Shepherdstown, W.Va., – As the Super Bowl rakes in viewers by the millions, it makes sense that marketing companies are once again racing to snag up the celebrities to try and outdo their competitors during their pricy time slots. Car companies want to show off how eco-friendly their new factory-made vehicles are. Everyone is locked at home, so you know there are some awful food delivery ads in there too.
Just like any other year, this year’s advertisements consisted of plenty of dance routines, abuse to meme culture, and commercials that ignore that children also watch football – but there were some gems. So, prepare to see each Avenger at least once, because these are five of the most memorable adverts from Super Bowl 55.
1. ScissorHands-Free
Times have been rough for Tim Burton, so now he makes car commercials. Not really, but he really should have this year. Timothée Chalamet takes on the role of Edward Scissorhands in Cadillac’s 2021 Super Bowl commercial for their hands-free driving features. The ad basically sums up the concept of Tim Burton’s 1990 film with less of the dreariness and more of the “purchase this.” Did Chalamet manage to outdo Depp’s performance as the sharpest tool in the suburbs? Probably not. But that’s not to Chalamet’s fault; Johnny Depp just nailed that film.
2. Matthew McConaughey…Flat
Believe it or not, Dorito’s goal for this ad was not to make you think that Dorito’s make you fat. They do, but that’s not a good selling point. This year, Dorito managed to snag Matthew McConaughey in his natural form – two dimensional. This advertisement impressed me by doing exactly what Rocket Mortgage did last year with Jason Momoa without making me feel immeasurably uncomfortable. Good job, Dorito.
3. No Way Norway
This year, General Motors gave the reigns to Will Ferrel to do what he does best – carry an entire marketing campaign. They also managed to tie in Keenan Thompson and Awkwafina, but if we are really being honest with ourselves, this was Ferrel’s ad. All in all it was a very clever way to bring attention to a forced competitive marketing campaign. Have our parents been following what Norway is doing with their cars? Doubtful. Will they still tell each other that they have been? Seems likely. Marketers love their controversial ads and charismatic celebrities.
4. Alexa’s Body
Remember how I said that some of these marketing agencies forget that children are also interested in sports? Amazon did. Just remember that Mr. Clean set us on our track to this, so thank you Amazon for not trying to Motion-Capture Michael B. Jordan. Somehow, they found a way to turn the tables on the “sex sells” approach on their meta-Siri device by having Michael B. Jordan embody Alexa. The woman’s … questionable uses for the device are all fun and games until you remember that Amazon maybe probably most definitely has all your search data saved somewhere.
5. Last Year’s Lemons
Budweiser managed to sneak in not one, but two ads during the big game this year. While Bud Light Legends was a fun cut on the Marvel superhero format that was somehow better than most DC films, Last Year’s Lemons stood out to me more by summing up the entirety of 2020 with their comical take on raining lemons. Even funnier than that is realizing that a storm of lemons plummeting at us from the sky would still not have been the most traumatic experience of 2020.
Honorable Mention – Dr. Squatch
While this ad was not particularly memorable, I wanted to include it because the entire marketing campaign is incredible. Every time I see this one pop up on YouTube I let the whole five-minute long ad play out. They are beyond entertaining and I am excited to see them during the big game, even if it was just a small cut of a longer commercial.
Were this year’s advertisements good enough to rise to the ranks of Mr. Clean’s 2017 campaign? Probably not. This year’s game had a few oddballs as well. Food delivery companies once again showed us that they reign supreme as the worst advertisement makers of all time, M&M is still dangerously disconnected from society, and I have no idea what Oatley was trying to do. But there were some hidden gems here. No 2010 Betty White Snicker’s ads, but still gems, nonetheless.