By Kate Hawthorne, Staff Writer
This Super Bowl, there was a wide range of ads: from the good, to the bad, to the downright weird. Here I’ll give my input into some of the most… interesting of the ads that appeared this year.
Good: On a scale of 1-10, how good were these ads?
“Wonder of Us” by Coca-Cola
… AKA the one where Coke showcases diversity. “There’s a coke for they. And there’s a coke for you.”
I found this ad refreshing. It’s a bit ham-handed and I can certainly see why some people did not like it. However, Coke’s attempts at diversity plays tend to be fascinating and heartfelt.
5/10
Jeep/Jurassic World
… AKA the one that starts as a Jurassic Park clip and then launches into a full-on automobile ad, showing a present-day Jeep driving away from a T-Rex.
Dinosaurs. That’s all I really have to say. Dinosaurs. Also, Jeff Goldblum pretending to drive a Jeep through Jurassic Park is hilarious. I love when I can connect things to movies I’ve seen, so this one gets a thumbs up. Not as interesting as some ads from this year or previous years though.
5.5/10
Lexus/Black Panther
… AKA the one where T’Challa recovers stolen vibranium, runs to catch a car that’s being remote-controlled for him, and still manages arrives at a conference on time and perfectly dressed. Thanks, Lexus!
I guess car companies teaming with movies is a trend this year. As someone who was super excited for “Black Panther,” I was looking forward to this ad. Plus, I always like a bit of action to break up the monotony of ads.
7/10
“Alexa Loses Her Voice”
… AKA the one where Alexa loses her voice and Amazon has a number of famous people (Cardi B., Rebel Wilson, Gordon Ramsey, etc.) answer people’s questions for her. Spoiler alert: Alexa is more helpful than a hot-tempered chef.
I saw this ad several times before the game, but no complaints. This one’s a good laugh. I especially enjoyed Gordon Ramsey’s bit – he’s always hilarious. Amazon aired a few different iterations of the ad, but the Super Bowl version was especially hilarious.
8.5/10
The Joint Mountain Dew and Doritos Ad
… AKA the epic rap battle between Morgan Freeman and Tyrion Lannister.
This ad really “brought the heat” this year. The mix of Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage was going to be loved no matter what, but the rap battle was especially amazing. Whether you know this genre from “Epic Rap Battles of History” or “Drop the Mic” on TBS, we all enjoy pitting our favorites against each other to sing off.
9/10
That NFL Ad
… AKA the one where Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. perform an intricately choreographed touchdown dance set to “Time of Our Lives.”
I’m not even a sports fan, but this was far and away my favorite ad of the entire Super Bowl. Sure, it didn’t completely make sense. But seeing some macho-looking football players dance and reenact scenes from “Dirty Dancing” made my night.
10/10
Bad: On a scale of -1 – -10, how bad were these ads?
Groupons for Tiffany Hadish
… AKA the warning: support local business or bad things will happen to you (such as football players kicking a ball into your abdomen).
To be fair, I am not the biggest fan of slapstick comedy. I applaud Groupon’s support of local businesses, but this quick ad left a lot to be desired. Dropkicking a ball and hitting someone in the abdomen is not my cup of tea.
-2/10
“The Only Man Whose Bleep Don’t Stink” by Febreze
… AKA where a bunch of people gush over a man who’s ‘bleep’ doesn’t stink. It ends with said man asking what Febreze is for.
The beginning of this ad was funny. After about five seconds though, it got old. Especially, “My friend, her son’s a lawyer. But my son, his bleep don’t stink.” Febreze tried with this commercial, but it simply did not measure up to some of the other visual delights this Super Bowl.
-5/10
What was that Pringles ad?
… AKA where comedians layer Pringles on top of one another in order to make new flavors and then say ‘wow.’ A lot.
This one was weird. Not particularly funny either. Spicy barbeque pizza Pringles? Not exactly something I’d ‘wow’ over. Certainly not as many times as the guys in this ad did it. Pringles simply was not up to snuff this year. Give me a joke about duck face and selfies over this.
-10/10
Weird: On a scale of ∞ to ∞∞∞, how weird were these ads?
“Bud Knight”
… AKA the one where there’s a battle. The ‘Bud Knight’ arrives to save the day, but gets beer for his friends’ party instead. Turns out the Bud was a good idea. The Bud Knight then freezes all of the people surrounding him (I’m not even sure that it was the ‘bad’ people he froze).
Maybe it was just because I saw this ad about 12 times before the Super Bowl, but this ad just seemed bizarre. Congratulating yourself on getting Bud Light? Seems a bit weird, but okay.
∞/∞∞∞
The New M&M Campaign
… AKA the one where the red M&M wishes on a lucky penny to be human, turns into Danny DeVito, goes around asking if people want to eat him, and then gets struck by a truck.
This one was just creepy. I get the premise (weird as it is), but it didn’t seem particularly funny. M&M could have done so much more with this.
∞∞/∞∞∞
The Crocodile Dundee Sequel or an Ad for Australian Tourism
… AKA the one that looks like it’s going to be a movie trailer for a comedy sequel to Crocodile Dundee (featuring Chris Hemsworth and other notable actors), but turns out not to be that.
The first time I saw this, I seriously thought it was an ad for a new Crocodile Dundee movie. The ad was hilarious and it had amazing actors (Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride), but it was still super confusing. Plus, a bunch of other media outlets had an ad for a movie called “Dundee” that I had seen around the same time – some of which did not include the part that said “this isn’t a movie, is it?” So that you were purposefully confused. Basically, confusion abounded with this one.
∞∞∞/∞∞∞
