Celebrities mashing it up in this year's Super Bowl spots

From Sunday's Super Bowl LIII, we got to continue to learn more Roman numerals and that while New England continues its dynasty, it comes with one of the more unexciting games in their history. Google Super Bowl and you’ll see that the highlights became more the talk than the game itself and understand why this year had the lowest ratings since 2008. 

Nonetheless, here is my yearly round up of notable and some what-were-they-thinking spots from Sunday night. At $5.25 million (that’s U.S) for a 30 second slot, you come to expect high entertainment value. Especially with many brands garnering high volume pre-game views. 

Car commercials are a perennial favourite. So let’s start with Audi. The German automaker does a masterful job of leading us through a spot that starts from the beautiful yet now cliche opening of a hand brushing through the field of wheat dreams to an all out laugh out loud (lol for the emoji and short text crowd) finish. The aspiration of owning an E-tron car is a nice ending but what is it about a plus-sized woman of colour that always adds that cherry-on-top humour? 

I remember seeing the return to nostalgia Still the Beaver and Dukes of Hazzard that brought Jerry Mathers back as an older Beaver and Daisy Dukes in her daisy dukes years after their shows ended. I was embarrassed for both of them. So seeing a older, plumper baseball/football superstar Bo Jackson hawking for Sprint gave me that same feeling. Watch it because it’s from the respected Droga5 agency and to satisfy your curiosity of whatever happened to the great athlete. 

In fact, this year’s Super Bowl may be noted for the year that answers "what ever happened to…" Case in point, pay half attention and you will have missed that it’s Buffy and horror star Sarah Michelle Gellar being chased by a Halloween-type killer. For Olay no less. But her cheeky rouge unfortunately covers any natural skin that the actress would otherwise been able to show off. But I am glad to see that the brand did away with what used to be the usual beauty shot of said star happily applying the product. 

Microsoft gives us perhaps the most moving of all the Super Bowl commercials. In this real life capture of real life physically challenged (apologies if there is a more politically correct label) young gamers who share and play Xbox with the brand’s Adaptive Controller. The end pay off of "When Everybody Plays, We All Win" is truly something to celebrate. Sometimes real stories can cut right to consumer’s heart faster than humour. 

And what must be the most epic both in scale and wow factor award goes to Walmart. Yes, Walmart. Imagine every cartoon, TV and movie famous vehicles you can think of. Put them all in a flowing fun trip down memory lane and you have a highly watchable spot replayed just to catch all the DeLoreans and Batmobiles. Used with such awesomeness to promote the mega-store’s grocery pickup, Walmart even outdoes the many car spots that follow. 

And way less watchable is Planter’s Peanuts. It’s their first entry into the Super Bowl club with their nut mobile careening through the landscape past Charlie Sheen to rescue Alex Rodriguez from a life of kale chips. It’s what may be the lamest use of celebrities. Charlie Sheen, we can understand, but Rodriguez? You will be thinking why A-Rod, why? a second after the forehead slapping, thumbs up endorsement.

Pepsi comes in with their usual style and celebrities. Because where else could you find Steve Carell and Cardi B in the same universe? In a Pepsi instead of Coke world, of course.

If there is anything with this year’s crop of commercials, it’s the trend of mashing up celebrities. Disparate characters brought together in a place where they could only exist in a consumer’s mind. Here Stella Artois brings together Carrie Bradshaw (right down to the ode to her song theme) and the Big Lebowski together to show that Stella is sophisticated enough and down to earth enough for all of us. Needs more of a big idea but we get it. 

For another, check out the Backstreet Boys and Chance the Rapper mash-up for Doritos. 

As we are on the brink of robots and full on AI, it makes sense for tax platform TurboTax to counter with an offer of real human accountants available to assist you. Though buried at the end, the execution is an entertaining teaser

and actual game day spot. 

It’s the same with Michelob Ultra using a superior mechanical life form to show us that all that working out you do is nothing if you can’t enjoy life or a least a good beer. 

And finally for all you waiting for the follow up to Avengers Infinity War, we have a Hulk and others in the second Avengers: Endgame trailer. The first one broke all records for the most views in 24 hours with 289 million to be exact. Many of them from the same fanboys who theorize and dissect every frame to fill that Marvel void in their lives. Here they (we) must be losing their sh*t.