Kid Reviewers Take On Ads Around a Gen-X Halftime Show

While it was a great game with two very talented teams, and in what looked like one of the nicest football venues anywhere (yes, that includes Jerry World), our house will remember a booming halftime show where my wife was telling me to “turn it up” from across the room. Luckily for all of us, the brands also showed up before, during and after the main event with ads worthy of such a fun halftime performance.

It’s a little unfortunate, however, that the Kid Reviewers, the heart and soul of these annual posts, were consumed with homework on this Sunday evening. They both caught most of the ads as they happened, and worked while the game was being played. I just hope that the World History project goes well for my daughter, and that the boy aces his math test today. Let’s just say my wife will never let me live it down if I was the perceived cause of a dip in grades over a blog post.?

What struck the kids this time, in their ninth outing as “Kid Super Bowl Ad Reviewers,” were the sheer number of EV spots during the game. Yes, they were aware of the “Crypto Bowl” moniker since I was dialed into a great Twitter Space with Blake Menezes, Jeremiah Owyang and many other Web3 heads, but the kids could have cared less about that.?

Given we have a soon-to-be-driver in the house, our 15 year-old daughter picked up on the car spots, but did not have a favorite. The Silverado EV spot with the nod to The Sopranos went over her head, unfortunately.?

Our 12 year-old son perked up during the Nissan spot, where he noticed both Brie Larson and Dave Bautista, and commented, “thrilling celebrities for maybe a thrilling car.” He’s not much of a car guy, but he knows his Marvel Universe.?

Top Picks from The Kids

Unanimous Winner: Aside from the Gen X-approved halftime show, everyone found the Amazon Alexa spot with Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost very entertaining. In fact, we thought Amazon had disabled our Alexa in anticipation of the ad since it was unresponsive earlier in the day (turned out to be user error on my part ??♂?).?

Runners-Up (in order of popularity):

GM - “This was an ad for people who grew up with Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, but why would he ever want to own a car company?” Yes it was a funny spot, very well-played by some of the original cast of the Austin Powers films, but I was surprised both kids seemed to find it so entertaining when neither of them would sit through any of the movies! (Side note: GM refers to the spot on their YouTube channel as “Dr. EV-il” - well played!)

Toyota - Once I explained who Tommy Lee Jones and Leslie Jones were, they understood the spot since they knew Rashida and then the person who made the last cameo appearance (no spoilers here).?

Doritos - “The CGI was really good, and the song is stuck in my head, but no one should be feeding animals Doritos. Unless you wanted to kill them.” Ah, from the mouths of babes. In this instance, it was our boy scout concerned with not letting wildlife eat the chips the actress shouldn’t have brought on the tree climb with her in the first place. At least this Frito-Lay spot was memorable.?

Crypto.com - My daughter is the sports fan, and immediately recognized LeBron, but I had to share a tad bit more about the Easter Eggs woven into this Crypto.com spot. Once I showed them the QR code and the hints baked into the background of the spot, both of them set out to find more. One of the few non-humorous spots both kids enjoyed - and remembered.?

Other spots were deemed funny (Lay’s with Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd) and the BMW spot with Selma Hayek and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but not funny enough to warrant any further discussion.?

For the record, I also enjoyed the Amazon spot but found the Google Pixel spot my personal favorite. We all take so many pictures with our phones and when your subject is people of color, it’s hard for those photos to really look good with available lighting. It was a touching spot for all of the right reasons, including having a new Lizzo jawn as the soundtrack.