Another 64,000 trudged through the snow to Ford Field in Detroit to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers pound the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
Double that descended on the Super Bowl city to do everything from simply lingering around the mezzanine at the Renaissance Center downtown in hopes of seeing stars to attending the Maxim and Playboy parties, which are traditionally the hottest tickets in town.
The Super Bowl has become more than just a game — it's a nationwide party, a debut for edgy advertising and, especially after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," an event where anything might happen.
They may not have flashed any body parts — except for Mick Jagger's well-toned stomach — but the Rolling Stones made ABC glad editors were on duty for the Super Bowl halftime show.
Lyrics excised
Two sexually explicit lyrics were excised from the rock legends' performance Sunday. The only song to avoid the editor was ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,'' a 41-year-old song about sexual frustration.
''Here's one we could have done at Super Bowl I,'' Jagger wryly said in introducing ''Satisfaction."
ABC was the first network to impose a five-second tape delay on the Super
A Motown tribute kicked off the festivities, but the national anthem offered a particularly odd partnership — Aaron Neville and Dr. John (in a tribute to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans) with Detroit favorite Aretha Franklin. Neville sang half of the song in his feathery-soft voice, then was never heard from again when Franklin blew the dome's roof off.
Advertisers, armed with huge budgets, set out to create the most memorable ads in the most-watched television event of the year.
At stake is far more than the $2.5 million average price tag that marketers shell out for a 30-second spot. Advertisers are hoping to claim bragging rights for the funniest, most memorable commercials that viewers will be talking about this morning and beyond.
The highlights and lowlights of this year's ''game within the game.''
* DARKEST HUMOR: Once again Ameriquest Mortgage came through with an effective but slightly disturbing ad, this time with a pair of doctors who use defibrillator paddles to zap an errant fly hovering over a patient. The patient's wife and daughter get a scare when they walk in and hear the doctor declare: ''That killed him.''
* BEST USE OF A CELEBRITY: Celebrity cameos are a staple of Super Bowl spots. Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame won points in a spot for Aleve, a painkiller made by Unilever. Facing a convention of Star Trek loyalists, Nimoy is able to do his fabled Vulcan open hand, split-finger salute only after a dose.
* BEST AD FOR A LOUD BAR: Full Throttle, a new energy drink from Coca-Cola Co. No sound necessary to understand what's going on here. Family guy unloading groceries ditches his wife for a motorcycle, lured in by the sight of a huge truck carrying the energy drink. Mad Max-inspired vehicles, sumo wrestlers, and other signs of manliness line the streets. A wimpy vehicle powered by competitor Red Bull is, naturally, run off the road.
* MOST EXPENSIVE-LOOKING: Burger King. Back in the bowl after an 11-year absence, the fast food maker put on an elaborate, Ziegfeld follies-esque show with show girls dressed up as burger ingredients.
* STRANGEST USE OF SCI-FI EFFECTS: Gillette's new fusion razor got a full-bore science fiction treatment. Why razors keep adding blades remain a mystery to many shavers, as does the rationale for using guys in lab coats and in a secret lab to build a new razor blade.
* BEST USE OF COMPUTER ANIMATION: FedEx, with a clever spot showing a caveman who should have used FedEx to deliver his important package of what appears to be a dinosaur bone. His boss wants to know why he didn't use FedEx, and the fact that it hasn't been invented yet just isn't a good enough excuse.
- Copyright © 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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