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Bud Light, Alexa, Reddit, Tide, Huggies touchdown with the best Super Bowl ads
Too many celebs and a bit muted, that was the theme of the Big Game ads. And yes, there was an ad about the farmer agitation in India as well.
Yes, yes, the Super Bowl was super-duper low-key this year. So were most of the ads. We saw too many celebrities, while big and regular names like Pepsi, Coke and Budweiser stayed away this time around.
Even The Weeknd’s half-time show audio wasn’t too great – The Super Bowl was so 2020. And yet, we will feature the best ads that aced the Big Game.
The last one in this list was quite surprising.
Amazon Alexa
Creative agency Lucky Generals gave Alexa the body and voice of actor Michael B. Jordan. Amazon said, “It took us a while, but we've found a new body for Alexa. Who knew Alexa had abs?”
Toyota
Not sure how it is related to cars, but this Saatchi and Saatchi Toyota spot succeeds in pulling our heartstrings. It features the adoption story of Jessica Long. Wait, who is she? Long is an American Paralympic swimmer and a 13-time Paralympic Gold medallist.
We didn't expect Reddit to figure in the list. But, it bought a 5-second spot to talk about underdogs punching above their weight. In this case, it was GameStop. Well done Reddit, well done.
Cadilliac
Timothée Chalamet plays Edgar, the son of movie characters Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp) and Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder). Ryder reprised her role as Boggs for the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ. Please note Chalamet dated Depp's daughter Lily-Rose. Perfect casting.
T-Mobile
Gwen Stefani tells Adam Levine of 'Maroon 5' (band) that she’s looking for a guy who’s not from Los Angeles, cultured and not threatened by a strong woman. Thanks to poor network, Levine misheard her. Guess whom he sent for a date with Stefani? The ad was made by Panay Films.
Rocket Mortgage
Words can be confusing and when applied to real estate, unless you’re mindful, catastrophic. That’s why Rocket Mortgage, an online mortgage company got Tracy Morgan of '30 Rock' fame to explain to all of us the difference between 'certain' and 'pretty sure'. Highdive, a Chicago-based agency made the ad. Last year, the app featured Jason Momoa for its Big Game commercial.
Tide
Yours truly found this ad a bit too much, but hey, it does illustrate how dirty our clothes are. Made by Woven Collaborative, the hoodies featuring 'Seinfeld' star Jason Alexander had to bear a lot before Tide cleaned it.
Huggies
Huggies had the most adorable ad and it featured only babies. This Droga5 spot was a production challenge because it featured babies born on Game Day. Yes, you read it right.
General Motors
In this McCann Worldgroup spot for General Motors (GM), actor Will Ferrell is pissed that Norway sells more electric cars per capita than the US. No way, Norway!
Doritos
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners got a flat 2-D Matthew McConaughey to promote Doritos that now comes in 3-D. Jimmy Kimmel and Mindy Kaling make a cameo appearance in this 60-second commercial.
Indeed
Indeed, the job portal too showed up and delivered a hopeful commercial for all the jobseekers. Made by 72andSunny, it takes us through the emotions these folks go through.
Bud Light
Watching the game over a bottle of beer and some fried chicken is tradition. But what do you do when there’s no Bud Light because the truck carrying them overturned? Well, that’s what the Bud Light Legends are for.
While we tend to save the best for last, this time around, we will leave you with something a bit puzzling. In some parts of California, viewers were shown an ad about the ongoing farmer protests in India. As per an Instagram post, the ad was aired between 3 and 3.30 p.m. in Fresno, California, right before the game started.