Super Bowl LIV is in the books, and that means it’s time to re-live the best commercials from the big game.
More anticipated in some households than the actual Super Bowl, or even the halftime show, are the interstitial advertising spots that break up the periods of play. No matter your level of engagement with the game or your football knowledge, everyone wants to watch the commercials.
In the PVR and on-demand generation of viewing, live-event advertising has become coveted ground. The most sacred and lucrative of which is Super Bowl commercial real estate, and this year the cost of a 30-second commercial during the 2020 Super Bowl was $5.6 million, up $400,000 from 2019.
Despite the price, we saw political ads from Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg trying to get in on the action.
This is the one game that produces both a captive audience and an urge to share reactions, thus creating impressions on social media. This year’s ads skewed light and funny overdramatic and serious.
I’ve made it a habit to make a not-so-definitive and totally-open-for-debate list of the best Super Bowl commercials every year.
Here are the top-20 ads from Sunday’s Super Bowl 54.
20. Michelob ULTRA – Jimmy Works It Out
Michelob Ultra light beer utilized Jimmy Fallon and wrestler/actor John Cena to show Fallon getting fit with help from the likes of Usain Bolt and The Roots.
19. Audi – Let It Go
In a savvy move, the car company tapped into the fandom of two of the biggest hits in recent memory: Frozen and Game of Thrones. While stuck in traffic, Maisie Williams (a.k.a. Arya Stark) sings Disney’s Let It Go in the Audi e-tron Sportback — the company’s new electric vehicle. For Audi’s eleventh Super Bowl appearance, they used 72andSunny agency and it culminated in their best ad yet.
18. WeatherTech – Lucky Dog
For the second straight year, WeatherTech featured the CEO’s dog. This time it was used as a way to pay respect to and solicit donations for the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine, which saved his dog’s life.
17. Mountain Dew – The Shining
In this homage to the cult classic The Shining, Bryan Cranston acts out Jack Nicholson’s role and Tracee Ellis Ross plays Shelley Duvall’s character.
16. Budweiser – Typical American
Featuring the U.S. women’s national soccer team chugging victoriously, this ad does a fantastic job of letting “typical” Americans know they’re anything but. It’s a clear attempt to unite Americans in a divisive time, and it works.
15. Google – Loretta
Tissue alert. When an elderly man starts to ask Google to help him remember his wife, it hit me hard.
14. Walmart – Famous Visitors
In their first Super Bowl ad, characters from Arrival, Flash Gordon, Star Trek, the Bill & Ted franchise and more arrive to pick up something they need at Walmart, like us mere mortals do.
13. Pop-Tarts – Fixed the Pretzel Commercial
Pop-Tarts gets an assist from Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness in this spot designed to introduce the brand’s new pretzel line.
12. Snickers – #SnickersFixtheWorld
It turns out that life’s great problems (like corrupt politics, laughable baby names and always-incorrect autocorrect) can be solved by one thing: a Snickers bar. Who knew?
11. Doritos – The Cool Ranch
It’s the gift we didn’t know we needed — a Lil Nas X vs. Sam Elliott Western shootout-style dance-off to Old Town Road.
10. Amazon News – What did we do before Alexa?
Amazon knows celebrity power couples garner attention. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi ask a silly but equally funny question, “What did we do before Alexa?” This ad had #BeforeAlexa trending well before the game was over.
9. Cheetos – Can’t Touch This
The ’90s are coming back in style, so obviously MC Hammer is back too. In a clever twist, one of his classic songs is used to show Cheetos lovers that getting that orange dust on your hands can actually be a benefit.
8. TurboTax 2020 – “All People Are Tax People”
This commercial has an original version and a remix. When you have people from all walks of life doing various hip-hop dances in celebration for doing their taxes, you have a winner.
7. Rocket Mortgage – Jason Momoa Super Bowl Commercial
In what is undoubtedly the strangest ad of the bunch, Jason Momoa stars in Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loan’s Super Bowl commercial. Momoa unveils what he’s actually like behind closed doors. For better or for worse, you won’t be able to un-see this.
6. Genesis – Going Away Party
In one of the most well-shot spots of the night, Hyundai, which owns Genesis, used celebrity power couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend to tell the story of “new luxury.” The 60-second spot was the inaugural Super Bowl commercial for Genesis.
5. Hyundai Sonata – Smaht Pahk
Though it looks like this ad was made with New England Patriots fans in mind, it still resonates on a more universal level. Chris Evans, John Krasinski, Rachel Dratch and, yes, “Big Papi” David Ortiz himself, provide play-by-play of the Sonata’s new feature: remote smart-parking assist. The star of the commercial is undoubtedly the incomparable Boston accent.
4. Budweiser Canada – Whassup Again
Budweiser recreated the legendary “Whassup?” ad spot on its 20th anniversary, this time with a “smart” twist — and it targeted Canadians specifically as Budweiser Canada partnered with Uber in the ride-sharing company’s first Super Bowl ad. The last frame of the ad revealed a discount code to help get Canadians home after watching the game.
3. Jeep – Groundhog Day
Bill Murray, in his first-ever national television commercial, re-enacts his classic movie Groundhog Day, but this time around, he’s driving a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. Given that Super Bowl Sunday fell on Groundhog Day and that Murray has become a cult figure to sports fans, this was a win-win-win.
2. Hulu – Tom Brady’s Big Announcement
Tom Brady’s cryptic Twitter post seemed thirsty. Now we know why. It was not a goodbye to the NFL and a hello to retirement, it was a teaser for his Hulu ad in which he says goodbye to traditional TV and hello to streaming. The irony is that the spot aired on cable in front of millions, but regardless, kudos to Brady who managed to stay top of mind on Super Bowl Sunday, even though he wasn’t in the game.
1. NFL – Next 100
Once again, the NFL’s “The Next 100” commercial won the night. It displayed the old, new and future faces of the sport enjoying the game, including a goosebump-inducing Pat Tillman moment. In all, 32 kids were featured, one from each fan base, who were winners of the “Next 100” contest.
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