you yesterday with Ash Wednesday. Let’s jump right into things with today’s five topics…

Valentine’s Date Recap – Sid and I had a promising night planned. We had a babysitter for the kids and were looking forward to an evening in downtown Spokane. We made reservations at 7 p.m. for a restaurant we really wanted to try. But by 8 p.m. we had yet to receive our food and with everyone else in our section in a similar boat, we decided to bow out as our movie (at least the previews) had already started. We watched “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” Sid and I both found the film to be creative and fun. Although we didn’t get the dinner we were looking forward to, the theater came through with chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, and of course popcorn.

My lovely Valentine’s Day date at the not-to-be-named restaurant where we had to walk out.

Goat – Speaking of movies, the day after our Valentine’s date, we returned to the theater—this time with our kids. We watched Steph Curry’s film, “Goat,” and found it very cute and entertaining. However, I don’t know if it was worth $90. For four matinee tickets (with two of them being children’s tickets), a popcorn, and two sodas we spent nearly $100. Although memories are priceless, the cost of going to the movies is getting out of control.

“Goat” was good but I don’t know if it was worth $90.

Deep Undercover – After reading a book about an American spy a few years ago, I decided to read a book about a Russian spy. “Deep Undercover” is about Jack Barsky, a German who was recruited by the Russians to work for the KGB. Barsky eventually went undercover in the United States but eventually embraced the American way of life and found God. The book is pretty interesting and a rather easy read. If you are interested in a good spy autobiography, “Deep Undercover” is for you.

“Deep Undercover” by Jack Barsky was pretty good.

Sumo Wrestling – This past weekend we were at an Asian culture festival when suddenly Beau found himself face-to-face with a sumo wrestler. This guy meant business and wasn’t going to let my son walk off the mat without a battle. In a true David vs. Goliath moment, Beau snatched victory. You can watch how it happened here. Trust me, it wasn’t rigged at all.

Beau sure was brave as he faced off against a sumo wrestler.

White Lotus – During the holiday season, we traded out our Hulu sports package for HBO Max. This allowed me to begin watching the critically-acclaimed “White Lotus” series. Last week, I completed the third season (a fourth season is set to be released soon). I was entertained by the wild storylines, great acting, and unique musical scores. Season one was my favorite with season three next on my list. Although Aubrey Plaza is one of my favorite actresses, season two—although still a good watch—is at the bottom of my list.

I recently finished up watching all the currently available “White Lotus” seasons. I find the series to be fresh and entertaining.

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Thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a great last weekend with the Winter Olympics. Don’t Blink.

Jelly Donuts and Lent

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On my way to work in the morning, I often tune into the radio broadcast of daily mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. I can usually time it perfectly so that I hear the gospel reading and the homily. Yesterday was no different as I managed to catch newly-installed Archbishop Ronald Hicks’ preaching on Mardi Gras.

He mentioned that the day before Lent he usually splurges on Paczki, a type of jelly donut that is traditionally served on Fat Tuesday. Despite his best intentions to eat just one, he usually ends up eating several.

Archbishop Hicks is fond of eating paczki on Fat Tuesday.

Archbishop Hicks spoke about the tendency of many Catholics—himself included—to indulge in rich foods on Mardi Gras as both a “last hurrah” before Lent and also a way to fill one’s belly before the fasting that comes the next day.

But after mentioning his Fat Tuesday splurge, he related something very telling: he still wakes up hungry on Ash Wednesday.

It doesn’t matter how many jelly donuts he scarfs down, there is still a hunger that nags at him the next day. Simply, the appetite can’t be filled by pre-loading the day before or even in cheating the fast on Ash Wednesday. Instead, the hunger can only be satisfied one way: Jesus.

I hope everyone has a meaningful Lent.

Don’t Blink.

Past Lenten Blog Posts
Lent 2026: How Do You Describe It?
Lent 2025: Looking Into the Spiritual Mirror
Pursuing the Best Reward
Lent 2024: Ash Wednesday Over Valentine’s Day
General Lenten Points of Emphasis
Lent 2023: A Necessary Time
Lent 2022: Solidarity With Ukraine
The Lenten Road
The Journey of Lent
The Real Purpose of Lent

Lent 2026: How Do You Describe It?

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Throughout my life, I have listened to different priests describe Lent in different ways. One compared it to a journey, another likened it to boot camp, and still another one equated it to an examination in front of the spiritual mirror.

Although these priests used different—but very strong—analogies, they all effectively drove home the true point of Lent: to draw closer to God.

No matter how you conceptualize Lent, I hope you are able to draw closer to God during it.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the kickoff of a 40+ day holy period. For the next 6.5 weeks, Christians will focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a way to walk with Jesus through the desert so that we might properly prepare ourselves for Easter.

Lent isn’t for the faint of heart. As I often quote yet another priest, “Lent isn’t my favorite time but it is a necessary time.” Sometimes you have to endure trials and tribulations to reach glory and I don’t think there is anything that better exemplifies this reality than the relationship between Lent and Easter.

No matter how you conceptualize Lent or how your parish priest describes it, I hope you make the most out of the next 46 days. May your walk with Jesus lead you to a good place on April 5 so that you can celebrate Easter to its fullest. Don’t Blink.

Past Lenten Blog Posts
Lent 2025: Looking Into the Spiritual Mirror
Pursuing the Best Reward
Lent 2024: Ash Wednesday Over Valentine’s Day
General Lenten Points of Emphasis
Lent 2023: A Necessary Time
Lent 2022: Solidarity With Ukraine
The Lenten Road
The Journey of Lent
The Real Purpose of Lent

Wait. It Isn’t Even Ice Cream?

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Growing up as a kid in my parents’ house, we knew we hit it big if Dreyer’s ice cream was in our freezer. Now, to be fair, it wasn’t a rare occasion when we had ice cream in the house but when we did it was usually of the generic, store-brand variety. Not that us kids cared too much—ice cream was ice cream. However, we were aware enough to know (and taste) that Dreyer’s was a step up from Albertson’s ice cream and that if it was in our freezer, it meant my mom probably scored a deal.

As I grew older, moved out, and started a family, I maintained my high regard for Dreyer’s (or Edy’s when I lived on the east coast). I considered it premium ice cream and would buy it occasionally on special occasions.

Sloan scooping out some dessert courtesy of Dreyer’s last week. As you will learn as you read on, Dreyer’s is no longer technically ice cream.

However, over the past several months something started to happen that I didn’t put totally together until recently. When I would go to the grocery store, Dreyer’s ice cream was marked down. And it wasn’t like the ice cream containers looked damaged or out of date. Quite the contrary actually. New flavors had been introduced and the packaging looked as fresh as ever.

Funny enough, the discounted Dreyer’s wasn’t an anomaly at a specific grocery store. Instead, it seemed like everywhere from Safeway to WinCo to Rosauers was offering “sales” on Dreyer’s ice cream. Containers were running under $3 at all these stores and were less expensive than their own in-house brands.

Over the weekend I took a photo of the Dreyer’s ice cream at WinCo. As the case has been over the past several months, all the containers were under $3.

The cheaper ice cream registered in my brain but nothing too jarring that made me want to do research or write a blog post (😉) about it. That was until a couple weeks ago when I took our latest supply of Dreyer’s ice cream out of the freezer and noticed something on the packaging. What caught my eye was actually something that negates a term I have been using this entire blog post.

Dreyer’s is no longer ice cream. Rather, it is a frozen dairy dessert.

As you can tell from the packaging (look down at the bottom), Dreyer’s is now a “frozen dairy dessert.”

The FDD designation wasn’t entirely new to me. I have seen it on other ice cream-imitators (and knew what it meant) but I was shocked that Dreyer’s, a once-prestigious ice cream giant, would resort to such a change.

The difference between ice cream and a frozen dairy dessert is straight-forward and objective: the former must contain at least 10% milkfat with limited air while the latter can fall below the milkfat threshold and whip in more air.

Here is another angle of our Dreyer;s “frozen dairy dessert” container that clearly shows the designation.

Yes friends, ice cream uses a higher quantity of quality ingredients and packs in the good stuff while a frozen dairy dessert cuts costs by substituting milkfat with vegetable oils.

Thus, the results are obvious—frozen dairy desserts are less expensive and the reason why a once proud company’s signature product is now coming in at a lower price than its generic competition.

So does my “shock” at the Dreyer’s decision translate to disappointment? To be honest, from a consumer standpoint, my answer is no. I actually appreciate the lower price and really can’t tell that much of a difference in the taste. Don’t Blink.

Beaunaldo Thursday Rundown

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Last week my rundown was absent because Beau’s birthday fell on a Thursday and his special day took priority over my typical five wacky topics. Well, we aren’t celebrating any birthdays today so the Thursday Rundown is back. Let’s get started.

M&M’s – We tried a new flavor of M&M’s this past weekend (remember when there just used to be a few options?). At Walgreens they had a cardboard display with peanut butter cinnamon roll M&M’s. The flavor is part of a “Bakery Collection” rollout that also includes lemon meringue pie and cherry chocolate cupcake—I would like to try both of those flavors eventually. As for the one we did try? Not incredible and not awful. You can definitely taste both the peanut butter and the cinnamon with the latter having a more pronounced note. At more than $3 per bag, you don’t need to rush out and buy one.

Sloan holding a pack of peanut butter cinnamon M&M’s. We purchased the candy at Walgreens.

Ronaldo Gifts – Hosting a class party means you receive a lot of gifts. Beau was completely spoiled this past weekend but I thought I would highlight the gift he received from his cousins, Mik and John. Ronaldo is Beau’s favorite soccer player (we don’t call our son “Beaunaldo” for nothing) so they loaded him up on G.O.A.T.-related items. From stickers to a book to an LED night light, Beau can flaunt his fandom.

Beau received some great Ronaldo gifts from his cousins.

Father/Daughter Dance – For the fourth straight year, Sloan and I attended the St. Mary Father/Daughter Dance. I will share our official dance photo taken at the school when it is available but until then you can enjoy the montage below. Last year I wrote about the dance and the traditions we have established.

Sloan and I attended the St. Mary (Spokane Valley) Father/Daughter Dance for the fourth time on Feb. 6, 2026.

100th Day of School – We might have done this super last minute, but this is Beau with 100 pasta noodles to commemorate the 100th day of school. To be honest, our intention was to use large rotini noodles from a box that was already open. However, when I saw how much was left, I knew we would be cutting it short, and, alas—we only had 77 pasta pieces. So we had to pivot and go with the much smaller and underwhelming mararoni pasta pieces. Well, at least he had something!

Beau holding his 100 pieces of macaroni pasta. If we were able to use the rotini pasta it would have looked more impressive but we didn’t have enough.

Valentine’s Fortune Cookies – But today wasn’t just the 100th Day of School, it was also the celebration of Valentine’s Day at St. Mary Catholic School. This year, our kids gave out pretty creative Valentine’s. My wife found Valentine’s Day-themed fortune cookies on Amazon and put in an order. Each cookie comes with a label on the wrapper that says, “I’m fortune to be your friend – Beau and Sloan Reser.” A next level activation would be if we could add a customized fortune on the inside. As of right now, all fortunes are the same within the cookies.

Sidney ordered these custom Valentine’s Day fortune cookies for Beau and Sloan to pass out. Each fortune inside reads the same.

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Thank you for taking the time to visit Don’t Blink. Traffic to my blog has dramatically increased in 2026 so if you are a new reader, let me wish you a very warm welcome. If you are a longtime reader, thanks for staying with me all these years. Have a fantastic weekend, everyone! Don’t Blink.

Ordering American Food at a Mexican Restaurant

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On a random weeknight last week, Sid kicked the kids and me out of the house.

“Go to McDonald’s or something,” she told me.

Sid wanted to clean the house and didn’t want dishes and pots/pans from dinner cluttering up the kitchen. So like any good husband would, I got the kids in the car and we left. However, we didn’t go to McDonald’s.

Instead, I took them across the street to a tiny Mexican restaurant called Fiesta Grande. It truly is our neighborhood Mexican joint where we enjoy delicious food, coziness, and consistency. But this time, we did things a little different. Perhaps it was because it was such a spur of the moment thing and/or because Sidney wasn’t with us, but we didn’t order Mexican food. Yes, we had the audacity to order off the American menu.

Sloan ordered chicken strips and fries, Beau chose the grilled cheese and fries, and I opted for the cheeseburger and fries. Here are three things I observed from our extremely non-adventurous ordering…

Last week I took Sloan and Beau to Fiesta Grande in the Spokane Valley for a quick dinner. We all ordered American dishes.

1. We received two sides for the price of one! All of our meals came with fries but we still got bottomless chips. I admit it was kind of weird to eat tortilla chips when I knew a cheeseburger and fries was on its way but I couldn’t pass them up because they are so good at Fiesta Grande.

2. It is much less expensive ordering American items. My cheeseburger was $11.95 which was $3 less than the cheapest one item combination dinner at Fiesta Grande. I went back and forth in my head on whether it makes sense for an ethnic restaurant to charge less or more for American items. On one side, I can understand charging less because it isn’t the restaurant’s specialty. On the other side, I think charging a little more would be appropriate because you are essentially ordering an item that doesn’t fit with the menu and probably takes additional considerations to stock/prepare.

3. Our server didn’t care what we ordered. Even though we went to a delicious Mexican restaurant with truly incredible food, our kind waiter didn’t raise an eye or make a sarcastic remark when we ordered American entrees and fries. And you know what? All the food was really good!

I once wrote a post about how a family Mexican restaurant can truly stand out. I think I now know the answer: offer a tasty and inexpensive American menu. And one more thing to add…Sidney didn’t go hungry because we brought her home a to-go order. Want to guess what she got? Chicken strips and fries 😂. Don’t Blink.

Beau’s First “Friend” Birthday Party

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We celebrated Beau’s birthday this past week and it was especially significant for one big reason: It was the first year we threw him a “friend” birthday party. Prior to turning 6, we only had private family birthday celebrations for Beau.

But even though we threw him the big birthday bash with his friends, we still gave him the private celebration that has been routine in previous years. So let me start there…

Beau’s birthday this year fell on a Thursday. After we all arrived home from work and school, we allowed him to open his gifts from us and his grandparents. Once everything was opened, we gave him the option of choosing where he wanted to go to dinner.

Sloan watches Beau open up his presents on the evening of his birthday.

Sid and Sloan secretly hoped he would choose Outback, Red Robin, or maybe Olive Garden. His choice?

Zip’s.

For those not from the Inland Northwest, Zip’s is your typical local fast food burger joint. Beau got his birthday dinner wish as we feasted on cheeseburgers, corn dogs, fries, and onion rings.

Beau enjoys a corn dog at Zip’s during his birthday dinner.

We then came home for cake. Instead of our traditional Rosauers cake, Sidney made a yellow cake with homemade rainbow chip frosting. It was chef’s kiss.

Beau with the birthday cake his mom made him to celebrate his 6th birthday. The rainbow chip frosting was superb.

After asking us about his “friend” party incessantly for the past two weeks, Beau’s day in the sun came this past Saturday. We pulled up to the Spokane Valley Mall a little prior to 2 p.m. and went to the top level where We Play, an indoor playground, is located. When we walked in, everything in our party area was already set. This was made possible thanks to the staff allowing us to drop off our themed table cloths/plates/silverware/etc. in the morning for them to place before we arrived in the afternoon.

Oh yes, the theme. Beau chose soccer. He wore his Ronaldo uniform—complete with “gold” chain—to his party. We had a good laugh when his friend, Killian, showed up wearing a Messi jersey.

Beau dressed in his Ronaldo uniform for his party. This is him with his friend, Grant. While Grant wore a Seahawks jersey, his other friend, Killian, showed up in a Messi jersey.

Speaking of his friends, Beau invited his whole class. His cousins also attended. Everyone had a fantastic time exerting all their energy inside the play structure. We Play made everything so easy. While the kids played, the staff made sure the pizza arrived on time (they contract with a local pizzeria) and that we had everything we possibly needed to stage a fun birthday party.

About 45 minutes into the party, the We Play staff made an announcement for Beau’s party to come eat. Beau and his friends maybe spent two minutes gobbling their pizza before they sprinted back to the play structure. About 30 minutes later the staff made another announcement for the children to return to the table for cake. This time around they devoted a little more time to letting their food digest as I suspected a little fatigue setting in after 90 minutes of playing hard.

Beau and his birthday guests pose for a photo right before cake in the We Play party space. We Play is an indoor playground located inside the Spokane Valley Mall.

As Beau’s crew made one final run to the play structure, we started to pick things up and pack away the presents. Like we did when Sloan had her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, we opted for Beau to open his presents at home.

The two-hour party quickly came to an end and after distributing the party favor bags to all the guests, we thanked the We Play staff and headed out. As you can imagine, Beau was eager to get home and open his gifts.

Beau poses for a photo with his mom and birthday cake. Thanks to We Play (Spokane Valley) for helping us host such a fun birthday party.

Thanks to everyone who made Beau’s birthday such a success from his relatives to his classmates to the parents of his classmates to the staff at We Play. I didn’t mention it much when recounting the party experience, but it was such a pleasure to visit with the parents in Beau’s class—we are blessed to be part of the St. Mary Catholic School community.

Next year will be tough to beat when it comes to Beau’s 7th birthday party. But there is no time to think about that now because there is a more pressing concern…Sloan’s birthday is next month 🤭. Don’t Blink.

My Super Bowl LX Review

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Okay, I am sitting in my favorite armchair (not really, but you get the point) and ready to dish out my hot takes regarding Super Bowl LX. For the TENTH time I am back to offer my unsolicited and annoying commentary on the game action, national anthem, halftime show, and commercials from football’s grandest night. Without further ado, let’s get started with this year’s analysis…

The Game: From a personal perspective, the game couldn’t have been better. As a lifelong Seattle fan, watching the Seahawks capture their second Super Bowl was sweet. From an objective standpoint? To paraphrase one of this year’s commercials, it was meh. Although the Seahawks did turn in a dominant defensive performance, the Patriots played sloppy as they made many errors that had nothing to do with Seattle’s “D.” Watching the two teams play nearly to the half with no penalties was nice but this definitely wasn’t a hard-hitting defensive battle played by two equally-matched squads. The Seahawks were in total control the whole time.

I was ecstatic that the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX but the game itself from an objective standpoint was very average.

The Anthem: I thought Charlie Puth did a decent job. He performed the song a little on the slow side but he did it with honor. The background vocals and band complemented Charlie at the beginning but then drowned him out a bit in the middle. By the time he arrived at the last quarter of the national anthem, Puth managed to bring it together and delivered a solid finale. Definitely won’t go down in the books as an especially memorable rendition but he did avoid any gaffes.

I thought Charlie Puth did a solid job performing the national anthem at Super Bowl LX.

The Commercials: Besides the overload of AI spots, I thought the rest of the commercial crop was pretty balanced with a good mix of funny and emotional spots. If there is one thing that stood out to me, it is how much a spot can be enhanced with well-placed and powerful music. From Michelob using “Eye of the Tiger” during the Kurt Russell ski training montage to Enya’s “Only Time” in the NFL prostate cancer PSA to the Backstreet Boys T-Mobile commercial, using familiar and critically-acclaimed music at the perfect time can increase the likability and recall of advertising. Advertisers might have to pay a whole bunch of money in licensing fees but I am sure the ROI is worth it 😉.

The Michelob Super Bowl LX ad with Kurt Russell used the familiarity of “Eye of the Tiger” to make it stand out.

When it comes to last night’s most impactful commercials, I always like to recognize the spots that either did something super creative or extended their brand beyond the allotted 30 seconds. I thought the Lay’s “freshest bag” QR stunt was genius. A giveaway CTA with a bold promise will always engage an audience (and win you lots of data). I was amused by Coinbase’s spot that simply played “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys while the lyrics appeared on a blue screen. I smiled as those around me had “WTF” reactions as the lyrics were displayed. No doubt, when the advertiser was revealed at the end, everyone was talking about Coinbase. And then the Liquid I.V. commercial with the singing toilets also received an “attaboy” from me. After an original concept of commodes performing in unison, the screen flashed with “TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR PEE | YELLOW?” There is no doubt in my mind that everyone was silently assessing the current color of their urine.

The Lay’s commercial was successful because it had an engaging call to action that viewers could complete in their living rooms.

My personal favorite commercials from Super Bowl LX? Well it was our Eastern Washington University spot of course! But when it comes to national placements, I have three: The Pepsi polar bear commercial was great. It was the ultimate flex at Coca-Cola, it included a major viral moment from the summer, and it also incorporated music in an impactful way (“I Want to Break Free” by Queen). The Rocket Mortgage commercial was the spot that resonated with me the most. As a family that has moved to several new homes and neighborhoods over the past 10 years, the kindness of new neighbors can mean so much. And finally the NFL “belief is a superpower” commercial was so inspirational and so cute that it was the one spot that truly captured my heart. I give the Super Bowl LX commercials an A.

The Pepsi commercial with the polar bears was my favorite spot of Super Bowl LX.

The Halftime Show: I have said this in past reviews and I will say it again regarding this year’s Bad Bunny halftime show: the bookers and organizers must have done something right because I didn’t like it. The stage sets were cool and the energy seemed to be there but the musical content, crotch grabbing, and booty shaking just didn’t do it for me. Not being able to sing along to anything that was performed nor feeling the least bit of inspiration also contributed to my lackluster reaction. I do feel this particular show will age well because the colors were vibrant and it looked fantastic on TV but even the cameos by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin couldn’t make me feel connected and impressed by the show.

The Bad Bunny Super Bowl LX halftime performance won’t go down as my favorite.

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To be completely honest, I write this annual blog post just so I will have my talking points straight when I chat with my EWU colleagues about the game this morning 😂. Nah, I also do this yearly entry because it is fun to write about…especially the marketing aspects. Congrats on your NFL title, Seahawks! Don’t Blink.

Past Super Bowl Commentary
Super Bowl LIX
Super Bowl LVIII
Super Bowl LVII
Super Bowl LVI
Super Bowl LV
Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LI
Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl XLIX