Superbowl commercials: which made you laugh and which made you cry?
Sophia Bowman Last night’s Superbowl was kind of a letdown in that -spoiler- the Seahawks trounced the Broncos. The halftime show was fun, Bruno Mars put on an awesome performance. I never knew he had moves like that, and The Chili Peppers were a rocking touch. I paid more attention to the commercials, like every year, so we can talk about the highest production most expensive commercials to date. A 30 second spot during the big game costs $4 million. I remember when a million for a minute was a big deal. (When I walked 4 miles to school.) Here are some of my favorites, and I’m sure to leave a few out. Note that some of these commercials may be preceded by commercials. I don’t get it either, just skip those until you get to the second commercial.
Toyota Hylander: Terry Crewes and the Muppets
Hulu previewed this ad extensively, so I had the chance to see it a few times. It’s got The Muppets, a road trip and a goofy shirtless Crewes flexing his pecs. It’s the perfect mix for a cute, watchable commercial. The teaser is pretty awesome too.
Audi: Doberhuahua
This commercial was so impressive that I’m sure there was an immediate surge of people googling “Doberman Chihuahua Mix” immediately afterwards. Spoiler: they just look like little Dobermans. Bonus points for including Sarah McLaughlin, that was hilarious.
Ford Fusion: Rob Riggle and James Franco “Double”
I didn’t really get this back-to-back commercial, broadcast at the beginning of the show. It seemed like a lot of hype without much substance, and I say this as a Ford owner.
T-Mobile: Tim Tebow without a contract
Tebow became an astronaut, a doctor, a rockstar, a fireman, a stuntman and more in this series of two commercials (second one is here). It was a clever concept, but Tebow’s milquetoast personality made the ads fall flat for me.
Squarespace: If the Internet came to life
Here’s another clever concept: the worst of the Internet in real life including plumped up Kardashians, memes and annoying ads coming to life. It the ad was humorous instead of taking itself seriously, I may have wanted to rewatch it.
Doritos: Time machine
An hilarious, perfect little ad that my son wanted to watch over and over. It was a great balance of cute and funny. Doritos so often gets it right.
Budweiser: Puppy Love
Budweiser tugs at the heart strings with this story of a cross-species friendship. This didn’t really get to me, but maybe that’s because Nature already topped this with the true life story of a blind horse and his goat friend.
Microsoft: Empowering featuring Steve Gleason
This commercial got me though, especially when we saw the soldier stationed overseas watching his baby be born. It’s full of uplifting stories of technology helping people and bringing them together. The ad features ALS patient and former NFL player Steve Gleason narrating through his vision-activated keyboard.
Wonderful Pistachios – Stephen Colbert
Getting back to the goofy commercials, we have a series of two ads with Stephen Colbert and an eagle. He starts out subdued and then, well you’ll see:
Go Daddy: Bodybuilders, featuring a CGI version of Danica Patrick
Go Daddy’s ads can often be gross and deliberately controversial (see the nerd tonguing Bar Refaeli last year), so this one was decent in comparison.
Axe – Peace
I deliberated whether to include this commercial, which was ridiculous, over-the-top and as manipulative as a Leni Riefenstahl film. Maybe that’s why it works, though. Perfumed aerosol spray used to mask adolescent odor can help bring about world peace.
Oikos: The Spill featuring John Stamos
Oikos has been bringing sexy ads with John Stamos for a few years now, so it’s nice to see them mix it up by putting his Full House costars in the mix. I can’t decide whether this suggestive ad is obnoxious or funny.
Heinz: Hum
This was a great commercial that didn’t overreach. It conveyed that Heinz is there for memorable moments, even embarrassing ones.
Hyundai Genesis – Dad’s sixth sense
At the end of this commercial, I realized that I’ll want a self-stopping vehicle for when my son learns to drive. This was a great commercial that works. Hyundai’s other big game commercial, with Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki, was just bizarre and unfunny.
Radioshack: The 80s Called
This ad featured everyone from Mary Lou Retton to Dee Snider to Chuckie to Alf. I have had some bad experiences trying to shop at Radioshack, and this ad seems to tacitly acknowledge that they’re stuck in the past and need to get their sh*t together.
Turbotax: Love Hurts
Narrated by John C. Reilly, this ad captured the frustration of sports fans having to watch a Superbowl without their favorite teams.
Volkswagon: Engineers get their wings
Another tight concept executed well. We didn’t need to see the rainbows shooting out of their butts to find that part laughable. The teaser ad from Volkswagon was also very good.
Bud Light – Ian Up for Whatever
This was a series of two ads in which it was explained that a guy named Ian would unwittingly become part of a Superbowl commercial. Of course Ian was game, and of course the ads were absurd. The tagline: “Bud Light – the perfect beer for when Don Cheadle, a llama named Lilly and the identical twin of the girl you just met take you to a party, where you defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger in a sudden death ping pong match that puts you onstage with OneRepublic.” Yes, all of those things were in that one ad and more. So the takeaway is that when you drink a lot of beer, crazy things happen.
Here are both ads, in order.
I didn’t forget Hiddles or Scarjo! We already covered those ads.
Other honorable mentions:
David Beckham strips down for H&M
Ellen DeGeneres for Beats Music. Not good.
Cheerios kid negotiates for a puppy. If you don’t know the backstory, this ad isn’t as impactful.
Kia – The Truth featuring Laurence Fishburne
Bear ransacks a general store to get at some Chobani
Intuit – Bring the Toys featuring GoldieBlox
Carmax – Slow Clap and Slow Clap with puppies
