It was a pretty weak year for Super Bowl commercials . . . sort of like the game. It seems like the formula is either to go for slapstick comedy or heartfelt patriotism. Here are our top and bottom five ads of the game . . .
The Top Five Commercials
1. We loved the Radio Shack ad where the ’80s icons smashed up the store to introduce the “new” more modern Radio Shack. It had Alf, HULK HOGAN, the California Raisins, KID ‘N PLAY, MARY LOU RETTON, and a ton of other ’80s references.
2. Once again, Doritos crowdsourced their commercials and had a winner. They had a spot where a kid with a homemade time machine accidentally tricked a guy into thinking he’d been transported to the future. It definitely worked.
3. Budweiser ran an emotionally manipulative commercial about one of their Clydesdales becoming friends with a puppy. But emotional manipulation WORKS.
4. We also really liked Hyundai’s ad where a dad kept saving his kid the moment before imminent danger . . . until they were driving in a Hyundai, which had the safety features to do it for him.
5. Chrysler nailed it with their BOB DYLAN commercial that rounded up every image of Americana from the past 60 years. That can seem like shameless pandering . . . but not when it features a BRILLIANT BADASS like Dylan.
The Five Bottom Commercials
1. Bud Light stormed out of the gate doing a two-part commercial about an average dude who got a “crazy” night featuring run-ins with Minka Kelly, Don Cheadle, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and One Republic.
2. GoDaddy’s hyped commercial about a woman quitting her job on live TV to start a puppet company definitely got lost in the shuffle. It didn’t have the impact they were clearly hoping for.
3. We REALLY wanted to like the “Full House” guys reuniting for Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt, but it just didn’t land . . . because we knew it was coming. They reunited on “Fallon” and the ad got a lot of hype. A surprise would’ve been better.
4. The LAURENCE FISHBURNE “Matrix” parody ad for Kia felt like they threw a lot of random, unconnected stuff together. In the end, it was just scattered and forced. Like, why would Morpheus from “The Matrix” start singing opera?
5. Coke swinging and missing on a commercial of “America the Beautiful” in different languages that was desperately trying to make you say, “Wow, Coke LOVES America!” But a lot of people online didn’t like it.