For those of you that don't know me, I am not a fan of sports. Just in general, sports don't really interest me. I enjoy attending games, mainly for the experience and the nachos, but generally if there's a major sporting event going on I try to avoid it at all costs. There's nothing wrong with them, I just don't find them all that fascinating. That also goes for the Super Bowl. At this point, I'm still not even sure who won. I think it was Kansas City? Either way, what really does interest me in this particular sporting event is the ad campaigns that accompany it every year.
Every year in High School my Graphic Design class would gather the Monday after the Super Bowl and spend the whole class watching the commercials and talking about the best ones. Did they work? Why did they work? and what was important to note about them. Since then it's become a fun thing that I try to revisit every year. This year I thought I would share some of my favorite commercials right here with the rest of the internet! There are already lists upon lists out there dissecting the commercials and talking about which ones are superior and why, but these are just some of my top favorites that I thought might be fun to discuss! These are my own personal opinions, if there are any commercials that you think should be included in the list feel free to message me and let me know your thoughts! They also aren't in any particular order, these are just my top 5 commercials from this year.
My Top 5:
Inside Post's Brain
In this commercial, Post Malone walks into a convenience store and asks the clerk if they have Bud Light. He goes to the fridges in the back of the store and notices the Bud Seltzer on display. Suddenly the camera zooms into Post's mind where there are a bunch of tatted-up men and women controlling his body. They all agree to taste the Seltzer and they flash to the "Taste Bud" department where a bunch of ripped, "Bros" are yelling in enjoyment. The control room then starts fighting over which beverage Post should get, the beer or the Seltzer. As they're jolting the joystick back and forth Post starts uncontrollably destroying the mini-mart, pulling himself in various directions and knocking over shelf after shelf of products. Finally, one girl in his mind chimes in and says, "Guys, guys. We're rich. Let's get both." They zoom out to Post holding both the beer and the seltzer and he looks up at the cashier, who is standing in shock, and Post asks, "You got any pretzels?"
I'll start this off by saying, I don't know much about Post Malone or his music. I know he comes from Grapevine and that he's an avid gamer, but other than that he's just another rapper to me. But this commercial really had me laughing. All-in-all it's not the most original idea for a commercial but I think the execution was great. Post had some great comedic timing, and the little nuances like all of the people inside his mind having face tattoos or his taste buds being BUDS, really just helped bring the whole thing to life. It was easily enjoyable, and the end line made me, "HA!" louder than I had meant to.
Smaht Pahk
Car commercials as a whole will run together for me because they all say the same things: Luxury, Speed, Affordability, Towing Power, Eco-Friendly, Safety. I'm probably leaving a few things out, but you get the point. Car commercials are formulaic and as a whole not very easy to be creative with. But Hyundai was able to create something that still explained the new feature, and was enjoyable to watch. In this commercial, John Krasinski got a new Hyundai with the "Smart Park" feature that allows him to leave his car and have it park itself. Since this ad is set in Boston (where I'm assuming parking is difficult) they all have strong Boston accents where they refer to it as, "Smaht Pahk." Then at the end, they show on the screen, "Bettah drives us." Which was a nice little touch.
I saw this commercial before it aired on the Super Bowl (because apparently they've gone the way of Black Friday and everything starts early now) and I actually consciously decided to watch the whole thing instead of skipping it to get to my YouTube video. I thought the commercial was funny, creative, and functional. It explained what the product was clearly while adding in enough humor and famous actors to help you remember what it was they were advertising. They also released a second part to this commercial that unfortunately fell flat for me because I didn't know who the other guy was that was featured in it.
Little Caesars Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread
Little Caesars has now started delivering! It only took them 100 years to join the rest of the world, but with that announcement came this silly ad depicting the Sliced Bread industry crumbling after people started calling Little Caesars delivery, "The greatest thing since sliced bread." Rainn Wilson, the CEO of Sliced Bread tries to come up with the next big invention in bread, but falls short and ends up having to find a new job. He starts working for Little Caesars as a delivery driver and as his customer starts to say, "Wow, this is the greatest" Rainn interrupts him and shouts, "The greatest thing since sliced bread, I know!"
I thought this commercial was creative and silly. I am a sucker for advertisements that make me laugh. I'm not necessarily more likely to buy your product, but I'll remember it more if it makes me giggle. Overall I think this ad was funny, I enjoyed Rainn's part in it and I think they did a good job of creating a narrative.
Rick and Morty x Pringles
Rick and Summer are sitting on the couch watching TV when a Pringles commercial comes on talking about how you can create different flavor combinations by layering different chip flavors and eating them together. Morty then walks in carrying a bunch of different Pringle cans and starts suggesting that they all create different combinations of flavors. At that point Rick jumps up and starts attacking Morty, revealing that Morty is actually a robot and they're trapped in a Pringles commercial. Morty robots start running into the house and attacking Rick and Summer and end up taking over the commercial. It ends rather abruptly with a "Morty" eating chips and staring into the camera.
I enjoyed this commercial for a few reasons. First off, I love Rick and Morty. Their sense of humor isn't for everyone, but I find it great. So right there that's a win in my book. Secondly, I thought it was a creative way to advertise something that seems so commonplace in today's advertising. It's tough coming back to the Super Bowl every year with a fresh new idea, and I think integrating Rick and Morty into their commercial was a nice way to set them apart from the other snack ads. Lastly, and this is something I know Pringles has advertised before but it never really registered to me: I never thought to combine different flavors. Call me stupid, but I don't think I ever paid attention to their previous commercials enough to actually think about what they were suggesting. This commercial got me to pay attention to it and actually consider doing what they wanted me to do, which is kind of the whole point.
Mountain Dew Zero Sugar
Bryan Cranston parodies the classic movie The Shining in this commercial, playing Jack and the twins. He recreates the scene where Jack chops down the bathroom door while his wife screams on the other side. He sticks his head through the hole in the door and says, "Here's Mountain Dew Zero Sugar!" And his wife says, "I am thirsty." And she takes the drink from him. It then cuts to the elevator scene where hundreds of gallons of Mountain Dew come pouring out of the elevator. Finally, you see Bryan Cranston dressed up as the twins holding up the Mountain Dew bottles as the commercial ends.
I enjoyed this commercial for two reasons. It had Bryan Cranston in it, who I enjoy immensely. I believe he is a great actor who really does a great job of getting into the character he is portraying. Him recreating Jack and the twins was a humorous and fun adaptation to this commercial, and I think that wins some points in my book. Also, the use of The Shining as the base of this commercial was very interesting to me. They are saying that even though the classic Mountain Dew has a new spin on it, it's just as good as the original. Also since The Shining is a horror movie it acknowledges the "fear of trying new things".
Some people are skeptical of drinking no sugar sodas (and I don't blame them because they're gross) so it might be hard to get people on board with trying a sugarless version of the most sugary soda on the market currently. I think overall they did a good job of enticing the skeptics into trying out the new sugarless version, even if it ends up being gross because sugarless sodas really are just nasty. Also so is Mountain Dew.
Saddest Commercial
#1: Loretta
I won't lie, this commercial is amazingly made. This opinion doesn't come from anywhere other than emotion. I hated this commercial because it was too sad. It's beautiful and thoughtful and I believe Google did a wonderful job integrating their product into a real-life use, but it was too damn sad! There are two emotions I don't want thrust upon me without my permission, and that's fear and sadness. Those two emotions will automatically turn me off to whatever it is I'm watching if I was not expecting them. And when I'm watching Bob's Burgers at 8 pm on a Sunday night minding my own business I don't want to look up and start bawling my eyes out because this sweet man is trying to remember that his wife loved going to Alaska or had beautiful handwriting. It's a heart-wrenching commercial that does what it was intended to do but gives you no choice in the matter. I'm going to be forced to watch this commercial a hundred more times in the coming weeks and every time I'm going to turn down the volume or take out my headphones.
Conclusion:
It seems like this years' Super Bowl commercials didn't really bring their A-game. It feels like in previous years they pulled out all the stops to create the zaniest, craziest, funniest commercials they could. There are still commercials from years ago that people talk about to this day, and I don't see any of these taking that mantel. Overall this year just didn't feel up to snuff. I can't decide if it's because ratings have been lower in the past 5 years and companies didn't want to invest MORE than the already hefty $5.6 million just for the ad time for something that wasn't going to bring in money, or if it's from another outside source... But, either way, there were still some funny and creative commercials that came out of this years' festivities, and I'll patiently wait in anticipation for next year's!
Much love!
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