COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — It’s the game within the game: American commerce!
After taking two years off, we are bringing back our Super Bowl advertising rankings.
As we’ve done in the past, we watched the game with a local advertising executive to get a perspective on the effectiveness of the ads. And at EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS for 30 seconds of TV time, they’d better be worth it.
BTW — who knew flying facial hair would be … a theme? And nostalgia was definitely in style.
Here’s our top 10 best, some honorable mentions, and a few flatliners.
The best Super Bowl ads
10. Budweiser — Clydesdale, “First Delivery.” My little guy moved that keg without opposable digits. An equestrian legend in the making.
9. Little Caesar’s — Crazy Puffs with Eugene Levy. It got the most laughs in our room for the entire night, but you know who didn’t love it? The folks at Pringles, whose mustache ad looked like a rip off because it aired a few minutes later.
8. Stella Artois — David Beckham and his “twin brother” Matt Damon … with an excellent Ben Affleck joke at the end.
7. Jeep Wrangler — Harrison Ford delivers an important message as only he can.
6. Nike – Women’s sports “So Win.” Absolutely loved seeing Sha’Carri Richardson and Caitlin Clark lead the way in this ad.
5. Bud Light – Shane Gillis, Post Malone, Peyton Manning, jean shorts and dad life. Cul de sac All-Stars.
4. Hellman’s — “When Harry Met Sally” revisited. Sydney Sweeney gets the punchline at the end.
3. Coors Light — Sloths and a case of the Mondays. This one got the second biggest laugh of the night, and it’s a reminder that the Monday after the Super Bowl SHOULD BE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
2. Pfizer – Knock Out Cancer. Airing near the start of the game, this spot stirred the most emotion of the night. The little boy as the prize fighter was powerful.
1. NFL Flag Football – With Principal McAfee, Marshawn Lynch, Myles Garrett and some other fun cameos, this spot had it all. Hilarious concept with a genuinely great message and mission.
Honorable mentions: Uber Eats — Football as a conspiracy with Matthew McConaughey and a rare Greta Gerwig appearance … Mountain Dew Baja Blast — Hilarious idea with Seal … DoorDash — Nate Bargatze is everywhere right now … Novartis — Breast cancer awareness ad … WeatherTech — 80s ladies, Born To Be Wild … Instacart — A cool idea to tie in so many well-known brands/mascots like Chester Cheetah, Kool-Aid Man, Mr. Clean, Old Spice, etc.
The misses
CoffeeMate — Dancing Tongues … were just weird.
Meta — Hemsworth and Pratt, Kris Jenner and the banana art on the wall. An expensive spot, and I left with no idea what it was actually promoting.
Dunkin — Dunkings. These spots have been funny in the past, but this one was just kind of a mess of stuff and didn’t really land. And apparently Matt Damon was busy?
Haagen Dazs — Michelle Rodriguez, Vin Diesel and Ludacris from Fast And The Furious. A great idea … 20 years late.
Squarespace — So, I actually liked the ad, as did several critics going into the Super Bowl … but this was not really a crowd pleaser. The laptops delivered in Ireland was a funny idea, but it really only works if you’re familiar with “The Banshees of Inisherin” which was not exactly the biggest movie on Earth.
