Best Superbowl Ad - The NFL Network's "Employee Referral Program" Ad....

Anyone beside me think it was a weak Super Bowl, in terms of the commercials?  It just seemed that the laughs were few, and the quality was poor, with a few exceptions...

My vote for best ad was an easy one.  During the playoffs, the NFL ran a contest where they allowed every player in the league to step in front of the camera and tell a unique story about their life in the league.  The reward for the winner?  To be featured in the NFL Network's 30-second spot during Super Bowl XLII.

The winner was Ephriam Salaam of the Houston Texans, who tells the story of his personal experience, in the form of an "employee referral program."  Here's a rundown of the story from www.houstontexans.com:

"The commercial tells how Salaam, while at San Diego State University, convinced Pitts to try out for the Aztecs football team. Pitts was a student working as a grocery bagger at a local supermarket. He had attended a math and science academy in high school, which had no football team.

But he heeded Salaam’s advice, walked on to the team and, a few years later, had developed so rapidly that he was selected by the Texans in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Salaam, a seventh-round draft choice by the Atlanta Falcons in 1998, reunited with Pitts in Houston as a free agent signee in 2006. He since has started 30 consecutive games next to his former college teammate on the left side of the offensive line.

“It is a phenomenal story that is true,” Salaam said. “Hollywood couldn’t write a script like this. We’re playing next to each other. How about that? I’m having fun playing next to one of my close friends that I knew before football and that doesn’t happen, ever.”

When I saw the commercial, I immediately thought of how all of us have tried at times to have managers and employees carry referral cards, usually with weak results, because most of the folks we were arming with the cards aren't salespeople.  The last thing they want to do is pitch someone on a job.

Then you see a story like this and remember that the best hires are equal parts chance, fate and awareness.  Makes me want to run out and create this type of commercial in an employment branding campaign.

Enjoy the spot if you didn't see it.  Make sure you think twice about the checkout clerk that gives you great service.  You might be missing an obvious hire...

You Should Play Football - NFL