In addition to the movie trailers, the This Is Us commercials and the actual game, NBC aired a ton of new advertisements during the Sunday, February 4, Super Bowl. Us Weekly spoke with Adweek Editorial Director James Cooper to find out his take on the best and the worst from the big game.
Here’s his top four ads of the night, with his reasons for why they work:
1. Tide: Elegantly co-ops the concept of the Super Bowl and not pre-teased at all. Funny, great celeb pitchman (David Harbour) and ubiquitous with ads in all four quarters.
2. Amazon: A funny, celeb-filled ad underscoring how quickly Voice has become so central to our lives.
3. Doritos/Mountain Dew: Great celeb paring and energy.
4. Budweiser: Focused on people in disaster areas in the need of the basic staple of water.
Below are James’ bottom four:
1. Pepsi: Generic rehash with just the tiniest blip of Cindy Crawford.
2. Weather Tech: It looks like they are building a wall. Why go there?
3. Diet Coke: Goofy drifting over into inane.
4. E-Trade: Putting old folks in ridiculously implausible settings has run its course.
James also points out that RAM’s Martin Luther King Jr. spot was the most controversial of the night, causing the question to raise: reverential or disrespectful?
Overall the night wasn’t the most creative, James notes. “There were some interesting take over moves by Tide, prosocial notes from Budwieser and Coke, as well as some solid humor-based and celeb drive creative by the likes of M&Ms and Avocados from Mexico.”
Tell Us: What was your favorite ad of the game?
