On Sunday night, the 59th Super Bowl took place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. While millions found themselves glued to the television to watch these men throw around a football, I watched for a different reason — the ads.
Many companies came to play this year, from Dunkin’ Donuts and Hellmann’s, to HexClad and Salesforce, but very few were able to score touchdowns amongst consumers. So, without further ado, here are the best and worst ads from Super Bowl LIX, by a chronically online marketing major at the University of Connecticut.
Let’s start off with what worked.
Coors Light
Coors Light is making Mondays a little less painful for anyone 21 years old and over. Their ad featured sloths going about their regular Mondays doing everything from sitting at their corporate jobs, shopping through grocery stores, cycling in spin classes and even taking part in a “slow speed chase.” The famous song “Monday Monday” by The Mamas and the Papas plays in the background. At the end of the commercial, a voice says, “Get a case of the Mondays.”
At certain retail locations, on Monday following the Super Bowl, Coors Light released a limited edition 12-pack of beer called “Mondays Light.” They’ve put out sweat sets, blankets and hats all covered in their new slogan, “I have a case of the Mondays.” Altogether, this was a funny lighthearted commercial that perfectly accompanies their new campaign.
Angel Soft
Angel Soft got my award for best creativity. Their commercial aired right before Kendrick Lamar took the stage for the Apple Music Halftime Performance, and it featured a thirty-second timer, or as Angel Soft called it a “Potty-tunity.” They used their airtime to tell those watching to take a quick bathroom break before the performance was about to start. Overall, it was a clever commercial for this toilet paper brand!
Duracell
Tom Brady made cameos in many Super Bowl commercials the other night, but his greatest appearance was in Duracell’s. The commercial featured him and Kevin Burkhardt commenting on the game, and suddenly, Brady “turns off.” Out of nowhere a “Duracell Scientist” steps on the scene and “replaces Brady’s batteries.” Once Brady is turned back on, Burkhardt asks if he is okay, to which he replies, “Why does everyone keep asking me that since the roast?” This references “The Roast of Tom Brady” which was released by Netflix last year. All in all, Duracell did a fantastic job with their ad featuring great pop culture references and the successful use of celebrities.
Jeep
The most cinematic commercial of the night goes to Jeep. This commercial featured Harrison Ford in a picturesque log cabin speaking about how life doesn’t give you an owner’s manual; you have to create your own. Inspirational, right? The best part of his commentary is towards the very end when he says, “This Jeep makes me happy… even though my name is Ford.”
Uber Eats
Uber Eats explored the myth that football was created in order to eat more food. This commercial featured a star-studded cast of celebrities led by the one and only Matthew McConaughey. It included tons of pop culture references from Charli XCX eating a green apple, a nod to her hit song “Apple” off her Grammy-nominated album “Brat.” Sean Evans was also seen eating wings with McConaughey, a reference to Evans’s show “Hot Wings” which recently sold for $82.5 million. The commercial ended with the director of Barbie, Greta Gerwig, confused about how to turn McConaughey’s conspiracy theory into a movie. Out of all the ads, this one had the best celebrity cameos!
Honorable Mentions: Budweiser, Pringles, Dove and Hellmann’s
Even though companies will spend anywhere between $4-$10 million producing a Super Bowl ad, many of them continue to fall short. So, here’s what didn’t work.
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew’s Super Bowl commercial featured British singer-songwriter Seal’s face on an actual seal. This was too random and did not tie back to Mountain Dew as a brand in any particular way, but it did get a lot of people talking!
Coffee Mate
Coffee Mate made their Super Bowl commercial debut this year, and let’s just say, it was not good at all. The commercial zoomed in on a man’s tongue dancing and doing flips after taking a sip of Coffee Mate creamer. The idea was there but the execution was way off.
Stand Up to Hate
This “Stand Up to Hate” commercial showed us how putting random celebrities together does not always equal success. In this ad, Tom Brady and Snoop Dog told each other different reasons why they “hated” each other but none of the dialogue made sense or left any meaningful impact on the listeners. It was definitely one of the worst of the night.
Tubi
Tubi may have taken the cake for having the weirdest ad of the night. Everyone in this commercial seemed to have a head that included a hat. It’s hard to explain so you should give it a watch — or not. You might be wondering why you wasted your time on something so disturbing.