The Super Bowl, which took place on February 1st, was a thrilling affair on the field as the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. Off the field, and over the airwaves, the game’s signature commercials were a combination of thrilling, memorable, and truly strange. Here is a list of the best and the worst 2015 Super Bowl commercials.
THE BEST
- Budweiser’s Puppy Ad
Continuing Budweiser’s trend of show ads with Clydesdales that have nothing to do with beer, Budweiser added an adorable puppy into the mix. It created an undeniably cute ad, but also left viewers wondering of the correlation between puppies, horses and beer.
- Fiat’s “Viagra” Ad
This ad was packed full of so much innuendo that it forced its way onto this list. Many memorable Super Bowl ads have been labeled “too sexy” or “too inappropriate,” but this one got creative and used not-so subtle “Viagra-like” techniques to stand out from the rest.
- Nissan’s “Dad” Ad
Similar to the Budweiser commercial, Nissan aimed to pull at the viewer’s heartstrings. The ad depicted a boy progressing from childhood to adulthood while idolizing his father – the race car driver. The end where his father returns to pick him up after school makes the ad complete and makes viewers take a moment to think about their own father-son relationships.
- Esurance’s Breaking Bad Ad
This commercial is only funny for viewers who have seen the show Breaking Bad (if you haven’t seen it, sorry, but it’s probably too late now). The commercial’s uses lines from the show as well as making fun of the similarities between Walter White and an everyday pharmacist.
- Coca-Cola’s Happiness Ad
My reasoning behind this pick is firstly, The ads this year were weak and secondly, It was a successful ad because it was memorable and made my mood slightly better. The premise of the ad was that the coke spilled all over the Internet and causes the world to be a brighter place. Although it may have been slightly cheesy and may have lacked the qualities of a hilarious or extremely memorable ad it sticks my mind, which means it must be good.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Like a Girl – Appropriate and well-timed.
- Avocados from Mexico – Clever and memorable.
THE WORST
- The Perfect Getaway (Kia) – C’mon Pierce Bronson.
- Nationwide “Invisible” Ad (Mindy Kaling) – It’s bad enough that Nationwide showed us painfully unimaginative situations by showing Mindy Kaling as an invisible person, but the too-brief Matt Damon cameo was a waste of true talent.
THE WORST OF THE WORST
The Nationwide ad about child fatalities gets its own section just because I don’t know what to do with it. It was definitely memorable, but are dead kids the best way to get people to buy insurance? It may have been successful from a marketing perspective, but it truly killed the vibe (no pun intended).
