Who Won the Super Bowl of Advertising?

For us advertising professionals at Alstin, the Super Bowl has always been as much about the great ads that are launched that day as the game itself. Actually, for those old enough to remember, the Super Bowl in the late 80’s and 90’s was almost always a horrible game—blowout after blowout, and most games were over by the second quarter. Fortunately, the last few years we’ve seen some great games, and this year’s was amazing. I even thought Madonna’s halftime show was pretty solid–if you can excuse the fact that it looked like she really didn’t want to be there and was clearly lip synching.

The ads? Not so much. Most people seem to agree that the spots were underwhelming. Personally, I am really beginning to take issue with automobile ads. I know the TV market has been oversaturated for years with car commercials, but it seems like they’re completely out of ideas. Cars doing barrel rolls and being suspended by bungees? That level of ridiculousness would be fine, if it was done more tongue-in-cheek and the commercials were brand building and memorable, but they all seem run into one another, and just end up being noise (to see a great exception, read my blog on the Toyota Yaris here: http://blog.alstin.com/the-most-honest-car-commercial-youll-ever-see-and-love

So what commercials rose to the top? After researching ad industry reviews it seemed like these 5 made the most impact.

Honda CRV with Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller)
The extended version is included here for all you 80’s lovers

Chrysler: It’s Halftime in America
Dirty Harry’s spot for Detroit and Chrysler also came with a free serving of a ridiculous political debate

Volkswagen: The Dog Strikes Back
Good boy! Also included here is the Star Wars follow-up

NFL Timeline
This one didn’t do much for me, but I seem to be in the minority on this one

M&M: Just My Shell
Nudity always sells, doesn’t matter the context