The Super Bowl has come and gone once again, and everyone knows what that means: other than the halftime show and the football, its position as choice television real estate means we get a bunch of awesome/funny/meaningful/touching new ads every year.
This year’s slate of Super Bowl advertising was pretty much the same, except for one thing: in these trying times under a dastardly president of the most powerful country in the world, some brands decided to go political. A good half of the fans appreciated it, but the usual suspects (the bros who don’t want anything political in anything they’re consuming) hated it. What’s important is that the brands who spoke up did so and delivered necessary messages to one of the biggest audiences of the year.
Here’s what we’re gonna do—there are a lot of ads, so we’ll talk about the ones we really dug in three sentences or less. You good? Let’s get it.
Audi
Let’s start with a heavy but really powerful one. German car manufacturer Audi does what other car brands don’t seem to wanna dare to do: put out a message supporting equal pay between men and women. If you’re not moved after seeing this, you’ve got no heart.
Skittles
Skittles is known for their quirky ads full of non-sequiturs, and they brought it once again in this year’s Super Bowl ad. (But on the real, who tosses Skittles into a bedroom window?)
Budweiser
This Budweiser commercial detailing the history of its beer and brand was apparently planned from way back, but its message about the power and potential of immigrants is pretty damn timely in Trump’s America. It takes itself a little too seriously, but the moral doesn’t go unheard.
Coca-Cola
Coke recycled a relatively old ad for the Super Bowl, which also pretty much functions the same as the Budweiser commercial. (Bonus: spot the Tagalog lines in their rendition of “America the Beautiful.”)
Mr. Clean
Well, if the objective of the ads game during each Super Bowl is to come away being the most talked-about commercial in the whole thing, Mr. Clean wins this one. We’re not exactly sure we love this ad, but we do want to recognize it for making things a lot weird.
Avocados From Mexico
Avocados From Mexico (a legitimate brand with a market that necessitates TV advertisements) ran a whole bunch of different spots during the Super Bowl, but our favorite has to be this one. For those who don’t get it from the first few seconds, it’s a huge Zoolander reference. (Also, we kinda miss Jon Lovitz as the Subway spokesperson.)
Bai
Christopher Walken Doing Dramatic Readings Of NSYNC Songs is an automatic win in our book.
Nintendo Switch
A new spot from Nintendo showing all the ways you can play with the Switch (coming March 3) gets us even more hyped than we already were for it. TAKE ALL OUR MONEY.
Honda
Last but not the least, Honda’s amazing spot for the new CR-V is nothing short of innovative. Who even thinks of making old yearbook photos of celebrities talk? And getting this many people to be on board with it? And to have it be pretty inspiring? Honda knocked this one out of the park, hands down.
Which was your favorite? Comment the YouTube links to us and let’s watch ’em.