Super Bowl 2020: The best and worst ads include Bill Murray, Baby Nut
Every year, the Super Bowl trots out dozens of commercials. You can’t be expected to watch them all, right? You’ve got to hit the nacho table and the bathroom sometime. So here’s a handy roundup of the best and the worst of Super Bowl LIV. For our complete compilation grading every commercial, tap here. And let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
First, the best ...
Jeep, “Groundhog Day”
If you accept the fact that everything you love will one day be repurposed into an ad to sell you something, you're going to love this one: Bill Murray (Bill Murray!) reprises his Groundhog Day role, with the twist that a Jeep makes even the same day a different day every single time. Any time you get one more shot at Ned Ryerson, you've gotta take it.
Doritos, "The Cool Ranch"
This commercial proves one thing: the world needs a Sam Elliott and Lil Nas X buddy comedy. Sam Elliott slapping his butt and leering at the camera was ... weird, but whatever, you ride on, my man. Lil Nas X upsets a certain contingent of country music fans, but so what? The Super Bowl commercial gauntlet is about getting strange, and this one stayed on the right side of that line.
Dashlane, "Password Paradise"
Forgetting your password is a pain for everyone, but have you ever forgotten it at the worst possible moment? Like when you're trying to convince the Grim Reaper to let you into heaven? This poor dead man's pain is all too real. Most of us barely remember what we had for breakfast today, let alone what we wanted to be when we grew up. (Props also to Dashlane for the best pre-Super Bowl promotion: re-creating the remnants of the late, lamented sports blog Deadspin with a pop-up “Unnamed Temporary Sports Blog.”)
Hyundai, "Smaht Pahk"
It doesn't matter if Boston accents are overdone (they are), it's hard to dislike a commercial with so many likable and funny people in it. Boston-area natives Rachel Dratch, Chris Evans, and John Krasinski all play up their accents, and honorary Bostonian David Ortiz even drops by. All they're doing is watching a car park itself, but who says every commercial needs to be a mini action movie? It's like a grown-up sequel to the Sully & Denise SNL skit, but Denise has kicked Sully to the curb and decided to date Captain America instead. Isn't that the dream? Plus, the Patriots aren’t in the Super Bowl this year; their fans needed a little something to keep from griping too much.
Rocket Mortgage, “Home”
Watching Jason Momoa peel off his pecs to become a scrawny little dude, like a reverse Captain America, is an image that’s going to stay with you. It’s exactly what a Super Bowl ad should be: unforgettable.
And now, the worst ...
Snickers, "Fix the World"
This ad is awful. According to them, dudes who ride scooters are a problem. People who “reinvent” milk are a problem. People over 50 who text sexy pics are a problem. There are a LOT bigger problems, and a whole lot more people, that could be thrown into that hole than some poor schmoes just trying to live their lives.
Discover, “Yes and No”
Discover split up its 30-second ad buy into two 15-second spots, but they're both essentially the same: scenes from movies and TV shows saying “yes” or “no” about card benefits. And it's ... fine. It's just fine. It's not innovative, it's not exciting, it's just fine. If it inspires you to do anything, it'll be to go and watch any of the 50 or so movies or TV shows they featured. Does it inspire you to get a Discover card? Did you even remember it was for a Discover card?
Audi, "Let it Go"
Arya Stark singing "Let it Go" is certainly a choice for your Super Bowl car commercial. The lyrics to the song make you think it's about letting go in the driver's seat, which is a common car ad theme, but then it's apparently about sustainability? It's all confusing, and Maisie Williams has so much more potential as both a comedic and a dramatic presence, the wink before “the cold never bothered me anyway” notwithstanding. Plus, it aired so late in the game that it may have missed most viewers’ eyes.
Coca-Cola, "Three Dots"
This is as big a flex as corporate America gets: Coke hiring Martin Scorsese and Jonah Hill in service of a way-overblown gag (what will those three dots say ... ?) You could watch “The Irishman,” or you could watch this ad 220 times. We'd go with “The Irishman.” Classic case of an idea that sounded good on a text, but somebody really should’ve caught it somewhere along the line and said, “Are we really going to spend millions on this ... ?”
Planters, “Baby Peanut”
This one was apparently tabled in the wake of the Kobe Bryant tragedy, but it’s made its way back into the ad rotation ... and the result was a nakedly obvious grab for cuteness attention a la Baby Yoda. Don’t fall for it, folks.
And there you have it, a collection of ads that some of your friends loved, and others say is the worst collection ever. Happens every year, and we’ll do it all over again in 2021!
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