Not only must advertisements promote a product or service, they must keep the consumer’s attention to be an effective form of self-promotion. Every Super Bowl, companies put together the best that they’ve got in hopes of standing out from the crowd during one of America’s most watched television events. These are some of the commercials that stand out from the crowd.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYVu7tRXuoM]
Coca-Cola brought back their 2014 Super Bowl commercial for this year’s game. It shows many people of different ethnicities while “America the Beautiful” plays in the background, changing language every few seconds. It shows how America is made up of many different people from all around the world.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqc7MsJhSIg]
Snickers hosted the first ever live SB ad featuring Adam Driver. The ad starts off normally but begins to completely fall apart by the end of it with “you ruin live Superbowl commercials when you’re hungry” shown at the end. This live ad is a first of its kind and shows the possibility, although an unlikely reality, of more live ads in the future.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YmnnwFQbpk]

GoDaddy turns the internet into a person, using internet icons like “Never gonna give you up”, a panda sneezing, cats, and the ice bucket challenge. It uses well known but dated references to internet culture without overstaying its welcome like other commercials. I enjoyed it while everyone else that I have talked to hates it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzMxlw2Fgo]
Mr. Clean makes his debut with a new 2017 art style to his character. It’s oddly sexual tone for a cleaning commercial. “Gotta love a man who cleans” is a questionable phrase to use as a message to the viewers.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdWd8fUC71g]
Nintendo shows off the new Nintendo Switch and some of its features like portability, multiplayer potential, and hosting simple party games that are aimed at people of all ages. The commercial shows people playing alone, in groups, and families having a good time with the device. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3udHeeiRqGI]
Sprint’s Superbowl ad shows a dad that attempts to humorously fake his death to get off the family’s cell phone bill while Sprint’s new spokesperson, Paul Marcarelli, shows up to spout numbers and information as quickly as possible. Sprint has a habit of forcing as much information as possible into their ads, and this commercial is no exception.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6u10YPk_34]
Audi attempts to pander to women by using the gender wage gap as evidence. Using misunderstood statistics on annual income does not make a compelling argument, it only spreads confusion. Do your research Audi, then come back to us next year. Since I am required to cite my sources on this one, I recommend looking at this page as well as this article regarding the gender pay gap.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06ng5cII8o]
Now for something more lighthearted. Honda aired an ad featuring many different celebrities like Steve Carrel and Stan Lee, all giving a little bit about their past failures in life. The message to this ad being that “all dreams are within reach.” It was lighthearted and still remained humorous.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9csH_Hy-7A4]
The National Football League aired an ad during the game for some reason. It shows off toddlers dressed as various well known NFL players. Fans of football should have gotten a laugh out of it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT85CFxs-lM]
This ad by Tide follows Terry Bradshaw as he tries to make his shirt stain free. He gets in a big mess and ends up in the house of an old man who happens to have Tide detergent. It’s an interesting adventure that focuses less on promoting a product and more on pointing fun at Bradshaw. Tide’s new spokesperson, Rob Gronkowski, even has a brief appearance.