We’re back with our most and least favorite Super Bowl ads!
Every Super Bowl Sunday, some viewers tune in for the football game while others watch for the commercials. There are always ads that can be remembered years later as favorites, such as Budweiser’s “The Clydesdales Brotherhood” from 2013. Others are remembered in a different light, such as Mountain Dew’s “Puppymonkeybaby” from 2016. As we have done in the past, this year we would like to honor those commercial winners and losers. The list below features our favorite and hated Super Bowl LII commercials.
Best: Doritos Blaze VS. Mountain Dew Ice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eKYR_iL5eU
These ads were simply entertaining. When they came on, they were funny and sure to catch every viewer’s attention. I was surprised and excited to see the Mountain Dew Ice commercial come on right after the Doritos Blaze commercial — and then Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage were in the same room battling the “fire” of the Doritos Blaze and the “ice” of the Mountain Dew. These were definitely ads to remember. Did you also know these commercials were a Game of Thrones reference?
Best 2: Tide – It’s All the Tide Ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gGXnE1Dbh0
Words can’t describe how good the Tide commercials were! Not only was David Harbour the perfect actor, but the number of times a spot came on that was surprisingly a Tide ad was more than I can count! Like the Doritos and Mountain Dew ads, the Tide ads were extremely entertaining. I remember myself literally laughing out loud at one of the spots. I also thought it was incredibly creative how they took ideas viewers were already familiar with (i.e.: Mr. Clean) and turned it into a Tide ad. It was sure to catch viewers off guard while getting a laugh at the same time. Great job Tide!
Sarah Prokopchak, Account Executive
Best: Kia – Feel Something Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YVbVXOjJv4
Kia’s Feel Something Again ad was my favorite commercial of Super Bowl LII. This advertisement was centered around the idea of what happens when two legends meet, one being a legend in the making while the other is a rock icon. Through utilizing Steven Tyler, the company showcased their product, the 2018 Kia Stinger. Even though Kia featured a celebrity, viewers were not distracted and solely focused on that person. Viewers were still able to see the advantages the new Kia Stinger has to offer. Lastly, this ad also shows how far technology has come today through taking all Aerosmith fans back in time. This ad truly encourages you to feel something again.
Worst: Pringles – WOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk0nVMU76bc
My least favorite commercial of Super Bowl LII has to be this year’s Pringles ad. The ad seemed like it was trying too hard to be funny. Yes, the statement “Nobody asked you, Kevin” did have me chuckle but that was the only part that did. I believe there could have been better ways to showcase the idea of creating your own flavor with Pringles Stacks while still generating laughter amongst the audience.
Alyssa Drewicz, Digital Analyst
Best: Tide – It’s All the Tide Ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gGXnE1Dbh0
In contrast to a football game that see-sawed back and forth for the entirety of its four quarters, there was a clear winner among ads from the get-go. The “Tide Ad” spots reigned supreme and kept my Super Bowl party host from turning down the music, and up the volume, whenever they came on. David Harbour was brilliant as Tide’s representation across what seemed like a dozen ads throughout the game. Ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi concocted a playful theme of mimicking overdone ad tropes to shock the viewer into realizing, “Oh no, this isn’t a car commercial. This is a Tide Ad.” The idea was perhaps most succinctly stated when David Harbour claimed at the end of a spot, “So does this mean that all ads… are Tide ads?”
Through repetition, humor, wittiness, and the use of a peripherally famous spokesperson, Tide nailed this year’s ads and easily won over much of the audience, all while in the midst of a small, semi-controversy dealing with tweens and teens ingesting the Tide washing machine pods.
Worst: Persil – Game Time Stain Time
If there was a clear winner, in my mind there was a clear loser. For some strange reason, Persil, a much lesser known brand of laundry detergent than Tide decided to run an ad during the Super Bowl. Too uninspiring for me to watch again via YouTube or rehash on Twitter, if my memory from the initial viewing serves me, it was about a group of people watching TV when the spokesperson for Persil comes out of the TV to inform how great the detergent is. The ad ends with one of the viewers stating, “What was in those brownies?” making a joke as if he had eaten marijuana-laced edibles.
While not a horrendous commercial in and of itself, combined with the fact that Tide dominated the space, I have to place the Persil ad at the bottom of my list. Even below the oddly uninspiring Dodge Ram commercial that tried to leverage a Martin Luther King Jr. quote during Black History Month. Even below that.
Best: NFL – Touchdown Celebrations to Come
Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. stole the show tonight for me for a few reasons.
1. Dirty Dancing is one of the greatest movies ever made. Trust me.
2. And the oscar goes to… OBJr. for nailing Jennifer Grey’s whimsical head toss.
3. The fact that they now allow touchdown celebrations is AWESOME and brings back the idea that sports are FUN!
4. It is good to know that Eli can groove!
5. Did I mention Odell Beckham Jr’s effortlessly perfect head toss?
Worst: Diet Coke – Mango Made Me Do It.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Q0kddGWLc
I, a religious Diet Coke drinker, was turned off by the flavor of this ad. Diet Coke has always been about a celebration of life and the right to be happy. Yet, this ad was awkward and flat. I understand that adding new drink flavors brings new personality to the brand but the idea should not have taken away from the joy that has always embodied the product. Obviously, I am still going to drink Diet Coke- I just don’t want to have to watch that ad again!
Libby Rosebro, Digital Designer
Best: TIDE (of course) but also Alexa – Alexa Loses Her Voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=90&v=J6-8DQALGt4
Tide is my obvious first choice. It literally infected every other ad with it’s genius and entertaining approach. A+ Tide, I will officially only use your detergent. But, to throw another into the mix, I loved the Alexa ad. My personal issue with the Alexa is that I’m fully creeped out by it – and their spot somehow addressed and resolved it’s creepiness by making it all too real, and then by making it hilarious.
Worst: Jeep – AntiManifesto
Jeep’s ad is actually my second least favorite, because obviously we all already know how that the Ram Trucks ad was the absolute worst. As far as the Jeep 2019 Wrangler ad goes, the only credit I can give them is that maybe I just don’t appreciate it because I’ll never need a car that can drive me through a stream and up a wall of rocks. I do appreciate the effort they put into avoiding the stereotypical template for a car ad, but the execution was honestly just boring. Jeep, this is the Super Bowl we’re talking about – you can be subtle another day.
Mary Grace Shelly, Digital Account Executive
Best: NFL – Touchdown Celebrations to Come
“NFL Touchdowns to come” Eli Manning and Odel Beckham did a fabulous remake of the the iconic dance from “Dirty Dancing.”They captured all of the dance moves and even did the lift. Brought a huge smile to my face. Love the tie to “We had the time of out lives” Awesome!!
Also, loved the Tide commercial.
Worst: Many Ads
Don’t know that I have a least favorite this year. There were many that did not excite me. Felt like the commercials that supported past disasters, were beautiful, but could have been for any advertiser.
Anne Powell, Director of Design
Best & Worst: Uneventful
I would love to critique the 2018 Super Bowl commercials, but as I watched the game, my only thought was that this was an awesome game. The second thought I had, was that the halftime show and the commercials were pretty boring. I was disappointed in the whole thing, but the game was good.
Let us know your favorite Super Bowl LII ad today!