The most important part of Super Bowl Sunday is here.
No, it’s not the football. (OK maybe for some people it’s the football).
We’re talking about the commercials. Of course, it’ll be a bit odd because of a Supreme Court ruling that says Canadian companies can run their ads instead of American ones. So, you won’t get to see a lot of the big ones live as they roll out.
If you’re watching the Canadian livestream, you’ll see, according to Bell, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl here, ads from: Bell, BMW Canada, Budweiser, Genesis Auto Canada, Hyundai Auto Canada, Maple Leaf, Nissan Canada and SkipTheDishes.
Budweiser, for example, has a Canadian ad and an American ad.
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There are a number of ads that you won’t see — at least live on television — but which will work through your social media, surely, in coming minutes, hours and days. Those ads are running on the U.S.-only versions of the broadcasts.
Advertisers are reportedly spending $5 million for 30-second ads.
Here are a few of the best, some of which, sadly, aren’t for Canadian TV.
Ellen
Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia di Rossi were in one of the more memorable ads, asking what people did before Alexa. (As a temperature change, a maid chucks a hunk of flaming wood out the window; an “interesting fact” is that the earth is flat.) It’s clever, compared to so many of the others.
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams starred in an Audi ad.
U.S. President Donald Trump and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have reportedly each spent $10 million on their Super Bowl ads.
Snack brands are getting in on the fun, too: See Cheetos vs. Doritos.
Car giant Hyundai joined in.
And on, and on, it goes
Kickoff
Gauging the reaction, it seems TV commentators really liked the video shortly before kickoff, in which a kid brought the ball to the field. It, according to football fans on Twitter, featured several important people in the football world.
The first commercial break featured the live-action Mulan and a weird State Farm insurance commercial. Oh, and there was a commercial for TurboTax. About tax.
All this came after a heavily militarized lead-up, including a trailer for Top Gun and an introduction for military men, since it’s the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The second break had the new Fast and Furious teaser trailer. It looks rad. Google it.
Then there was a bank robber-themed ad for something called a Quibo. Google was not especially illuminating but it appears to be a smartphone app, possibly for ordering food.
A Michelob ad got to the truth of life: Working out sucks, which is realized when, during a kettlebell workout, Jimmy Fallon lets go of the weight and it smashes a window. It seems to push the idea that if you have a beer at the end, it makes everything better? There’s some beach volleyball, some running, some football. In the end everything works out fine, with the dude drinking his Michelob while in an ice bath.
Then there was a Tide ad, with a somewhat hysterical dude with food on his shirt. That’s the only part that jumped out.
Then there was a pro-Trump ad about criminal justice reform. (Trump signed the First Step Act on Dec. 21, 2018, a landmark reform bill).
Let’s talk about one of the actually good ads out there. This one was for Walmart. It featured Buzz Lightyear and Lego. There was a talking dog from Men in Black and I think a reference to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which has GOT to be the most niche Super Bowl commercial thing of all time. The Arrival reference — they need glass cleaner cause of the weird sucky alien fingers — was good.
Next up was a Marvel ad for Black Widow. Then an ad for Rocket Mortgage, where Jason Momoa pulls his muscles off when he gets home. Oh, and in it he’s actually bald.
The first car ad was for Porsche, one in which people are chasing each other. “Who wants to be the bad guy next,” says one of the drivers as they end the chase. Possibly the ad was about electric cars rather than your regular Porsche.
Naturally, there had to be a Snickers ad. Snickers is one of the all-time biggest Super Bowl ad spenders. There’s a hole with a Snickers going into it. A couple falls into it while taking a selfie.
Next up came an ad featuring a famous football man in a Hulu promotion. (This reporter thought it was Tim Tebow; it was not, it was Tom Brady).
Now we’re cooking: A Shining-themed Mountain Dew ad featuring the man from Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle. Then a Squarespace website ad with Winona Ryder — how’s THAT for someone you haven’t thought about for a long time?
Oof, a life insurance company had a good ad about the four kinds of love.
Then Hyundai, with an ad so annoying the TV almost got chucked out the window. There’s a thing called Smartpark where the car parks itself. That’s fine, but everyone in the ad kept saying Smart park in a Boston accent. Nightmare fuel.
Oh man, and if that wasn’t enough, there was an add about motivation, brains, no more pills, and it featured lots of dancing and sports. The ad said “It’s time to rediscover the human soul.” The ad was for the Church of Scientology.
More food: Cheetos.
Then makeup: Olay in space.
