Our Two Cents on Super Bowl Ads (a Definitive Ranking)
By Isa Eugenio and Kimia Faroughi
Super Bowl LIV. The Kansas City Chiefs (from Missouri, not Kansas, Mr. President). The San Francisco 49ers. The game was certainly an eventful one, but for some of us, football isn’t exactly our cup of tea. We prefer to watch the ads, which were incidentally priced at more than 5 million dollars per 30 second time slot. For that price, we had high expectations. Were they met? Below is a definitive ranking of the Super Bowl LIV ads we found most compelling.
- Rocket Mortgage
Jason Momoa reveals that he’s truly a scrawny, balding man who, thanks to Rocket Mortgage, is able to escape his well-known image as Aquaman/Khal Drogo. What could be better than the man at the head of the fictional Dothraki tribe revealing that he can’t bench press a metal bar?
- “Smaht Pahk” by Hyundai
Rachel Dratch, John Krasinski, and Chris Evans are all from New England and David Ortiz plays for the Red Sox. That’s why they came together to promote Hyundai’s new “smaht pahk” feature, in which the car (you guessed it) can park itself. The reason we like the ad is simple: their accents are funny.
- Little Caesars
Rainn Wilson (of Dwight Schrute fame) plays the CEO of sliced bread. His operation and ego are endangered when Little Caesars begins to deliver their pizza. Just a minute long, the commercial managed to include the entire journey Wilson went through to top Little Caesars achievement, ending in his breakdown and the fall of sliced bread.
- Bud Light
Ever wanted to know what goes on in Post Malone’s head? Bud Light provides a quick insight into his love for their mango seltzer. As Post Malone’s taste buds are energized and spleen is overlooked, this commercial provides a hilarious depiction of the tattooed people that make up his body and brain.
- Cheetos
Short and sweet, unlike Cheetos themselves, the ad suggests that MC Hammer’s hit song “Can’t Touch This” was inspired by his love for the snack.
- Amazon Alexa
What did we do before Alexa? This ad suggests that people were “Alexas” long before its creation; maybe it was Alexine the jester who tells jokes, or Alex the young newsie who delivers daily headlines. We liked this ad not only because of its creativity but also because of the dragon.
- Doritos
Lil Nas X does the wave. So does actor Sam Elliot’s, renowned for his roles as various cowboys and ranchers, mustache. Referencing the wildly famous “Old Town Road,” the commercial includes a Mexican standoff with dancing and Doritos. While we understand the ad’s appeal, perhaps it’s time to move on from the song.
- “Loretta” by Google
Google’s “Loretta” was the ad that made everyone emotional. While it was enjoyable, we feel it stands out a bit oddly among the comedic and often ridiculous ads that are shown throughout the Super Bowl.
- Mountain Dew
This commercial references The Shining; instead of the famous “Here’s Johnny” line, we get “Here’s Mountain Dew Zero.” We ranked this ad lower on the list because it’s more exciting to see ads with a greater deal of creativity rather than ones that simply imitate iconic films.
- Audi
To put it simply: we didn’t understand this one. Maisie Williams, known for playing Game of Thrones’s Arya Stark, sings Frozen’s “Let It Go” while driving through traffic for some incomprehensible reason. Was the point of the ad to buy an Audi? Even that was unclear.