We Brits enjoy the annual Battle-of-the-Christmas-Ads. Over the Pond, it’s the annual Battle-of-the-Superbowl-Ads. And, as always, there’s much debate over which are the crackers and the turkeys.
There were some great ads, and some not so great.
Best use of Sam Elliott’s tache goes to Doritos:
The award for surreal bonkers goes to Old Spice:
Amazon did a fine job of going all-out for cinematic quality:
But the cracker this year for me is Bud Light Seltzer.
Not least because it brings to life one of my favourite comic strips from the Beezer in the ’60s – The Numskulls. Rapper Post Malone plays it brilliantly and it’s laugh out loud. Making full use of the Superbowl ad-off anticipation and hype, they snuck out two versions prior to the event, inviting votes for which to air for the big event. Standout entertaining excellence. And the concept is based around the product, not just a bolt-on at the end of a funny sketch that we see so often – “did you see that great ad – I can’t remember who it was for, but it was really good…”. Just off to get my face tattooed now, not sure it’s my kind of beer though.
Now to the dry old turkey…
The hackles start to twitch as soon as the plinky plonky piano music starts. Uh-oh, brace yourself, a blast of schmaltz is on its way. And yes, it delivered. Every formulaic box was firmly ticked. Would it be over soon or should I rush out for the bucket? Phew, just made it. Make a shorter ad next year please Kia.