Grade A:
NFL: Super Bowl Babies
If you ignore the fact that these kids are singing about their parents doing it, this commercial is brilliant. Showing a collection of babies born nine months after their parent’s teams won the Super Bowl while harmonizing with Seal was such a special moment for everyone.
Hyundai: First Date
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGIyEkMuhVY
Starring Kevin Hart, this commercial shows the protective dad who lets his daughter’s date borrow his car for the evening. At first, it seems like a nice gesture, but as the date goes on, Hart shows up everywhere they go. Even though this was funny, it makes the whole “car finder” feature the scariest thing to happen to teens since they realized their moms were on Facebook.
T-Mobile: Ball Dropped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI8YZdejPKg
Steve Harvey started in this commercial saying that he has to apologize because Verizon was wrong on T-Mobile’s LTE coverage. The commercial joked on Harvey’s unfortunate mix up last December when he announced the wrong contestant as winner of the Miss Universe competition. I liked how Harvey made light of a situation that could’ve been career ending for him.
Grade B:
Heinz: Wiener Stampeded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxsG8bXfHs
Small dogs in cute hot dog costumes are sure to be a crowd pleaser. But, what really makes this commercial great is that the dogs are running in slow motion toward people dressed up in various ketchup outfits, the best being the little ketchup packet. Was it the best commercial of the evening? Not exactly, but it was still very good.
Hyundai: Ryanville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih4VYnbm6Sw
First we learned about Hyundai’s new locating feature, next we are introduced to their advanced safety features (Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection), with the help of Ryan Reynolds. The commercial shows these two young women who keep getting distracted by Reynolds doing a variety of activities from playing football on the lawn to doing road construction. It was funny and cute, but Hart won the Hyundai commercial battle.
Bud Light: Bud Light Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JohgwbpQuy8
Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer mock political ads and themselves in this commercial for Bud Light. Its pretty much funny straight through, even the part about Paul Rudd being the thing everyone agrees on. The best part is that it lets Schumer be Schumer with some not-subtle raunchy base on the word “caucus.” It wasn’t the best, but it was still one of the better ones.
Grade C:
Doritos: Ultrasound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNK1_Yop6oo
This commercial shows a couple at an ultrasound appointment to see their baby, but the father seems to be a little more preoccupied with his bag of Doritos. But, so is the baby. With the mother growing impatient, she grabs the bag of chips and throws it across the room where the baby soon followed, causing the birth of this couple’s child. Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also quite weird. It just seemed like there could’ve been a better way to advertise chips.
Toyota Prius: The Longest Chase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYeM-8hO3hM
Bank robbers set the police on a wild speed chase while driving a Prius. The commercial had a great concept and some good parts, but in the end, I felt it had some cheesy lines. The commercial also felt like it lasted forever. It isn’t a bad advertisement, but it could’ve definitely been better.
Grade D:
Mountain Dew: Puppymonkeybaby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql7uY36-LwA
The only way I can describe this commercial is “disgusting.” I honestly want to know who thought this was a great idea? All Mountain Dew did was add a new creepy character to my nightmares. Puppymonkeybaby commercial just tries too hard to compete with the other commercials, but I do have to give it Mountain Dew. As much as I hate this commercial, I do remember it, and that is one of the main goals of advertising.
Butterfinger: Bolder than Bold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXLWAAn7gEk
This commercial left me with so many questions. Why is this man on a bull jumping out a perfectly good airplane? Why is he eating a Butterfinger while doing so? All of this is unclear. The whole setup is better fit for an “extreme brand” rather than a candy.
Grade F:
Skittles: The Portrait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ivbtgqJkg
Yes, Steven Tyler is a legend but this commercial in the end was just boring and forgettable. It was an interesting idea, but it never really kept my attention.
Xifaxan
Honestly, when I am watching the Super Bowl, I don’t want to watch a bodily function running around a stadium heading toward the restroom. There may never be a great time to run these ads, but during an event where watchers are eating food like guacamole or pizza is absolutely the worst.