Best Ads And Commercials Of Super Bowl 2019
Capitalism, what a show!
The Los Angeles Rams took on the New England Patriots at the Super Bowl. But for many viewers, Super Bowl Sunday is about the spectacle. The year's biggest game, biggest half-time show, and of course, the biggest commercials. Advertising during the Super Bowl guarantees a massive audience and the prestige of sharing airtime with some of the most iconic ads ever created.
Companies like Amazon, Doritos, and Budweiser showed off their ads (or at least teasers for them) in advance of the big day. Now, with the Super Bowl behind us, we've gotten to see the full slate of what companies had to offer this year--you can all of the best ones below, including Harrison Ford's Amazon Echo ad and Bud Light's bizarre Game of Thrones crossover.
Alongside these, we got new trailers for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. Those both included new footage from the respective films, and you can check out our breakdowns through those two links to see exactly what we learned.
Amazon Alexa
Amazon is advertising its Alexa virtual assistant with a series of ads, centered around a fictional Beta Testing program reserved strictly for celebrities like Harrison Ford. If anyone knows how to deal with smart-aleck robots, it's him.
Avocados from Mexico
Who doesn't love some guac to go with those chips? Avocados from Mexico, a marketing group for the tree fruit import business, created a commercial using that mainstay of advertising success: cute dogs.
Audi
A man's perfect world is reconnecting with his grandma and getting to drive an Audi E-Tron, the automaker's electric vehicle. Unfortunately, he only gets to visit that world when chocking on cashews.
Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer
In one of the more high-concept ads we've seen so far, a group of mermaids pitch their spiked seltzer, Shark Tank style, to a gang of actual sharks.
Bubly Flavored Water
Singer Michael Bublé has riffed on his very adjective-like name before, and now the crooner is playing at being a bit miffed at the similarity with the flavored water brand Bubly.
Bud Light
When you play the @GameOfThrones, you either drink a @BudLight or end up like @TheBudKnight. #ForTheThrone #SBLIII pic.twitter.com/aCbIpLnZgQ
— HBO (@HBO) February 4, 2019
Nothing says Game of Thrones like Bud Light, right? The beer's Super Bowl ad campaign was essentially promoting the final season of GoT, for one reason or another. Don't worry, though. You didn't miss any new Game of Thrones footage, just the Bud Light knight getting destroyed in a joust.
Budweiser
The self-proclaimed King of Beers has become somewhat known for its Super Bowl commercials, so of course it's planning to show up this year. This year it's tipping its hat to sustainable energy, promoting its use of wind power with the help of its iconic clydesdale horses and (why not?) a cute dog.
Bumble
The dating app made its Super Bowl debut with an ad featuring tennis great Serena Williams telling viewers that women don't need to wait for someone else to make the first movie. "Don't wait for people to find you," she said "Find them. In work. In love. In life."
Burger King
the whopper's out of the bag. keep eating like Andy. #EatLikeAndy pic.twitter.com/Bg3ZuK1V3J
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) February 4, 2019
Using old footage of Andy Warhol, Burger King is urging you to #EatLikeAndy, which means dipping your burgers into a puddle of ketchup. If that's how you like your burgers, this is the ad for you.
Doritos
Perpetual football snack Doritos uses all that tortilla money to bring Backstreet back (alright), as the 1990s heartthrobs give Chance the Rapper a shot at joining their crew.
Expensify
A commercial for an expense tracking app starring rapper 2 Chainz and Parks and Recreation star Adam Scott? Don't mind if we do, even if the ad doesn't make it clear exactly what it's selling.
The tech giant's Super Bowl presence was a commercial for the ability its smartphones have to translate into a variety of languages, noting that "Hi", "How are you?" and "I love you" are the most translated phrases. How do they know that? Surely not because everything you are translating is cataloged, right?
M&M's Chocolate Bar
Christina Applegate stars in an add for the new M&Ms, as a frustrated woman stuck driving with the rambunctious candies.
Mercedes
From a Free Willy reference to a cameo by Wile E. Coyote, this Mercedes commercial had it all. In the end, it was all done in service of a new car loaded with voice-control functions.
Michelob Ultra
It seems the trend this year is human-like robots in commercials. Thanks, Westworld. In this one, the robot can do anything humans can do... Except for drinking Michelob Ultra. Poor robot.
Mint Mobile
This ad for the mobile banking app is more disturbing than it is entertaining, as a family drinks far too much chunky milk than should ever be allowed on TV.
Olay
The message of this skin treatment commercial seemed to say that you'll look fantastic but might get killed by a slasher movie villain.
Norwegian Cruise Line
There's nothing particularly special about this commercial. Instead, it's just a reminder of how luxurious cruises can be--and that's pretty luxurious.
Pepsi
Is Pepsi okay? At long last, Steve Carell and a list of other celebrity cameos have answered the question Coca Cola fans have been asked for decades. Yes, Pepsi is okay and this ad is funny.
Planters Peanuts
This Planters commercial shows Mr. Peanut causing utter chaos in the Peanut Mobile and even includes a Charlie Sheen cameo.
Pringles
The Pringles commercial not only shared some interest chip combinations you should try but also included a little bit of "Funkytown," as performed by a smart device.
Skittles
Skittles is very consciously making a point of not showing an ad during the game, instead advertising that it is hosting a full-blown Broadway musical. It stars Michael C. Hall and will play to an actual live audience in New York concurrent with the Super Bowl itself, with ticket proceeds and a matching donation going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Sprint
Everyone loves Westworld and Sprint knows it. That's why they're doubling down on robots interacting with humans in their Super Bowl commercials.
Stella Artois
In an ad for Stella Artois beer, fictional characters known for their associations with particular alcoholic beverages decide on a change of pace and instead order a Stella. Those include Carrie Bradshaw of Sex in the City eschewing her cosmo and The Dude rejecting a White Russian. This ad strategy may have backfired slightly for Stella, though, as the initial vague teaser starring Jeff Bridges raised hopes for a Big Lebowski sequel. Sorry, fans of The Dude.
T-Mobile/Taco Bell
This simple commercial was used to announce a partnership between T-Mobile and Taco Bell that will result in free tacos, which is the dream.
Toyota
This commercial for Toyota's Rav4 Hybrid features Toni Harris, who is about to become one of the first women to ever play college football.
Turbo Tax
Yet another commercial that's more unsettling than it is funny or exciting. This Turbo Tax ad centers on a "robochild" that is obsessed with growing up and working for Turbo Tax. Of all the jobs for a cybernetic child to want...
Xbox
Just like with its holiday controller, Microsoft chose to use its Super Bowl spot to highlight the Xbox Adaptive Controller. The extended version (above) is a lovely and sincere look at gamers with disabilities.
Super Bowl 53 aired on CBS, the parent company of GameSpot.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
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