For years, I did a post about my top 10 Super Bowl ads. I think this year warrants a different approach. I felt it was an odd mix. Sure there were some awesome ads and I’ll go through them first. There were some that I thought really missed the mark. In the current political climate, where anything inclusive is being wiped away from our government and the NFL had to remove “End Racism” from their end zones, there seemed to be a number of ads that went out of their way to be inclusive and honor marginalized people. This included several really nice inclusive ads from the NFL.

And then there were a whole bunch of just plain weird ads. We had flying mustaches and Eugene Levy eyebrows. We had a seal with the face of singer Seal singing one of his songs. We had multiple ads with aliens.

The Awesome

These are the ads I thought were awesome. I know the Budweiser ad with the foal delivering the keg to top honors in the USA Today poll as do almost all Clydesdale ads, but to me, while well done, it’s just another horse delivering beer ad they always do, so I left it off my list.

Instacart – “We’re Here” This was my favorite ad of the night. I might be biased because in High School I wrote and produced a short play that featured Kool-Aid man busting through a wall, but I thought this really worked. It captured your attention, was fun all the way through as you tried to figure out why all these brand icons were together and where were they going. Plus, it very clearly articulated the brand promise – we bring all these brands you want to your door.

NFL – “Flag 50” The ad is another ad I really loved. It would also classify as one of the inclusive ads. The NFL won’t allow me to post the ad here, but you can watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/GsqhcNnxfv4?si=JHdwGRG3nXe1jydr The ad features typical high school douchebag jocks picking on everyone who is different and finally targeting a girl in a football jersey, telling her only boys play football. After firing a football right into the “Jimmy Johnsons” she goes ahead and shows them all up on the field. It’s an ad to make woman’s flag football a sanctioned sport in all 50 states.

Lay’s – “The Little Farmer” This is a touching story of a little girl on a family potato farm, growing her own potato good enough to become a Lay’s potato. We go through the whole process from her planting it to cultivating it and finally adding her lovingly grown potato to the truckload heading out to become potato chips. It’s a story well told and allows Lay’s to give a shoutout to family farms across America.

Jeep – “Owner’s Manual” It features a great narration and storytelling by Harrison Ford. This is another ad that might be playing off of tying to balance out the current political climate. It talks about how freedom isn’t free and gives a big nod to the service men and women who have served to insure our freedoms. This also plays off Jeep’s own heritage as an army vehicle. Nice little bit near the end where he says his Jeep makes him happy, even though his name is… (whispered) Ford.

Ram Trucks – “Goldilocks and the Three Trucks” This was just a ridiculous and fun romp. Glen Powell plays the part of Goldilocks who’s feats include slaying a dragon and putting it in his smoker, carving a tree into a statue with chain saws and jumping an active volcano. It’s just fun and I enjoyed it. In all, a good showing for the automotive sector this year.

The Awful

Reese’s – “Don’t Eat Lava” I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy this premise. It’s just dumb to me. Nobody is going to try and eat actual lava because they love the chocolate lava Reese’s big cup.

Liquid Death – “Safe for Work” Maybe I’m just an old fuddy-duddy, but showing a bunch of professions where you should not drink (alcohol) on the job and having each chugging a can of Liquid Death while a singer sings “Everyone is drinking on the job” is just wrong. Sure, you’re highlighting that your product is something that is safe to drink while you’re working, but you’re doing it the worst possible way, IMHO.

Tubi – “The Z-Suite” Okay, I know I’m not the target market, but what the hell was that?

Hellmann’s – “When Sally Met Hellmann’s” So, this one isn’t technically awful. In fact, I know a lot of people liked it. But to me, it’s borrowed interest from over 20 years ago. No real creativity involved, just let’s recreate that scene except now she’s orgasmic over how good our mayo is. Meh.

The Inclusive

Foundation to Combat Antisemitism – “No Reason for Hate” The ad featured Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady yelling reasons to hate at each other until concluding the reasons to hate are stupid.

He Gets Us – “What is Greatness” I’m not an overly religious guy and I’m not sure who is behind the He Gets Us stuff, but this is a great ad for reminding us to be human to each other and take care of each other. Plus, great acoustic rendition of “Reach Out, Touch Faith” FTW!

Dove – “These Legs” Once again, Dove creates a simple, but effective ad touting body positivity for girls/women. Very engaging shot of a toddler girl running down the sidewalk while “Born to Run” plays in the background. Supers describe how at that age, her legs are unstoppable but by age 14, she’ll think they’re unbearable and most likely will quit sports due to criticism about her body type.

The Weird

There were a lot of weird ads this year, some good, some just weird – as in “WTF was that?” Here is a smattering of those that fell in this category.

Little Caesars – “Whoa!” Eugene Levy’s famous bushy eyebrows take flight, caterpillars bow “we’re not worthy” – what more is there to say?

Pringles – “The Call of the Mustaches” I guess this was the year of the flying facial hair as many famous mustaches left their famous faces to fly more Pringles to the party that was out of them.

Mountain Dew Baja Blast – “Kiss From A Lime” Perhaps the weirdest and therefore my favorite of the bunch is this ad that features an actual seal with the head of the singer Seal, singing a variation of his hit “Kiss from a Lime.” It’s the only ad all night I backed up to watch again.

What’s your take? There were plenty more that could have fit into one of these category, but I think these represent the best of each. Have a different opinion? Really like one I missed or really hate one I liked? Let me know in the comments.