Superbest Commercials from the Bowl
For American football fans, the night of the Super Bowl has become synonymous with three things: finger-food, beating your neighbor in your block’s prop bet bracket and, of course, the infamous commercials. To many viewers, the commercials during the game are just as important—if not more important—than the game itself. And with 30 seconds of air time going for $5.25 million, advertisers are sure to bring their A-game (cnbc.com).
While it’s impossible to pick a favorite, each year there are always a handful of standout commercials that will stay with viewers long after they’ve finished their leftover wings and mozzarella sticks.
Among the Hi’s Eye’s top picks for this year are Olay’s “Killer Glow” commercial and the Doritos’ Chance the Rapper, Backstreet Boys mashup and Pepsi’s commercial featuring Cardi B and Steve Carell.
Olay Killer Glow
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, comedy and quality skin care all rolled into one? Sign me up! In Olay’s “Killer Glow” commercial, the company boasts skin care of such quality that it will confuse your phone’s facial recognition or, better yet, stop a serial killer dead (pun intended) in his tracks. Now that’s some proven product quality.
Doritos (Chance)
Did you ever think you would live to see the day where Chance the Rapper would dance with 90s boy band the Backstreet Boys to “I Want it that Way?” No? Neither did I. But the Doritos commercial proved us all wrong with a commercial that exceeded our wildest dreams. In just 60 seconds we got brightly colored airplanes and cars, contortionists, smoke bombs, and some an iconic dance number from the Backstreet boys and Chance the Rapper.
Pepsi with Steve Carell and Cardi B
It’s a question as old as time: Is Pepsi OK? We’ve all been asked it, and we’ve all had to answer. In its commercial, Pepsi combined two legends, Steve Carell and Cardi B, to respond to this classic dilemma. According to Carell and Cardi, if you like puppies, shooting stars, or the laughter of small children, you’re sure to like Pepsi too. Pepsi, in fact, is more than OK—it’s “okurrrrr.”
Audi Presents: Cashew
We’ve all had a good dream, but Audi’s commercial might take the cake this year. Opening with a man greeting his grandfather with a warm hug, the two men then make their way into a garage where a sleek, black Audi is unveiled. As the young man admires the comfortable, modern interior, he is suddenly jerked backwards, and then again, and again. Of course, the dream was too good to be true—he had choked on a cashew at work and imagined the whole thing. The only way to live out his fantasy, now, is to actually buy an Audi. Bonus: two-thirds of the company’s cars will be electric by 2030.
Pringles
The Pringles commercial showed how ANNOYING it would be if your Alexa could tell you how she was feeling whenever she wanted. In this commercial, a smart home device was complaining about how she would never be able to taste any of the 318,000 Pringles combination possibilities. Luckily, the people in the commercial easily took care of the problem by telling her to play the 1979 hit “Funkytown” and continuing to eat Pringles.
Google Translate
If you’re looking for a tear-jerker, Google Translate has you covered. Watch as people from around the world bond with those from different cultures through the power of Google Translate. Users translate menus, signs and key phrases (using the newest camera function on the app) as they make new friends along the way. Google ends by telling viewers that “Thank you” and “I love you” are the most translated phrases throughout the globe—cue the waterworks.
Microsoft
This year, Microsoft produced a heartwarming and inspiring commercial with the tagline “When everybody plays, we all win” for their Xbox Adaptive Controller, and reminded us that video games aren’t all bad. Microsoft took the star of their previous Adaptive controller commercial, Owen a nine year-old boy who was born with Escobar syndrome, and showed how the Adaptive controller has made it easier for everybody to play video games and feel included.
NFL
To celebrate the 100th season of the NFL, all of the greatest football players from the past and present joined together to create one epic commercial. At a ceremony celebrating the NFL a football falls from the top of a cake and different football legends take turns passing, catching, and tackling until the ball ends up in the hands of a teenage girl named Sam Gordon. Gordon created a girls football league in Utah which inspired many other girls football leagues around the country. Her starring role in this video gives hope to football becoming a more inclusive sport. And who knows, maybe the 150th NFL anniversary commercial will feature both legendary female and male football players.
Bud Light + Game of Thrones
Everything started off rather predictable: a king, a jousting tournament and beer. Royal subjects are gathered in an arena to root for their favorite jouster (while taking swigs from their Bud Light bottles, of course) when suddenly—there’s a dragon? In an iconic mashup, Bud Light partnered with HBO TV show, Game of Thrones, in a joint commercial. Unique? Check. Surprising? Check. More future mashups to come? I hope so!
Toyota
Toyota’s RAV4 Hybrid commercial highlighted another woman who is pushing for football to become a more inclusive sport. In this commercial we watch Toni Harris defy all odds to become one of the first women to receive a college football scholarship. 22 year-old Harris, who wants to be the first female NFL player, is currently a safety at East Los Angeles College, and has recently received an offer to continue to play football at Bethany College.