On Last Week’s Episode…
I devoted nearly the entirety of my article to the Super Bowl and related topics, while entirely leaving out arguably the most appealing aspect of the all-American hoopla—the commercials!
Show Me the Money
The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl TV commercial this year was around $7 million. Twenty years ago, the same commercial averaged around $2.2 million. Why would companies pay so much money for an ad spot? According to Nielsen, 113.96 million viewers watched the Super Bowl this year, a staggering number that made it the second most-watched Super Bowl of all-time! How does the Super Bowl stack up against the World Cup that featured Argentina vs France? FIFA claims that 1.5 billion people watched the final live on television. Perhaps, but we know that Fox Sports drew 16.78 million viewers, and Telemundo’s Spanish telecast added another 9 million viewers.
Without further ado, here are the commercials I’d like to bring to your attention:
Best Regional Commercial
H-E-B is a supermarket chain that is big in Texas, and we love the fresh guacamole, french bread, and tortillas made daily. Every few days, we get tortillas but after the Super Bowl, there was a notice posted on the HEB website—they were out of tortillas! And it was because of this commercial…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbjnmUSnKIQ
The Dog Commercial That Made Us Cry
I had to reach deep into my well of toxic masculinity to stop the tears that almost made it to my face.
Ben Affleck Ruined Batman But I Love This
Most of the celebrity-heavy commercials didn’t work for me, but this is Ben Affleck’s finest work since Armageddon. And the cameo at the end? Super Bowl-worthy. Grab me a glazed!
The Triangle-Shaped Poodle Got Me
I don’t eat Doritos, and I completely forgot what this commercial was for when I was writing this article, but it amused me!
https://youtu.be/GYPYfEVU62U
The Commercials I Wanted to Like But Didn’t
The Scrubs/Grease musical act for T-Mobile did not work for me, and I really liked Scrubs back in the day, as it was one of the most realistic medical shows of all-time.
I LOVED Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents, and I LOVED Steve Martin in Father of the Bride, but I HATED these Pepsi Zero commercials. Great acting or great taste? Probably neither.
https://youtu.be/ok38Xuc5UTE
https://youtu.be/adtWc_MvyzI
The Commercial I Didn’t Understand
Maya Rudolph has a great series on Apple TV that Sarah and I binge watched, called Loot. Unfortunately, I was really lost on this M&M’s commercial. Apparently, there was a backstory to the ad campaign that I wasn’t familiar with, so as my kids like to say, “I AM CONFUSION.”
https://youtu.be/kV2ARgWiGok
Whatever happened to the Budweiser Clydesdales? I miss those horses. Email me at team@baddogagility.com if you know what happened to them, and feel free to share your favorite and least favorite Super Bowl commercials with me!
Happy Training,
