The Ads Of Super Bowl 50 The Good The Bad And The Weird

Of course, with every Super Bowl comes a plethora of new ads, this year coming in at $5 million per 30-second spot on CBS. Last year on NBC, the ads ran $4.5 million for 30 seconds. There have been plenty of teasers leading up to the big game, and many ads have already been released. We’ve got more than 40 here that are teasers and/or the actual SB ads themselves, so you can judge how clever they are for yourself. A few more won’t be revealed until the actual game to avoid spoilers (What is the new product Taco Bell is unveiling???) and we will update with the new commercials once we get them. A few regular Super Bowl advertisers, such as GoDaddy and Nationwide, will not have ads this year. Nationwide, which had the most controversial ad last year showing the death of a young boy, probably is not running an ad more because spokesman Peyton Manning is in the big game rather than backlash from the poorly received ad. So on with the show in no particular order, beginning with our usual favorite, Doritos.

Doritos

For the last 10 years, Doritos has given $1 million to the winner of its “Crash the Super Bowl” Contest, allowing aspiring film makers to create ads for its product. There have been some memorable ones in years past, and this year’s three finalists are all pretty good. I’m kind of partial to the Ultrasound one as it seems to fit with previous years, although give the Swipe for Doritos one credit for a little star power with Doris Roberts owning the Doritos. The actual winner will be shown during the Super Bowl.

Swipe for Doritos

Ultrasound

Doritos Dogs

Happy Birthday Teaser

Marilyn

Real Talk Teaser

Successes

Simply Put

Helen Mirren talks for a minute on drunk driving idiots. Hearing her go on in that delightful British accent about how useless and moronic drunk drivers are is a joy, especially when she punctuates it with the word “pillock” (look it up). Be responsible, don’t drink and drive after the Big Game. You don’t want Dame Helen berating you.

Not Backing Down

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Super Bowl without Budweiser’s trademark Clydesdales and the emphasis on how the company makes it beer. It is unapologetic in that fact, making sure to stress that the beer is not for everyone. It’s a straightforward ad and fits right in with the other commercials from the company. In a couple of teasers to set up the party, Baldwin teams with former NFL great Dan Marino to help plan his party. Overall, decent spots, but nothing overly spectacular.

Brainstorming Teaser

Stadium Teaser

The Arrival Teaser

Teeth Teaser

Moving Day

Someone Else Teaser

Never a Sellout

The Chase

The spot starts out as and adventurous race for survival. Thank goodness for the Elantra’s remote start system. It concludes with a rather humorous twist of talking bears. Good banter at the end, and a nice way to emphasize the feature.

Ryanville

In this spot, the 2017 Elantra is upstaged by Ryan Reynolds everywhere. It’s a darn good thing for the female occupants that the car has Pedestrian Detection and an Automatic Emergency Braking system. Again, another effective and funny way to advertise a feature of the car.

First Date

Perhaps the best of the bunch, Kevin Hart is a dad preoccupied with his daughter’s first date. Hyping the Car Finder feature on the 2016 Genesis, the ad plays on the emotions of every dad who has to see his daughter go out for the first time, hopefully without the extra obsession.

Heck on Wheels

Rockin’ out for the new Prius with some good music and some funny visuals, this ad is a bit of a sleeper. I didn;t want to like it, but I still came away with a smile on my face. I’ll never own a Prius, but the ad was good.

Restricted Bling

Drake is doing a video called “Hotline Bling” but he is interrupted by his wireless execs wanting to change everything. Obviously you don’t get what you ask for, and Drake is fairly funny is letting it happen. This ad is OK, but I actually enjoyed the T-Mobile ads from last year more. As an aside, you might recognize actor Jerry Lambert (aka Sony’s Kevin Butler) as one of the execs