Now that Super Bowl XLIX is in the rear view mirror, and the New England Patriots have been duly congratulated for winning anything but a Mediocre Bowl, for those of us with no pigskin in the big game this year, it’s time to think about the possible magic of Super Bowl L.
Wait what? Is that really a good idea, given the recognized meaning of the L-word?
After all, Glee and others have done too impressive of a job cementing the “loser” meaning to L, even though another more positive alternative branding cliche exists: Leadership (as we’ve noted before).
The NFL began using Roman numerals to designate each Super Bowl, beginning with the single-letter V in 1971 for the 5th Super Bowl, and continuing through X to designate the 10th Super Bowl in 1976, all the way to XLIX as depicted above.
However, back in June 2014, the NFL finally announced it would lose the Roman numeral graphic design, kind of like the disappearing 13th floor in an elevator, because Super Bowl “L” wouldn’t be aesthetically pleasing by itself, at least to some — probably unlucky too.
So, next year, Super Bowl L won’t exist, instead we’ll be talking about Super Bowl 50, the Golden Bowl, to be played in the Golden State at the home field of the San Francisco 49ers, who mined for gold back in the day.
Then, after a one year hiatus from that pesky singular Roman numeral, the NFL plans to be back in the Roman numeral business with Super Bowl LI in Houston, and more importantly, Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis in 2018. Make sure to come see us!
I’m thinking the NFL probably made the right call in losing the solo L for the 50th Super Bowl, the graphic on the left below just doesn’t work and only invites ridicule — but, do our readers who are graphic designer types agree? Was there no possible way to sell an elegant solo L?
What do you think, will the Roman numerals make a comeback in Houston for Super Bowl 51?
Oh, I almost forgot, what did you think of the Super Bowl ads?
Budweiser tugged at the heartstrings again, this time with Puppy Love.
Seems like there were lots of ads promoting other television programs — since I’m a huge fan of The Voice and Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome, that combo was hard to beat for me.
Fiat’s use of a little blue pill to introduce the new 500X made me, as a trademark type, wonder what Pfizer thought about it, can you say Viagra? 
Does Fiat not appreciate that Pfizer also owns a non-traditional trademark registration for the color blue as applied to a diamond shaped dosage tablet?
Was Fiat’s use of a hexagonal-shaped tablet enough to avoid the scope of non-traditional trademark rights held by Pfizer? Might some have thought it simply was another funny co-branding Super Bowl ad?
So, which Super Bowl ads were your favorites and why?