Last night’s Super Bowl game was actually more interesting than most of the commercials, which was a first for me. I’m not that into American Football but even I noticed that the game was tight, that it got tied up right before halftime and that an upset in the last two minutes cinched it for The Patriots. Plus there was a huge fight at the end with multiple players wailing on each other.
There were standout commercials, but overall people were struck by how serious and somewhat depressing they were. Some ads were heartwarming and there’s always a call for that, but one took the glurge commercial genre to a new, dark place. If you watched the Super Bowl commercials you know I’m talking about Nationwide’s “the kid bites it” commercial.
Nationwide: Make Safe Happen
This awful, manipulative commercial showed a sweet boy going on adventures he’d never have and then dropping the bomb “I couldn’t grow up, because I died from an accident.” Then Nationwide helpfully let us know that the number one cause of childhood death is preventable accidents. I don’t understand what their point was. If we buy insurance for our kids, we’ll be more likely to read one of their pamphlets and put child locks on our cleaning supply closets? It made no sense, and it seemed to exist just to bring us down. Mission accomplished.
Nationwide: Mindy Kaling is invisible
Nationwide lost consumer’s goodwill with that horrible dead kid commercial, which is too bad for them because their other ad had one of the best surprises of the night. There was plenty of advance buzz for this commercial in which Mindy Kaling gets up to all sorts of playful naughtiness when she assumes no one can see her. The actual game day ad had a wonderful surprise guest at the end. It was Matt Damon and I don’t blame Mindy Kaling for smelling his hair. Even Matt Damon and Mindy Kaling do not have the power to make us forget Nationwide’s terrible blunder, though. Someone is going to get fired for that ad.
Esurance: Lindsay Lohan is sorta your mom; Walter White is a pharmacist
Lindsay warned us out of the only side of her face that moved that major insurance companies profile their customers. She also tacitly warned us that she’s still a menace on the road and that she’s still getting paid to show up for stuff. Esurance’s second commercial last night featured Bryan Cranston as his Breaking Bad character, Walter White. It would have been a great commercial if he wasn’t shilling for the same brand as Lilo.
T-Mobile: #KimsDataStash
Kim Kardashian turned lost data into a PSA-worthy awareness announcement as she mournfully took belfies. It’s a clever, memorable play on her persona.
T-Mobile: Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler: One-Upped
I had to watch this commercial twice before I figured out the feature they were shilling: wi-fi calling. I was too distracted by all the awesome faux-features of Silverman and Handler’s mansions. My favorite part: Silverman’s trophy room with just one solitary, lonely trophy. Is that her Emmy Award? She has two.
Mophie: All Powerless
This play on apocalypse movies was a joy to watch. It included so many details like a dog walking a person, a priest stealing a TV, and a rooster on top of a goat on top of a donkey. This is the first national commercial for Mophie, which offers battery-boosting devices.
Loctite Glue: Positive Feelings
I saw this ad late in the game and it really won me over. This is hands down my favorite ad this year. There’s a catchy jingle, a bunch of oddballs jamming out, and an easy to remember product. Bonus points for the subtly winking unicorn pin and the bottles glued to the wall.
Bud Light: Real Life PacMan
This follows Bud Light’s Super Bowl tradition of taking regular drinking dudes and giving them amazing experiences while capturing it on “hidden” cameras. In 2014 we had “Ian Up for Whatever” with celebrity cameos. In this ad three guys from a bar get the experience of their lives with a pop-up “coin activated” party complete with a live action Pacman game. It’s hard to believe they plucked this guy out of nowhere, surely he was vetted, or maybe they did this with multiple groups of guys. His enthusiasm is infectious and makes us feel like we’re part of the action.
Budweiser: Lost Dog
Budweiser is excellent at giving us continuity with their Superbowl commercials. Last year we saw the Clydesdales fall in love with a puppy, presumably making a love match between the dog’s beautiful blonde owner and the hot farmer. This year (spoiler) the Clydesdales rescue an identical-looking puppy when he gets lost and into a rough spot. All that’s missing is a shot of the farmer’s hot wife. I guess that didn’t work out for him.
McDonalds: Pay with Lovin’
The lost dog commercial didn’t get me, but damn this McDonald’s commercial did. I just wonder: did they ask the old dude to call his mom and tell her he loved her? What if all he has is memories of her? *cuts onions*
Mountain Dew: Kickstart
Everything in the room starts dancing after the basement dwelling buds take sips of the Dew energy drink. It just makes me think of how much damn caffeine must be in the stuff. I guess it has hallucinogenic properties too.
Liam Neeson: Clash of Clans
Liam Neeson is Angry Neeson 52 in this Clash of Clans ad. Neeson angrily threatens his competition, sneering and talking to his phone as he stands in a coffee shop. So well played, and much better than the Kate Upton Age of Empires commercial.
Fiat: The Blue Pill
A randy Italian gentlemen loses his Viagra out the window. The little blue pill flies through a Rube Goldberg machine of Italian scenes until ending up the gas tank of a Fiat, where it makes the little car bulk up to be magically more attractive to women.
Skittles: Settle It
Somewhere, in a town in the middle of nowhere, Skittles are so revered and scarce that everyone fights over single flavors of their favorite treat. (I wrote that on Twitter.) Old ladies, babies, and even dogs have pumped up right arms from epic arm wrestling bouts. All the better to eat Skittles with.
Squarespace: Dreaming with Jeff
Did you know that Jeff Bridges has a new album that’s designed to put people to sleep? He does, and he made the website with Squarespace. This effective, sparse ad has me intrigued. Jeff Bridges can stroke a Tibetan singing bowl at my bedside anytime.
Wix: It’s That Easy
Squarespace’s lesser-known competitor, Wix, is offering NFL stars Brett Favre, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Owens, Larry Allen & Franco Harris a second act with easy to create websites. While most of the post-NFL careers seem ridiculous and are of course fictional, remember that Jeff Bridges just put out “sleeping tapes.”
Snickers: The Brady Bunch
Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi step into this classic Brady Bunch episode to portray Jan and Marcia. It’s a cute concept that falls flat despite the star power.
Kia: Pierce Brosnan in The Perfect Getaway
Pierce takes a pitch from an exec in this endearing ad that mixes a traditional car commercial with an action movie. It works because Pierce plays it with just the right amount of humor.
BMW i3: Newfangled Idea featuring Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric
This commercial makes an electric car seem as amazing as the Internet. They show a 1994 clip of Bryant Gumble and Katie Couric trying to figure out how the Internet works and move to present day as Gumble and Couric marvel over the i3. I like it because it actually makes me want the car.
Nissan: With Dad
Nissan reminded us that our loved ones are always with us, even when they have death defying jobs or something. I’m just being glib, this ad chronicling a young boy’s relationship with his racecar driving dad got me teary.
Mercedes Benz: Fable
In this twist on the tortoise and the hare fable, the tortoise wins “by a hare” thanks to the new Mercedes-AMG GT S. It’s a beautiful ad with high production value. Mercedes brought this to the next level with online companion ads featuring NFL great Jerry Rice in a faux sports talk show speculating on who would win, the tortoise or the hare. One ad featured Rice debating with Playboy bunny, Stephanie Branton, and another with a little kid. Adorable.
NoMore Domestic Violence PSA
Inspired by a 911 call said to have taken place 10 years ago, we hear a voiceover of a woman calling 911 to “order pizza” while covertly reporting her partner for domestic abuse. The scenes cut around the house to evidence of violence and a struggle. This is the first domestic violence ad to run during the Superbowl and was donated by the NFL to the NoMore campaign.
Honorable Mentions:
Always: Like a Girl
Chevy: Your signal just went out
Coca Cola turns the whole Internet nice
Toyota: How Great I am featuring Amy Purdy
Microsoft: Estella’s Brilliant Bus
I only caught a couple… but am here to say I have the Jeff Bridges album – it’s epic.
I keep seeing a different ad for this on Hulu Plus. I’m intrigued. It’s worth the cash?
The commercial with Mindy Kaling was cute and the bit with Matt Damon made me laugh out loud.
The Nationwide/safety commercial felt like a cheap shot for shock value, and had no point.
I enjoyed the Liam Neeson revenge commercial, especially when they mispronounced his name at the end.
And Kim’s commercial made me think that she can’t physically speak easily anymore, that all the work has somehow paralyzed part of her face. She certainly can’t emote, and that commercial only added fuel to the rumor that she still lives with mom because she functions on such a low level.
See I was disappointed with Mindys ad. The Matt Damon ending is a little cute but certainly not funny or entertaining to me. Acting out a scene to the soundtrack of Pretty Woman must have been a career high for her, that girl does love her romcoms. I liked Kims and Lilos ads though. I guess because they were playing on their public image.
Nice synopsis of each ad. Thank you. 🙂
Watched the halftime show during the Puppy Bowl staring “Katty Furry” beat so many of these commercials. “Katty Furry” was one pissed off cat! The video should be on YouTube or Dlisted. Just too funny!!
Geez I wouldn’t put Kardashian into the fun and playful category because she sounded horrid per her usual self. Not one other sight has her commercial in the top fifteen. She sounded like someone was playing a record but on the wrong speed.
I was actually shocked by her looks. Her face is a mess. I have seen hundreds of still photos of her, but haven’t seen her walk and talk in ages. My house full of company burst out laughing and made fun of her looks. Kind of sad.
I saw the “No More Domestic Violence PSA” a day before the game- knowing it was based on a real event- it made me cry a bit. Heartbreaking.
I thought it was great but it was so subtle. It took awhile for me to explain it to my kids.
I cried too. It really took my breath away.
I had to explain it to my son (12) but thought it was very well done. Much more subtle than that stupid Nationwide commercial.
That PSA gave me chills. And I love Mindy. The end.
My backsi.. my bu… eh back.. backhand?
I didn’t see all of them, but the majority during the game seemed overly sentimental, to the point where I wondered if the NFL put out the word that after all the bad PR, they wanted more wholesome commercials.
I was thinking maybe after the success of Budweiser’s Puppy Love commercial last year, these companies decided to emulate them, and go for the heartstrings and emotion rather then laughs.
Agree, I thought it was over the top with the heartstring pulling vs. the humor that used to dominate. The McDonald’s one really irked me for some reason. Me and my cold black heart.
This is exactly what my husband said too. It was obvious and really heavy-handed. The commercials were too heavy on the forced sentiment and tried far too hard.
My dad died a few months ago. Those Toyota commercials made me and my sister teary. Seemed kind of inappropriate. I loved the old guy/Viagra car commercial and the Like a Girl Commercial. The Hashtag Balls commercials, don’t even remember what they were for, made everyone in my house howl. Kim K’s commercial got big laughs too, although for the wrong reasons. I felt kind of bad for her.
Adverts like that always get me when theyre about mother and daughter. I lost mine at 17, so I’ll never get all the things these adverts describe as ‘vital’ and ‘life fulfilling’. Lots of us who have lost someone feel like that, its a real stab in the heart.
Where is the Always commercial? Now that one made me tear up.
I was coming here to say the same thing. That was my favorite commercial, by far, though I really appreciated the domestic violence PSA because I thought that was a powerful and informative message. I found many of the commercials for products to be lackluster.
Puppies and Pac Man!!
Good to see all the ad links. Being a mom, I spend most of my time in the kitchen getting all the snacks ready and miss most of the pre game ads. I loved puppy ads, Kim’s too. Mindy’s,Liam’s and Mtn Dew were funny, others were okay.
Maybe it is because I am a mom who is raising two daughters but the Always commercial was my favorite. My daughter ran like a girl and fought like a girl when her basketball team won 47-24 yesterday. Strong, athletic girls on both teams.
Great message in that commercial.
I have 2 daughters and I love girls and sports. That Like A Girl commercial was great.
Both of my girls are into sports and I love every second of it! My eleven year old is already 5′ 9 so thankfully she loves basketball.
Enjoy your girls!! 🙂
Kim’s commercial brought out the savage in people on twitter. Good god all those memes were hilarious.
Now I have to look for those memes. My houseful were completely mean to Kim. I commented up thread that I was shocked by her face. She is so wax like.
My daughter had to do an assignment on a Super Bowl commercial and she chose the KK one. She said it was just too weird and nothing else would top it. She had no idea what it was advertising so we had to explain it to her but she loved that it labeled KK as a “famous person”. It’s pretty bad when my 13 yo said, “don’t they mean p0rn star?”
I missed a lot of the other commercials but I hated the Nationwide commercial, found the PSA powerful and loved the glue commercial.
Sorry, that McDonald’s concept is nauseating.
I didn’t recognize Chelsea Handler. I thought the Nationwide commercial about the dead child was a good commercial. People get all offended with the facts. Watch your damn kids.
Agreed. I know it’s a downer, but tragedies are a fact of life, and I hope they prevented one with that ad.
It may be a fact but it is also a scare tactic aired during a show a lot of kids watch. That was the problem. We don’t need to scare our kids like that. I didn’t appreciate having to explain it to my child. I have only known one child out of hundreds who died of a random childhood accident and I didn’t even know the child personally. Yes, they happen but your child is much, much more likely to die in a car accident. That is also a fact. How about they focus on car safety instead instead of encouraging us to wrap our children in bubbles and make them afraid of the world because some freak accident MIGHT happen? That is the problem with the commercial.
The writer of the “Cat’s Cradle” song for Nissan died in a car wreck. Maybe not the best song to have in a car commercial. Also-the message of that was clearly “I’m going to never be there for you and abandon you, but it will be fine if I just show up with a cool car when you are a teenager. Drive a Nissan!” Awful.
And seriously that Nationwide ad? What the heck?
These were the two worst commercials of the night for me. That Nationwide commercial was terrible and someone should be fired for their poor judgement.
I hated the Nissan ad too, so awful.
I love the song, “Cat’s in the Cradle”, but the end always drives me crazy. The father calls his now grown son, and wants to see him. Son tells him it’s a bad time – he’s got a new job, and his kids have the flu, but it’s good talking to you dad. The father hangs up and thinks – “My boy is just like me”. No he’s not! He’s prioritizing his children as well as his job, weren’t you listening?
I thought the Nissan one was terrible – that song is about a dad who misses out on his son’s childhood because he prioritized work, and that’s exactly what he did! I would feel different if the dad was a firefighter, or in the military…but he was racing cars. I hope it was worth it…!
This one was way too long and the whole fam including my teen boys were like “huh”?? at the end! Stupid. IT had potential but then it was just too much.
I know, the song is a cautionary tale about blowing off your family…it really was a stupid ad.
Yeah. I’m so over the hero worship and martyring of Nascar drivers.
Very nice synopsis for those who didn’t see them . Kudos CB.
My fav’s were the Skittles, Fiat/blue pill and Mountain Dew. I also thought the tone was very dark, even depressing. Not what I would imagine but in trying to get their message across they chose the biggest tv crowd to do it. Risky.
My favorite was the Doritos ad when the guy wanted pretty girl to have the airplane seat beside him, only to discover she had a baby with her. It was the only one that made me laugh out loud.
I cannot stand McDonalds but they had me teary about calling Mom and then happy when they had people dance in exchange for their meal. But a friend of mine posted on Facebook how the commercial made her sad because her Mom passed away last year and she can no longer call her. So, I’m afraid the ad for people like her might backfire. The “Angry Neeson 52” made me laugh so hard! That was by far my fave. But my son’s name is Liam and I’ve never had anyone mispronounce it. The domestic violence ad had me choked up. My hubs used to work 911 and I remembered that this was a very real call. I’m not sure how to feel about the NFL donating the commercial during the Superbowl when they still support players who have committed this offense. Is it supposed to be some sort of halfhearted apology?
The worst year ever for commercials even my teen boys agree and they are really NOT that into it for the commercials! The worst! I mean we all agree that what’s with all the downers and everyone now has to teach us “people’ how to act and be with all these freaking PSA’s! Like we are stupid. Seriously! Gimme a break. It’s pathetic.
WTF with Lindsay’s face??
The Dodge Wisdom commercial was my absolute favorite. All those centurians giving you their best advice. LOVED it.
It really stuck out in a year of really crap commercials. The dead kid talking to me was just uncalled for. Nationwide ought to be ashamed of themselves.
I’m a curmudgeon. The commericals this year were a transparent, heavy-handed approach to garnering goodwill for the NFL. Never mind the rape, animal abuse, and spousal abuse, here are some puppies and a dead kid! They were way over the top and after like the fifth one, I lost interest.
I wasn’t prepared for the Budweiser commercial. I’m a lifetime Cardinals fan, so I love the Clydesdales. Add in the gorgeous guy and adorable puppy – I cried. A man who loves his dog is irresistible. Horses that love their dog – sigh.
I still remember the adorable ad last year with the little boy in a Star Wars commercial trying to start the car with The Force, and his dad automatically starts in from in the house. My all time fave!
I want to comment on the Nationwide commercial – because this is a company for which I once worked for. I “get” what they were trying to convey: that so many accidental child deaths are completely avoidable and we should all be more conscience of safeguarding our homes against such perils. Here, where I live in Florida, children drowning in swimming pool is entirely too commonplace. So I *do* understand the social message they were trying to convey. That said, I am not sure that the Super Bowl was the time to air such a depressing (but important) message. Then again, it’s a program that a LOT of families – Moms and Dads watch. And honestly, there is nothing to be gained by for it for an insurance company. They don’t sell insurance to protect against dumb-ass parents and most parents don’t purchase life insurance on their children (nor is it a product that insurance companies really push or target at all). So… it was a good social conscience message but ……damn……
I hope I don’t come off as a troll but I thought the Nationwide commercial about life insurance for your child was very good. Many people have woefully inadequate life insurance coverage, and coverage for their kids…even worse. Insurance is a hard thing to talk about because it invokes death and sad thoughts and it was really ballsy of them to take that conversation to the masses. Money doesn’t make a child’s death less painful, but it makes it a tiny bit less stressful.
The Geico ad with Ickey Woods in the kitchen made me laugh out loud. It was funny in a silly way and it was a relief to laugh after those more serious commercials.