This year’s 70-plus Super Bowl ads featured Justin Bieber, toddlers dressed in football outfits, a burger-tossing kangaroo, Spuds MacKenzie’s ghost and one ad that jokes about President Donald Trump’s hair.
Here are 10 of the most notable ads:
Budweiser: The beer giant wisely released this ad early to generate buzz and it succeeded. By tackling its founder's immigrant story from Germany in the 1850s facing discrimination, the story effectively echoes issues resonating today. Bud execs may say it's not political but it is.
Skittles: This candy company has a knack for quirky ads. This one fits the bill. A teenager is trying to get his girlfriend's attention by throwing Skittles into her second-floor bedroom window. She is catching them in her mouth but is then followed by her mom, her dad, her grandmother, a thief, a cop and a badger. It's silly and funny at the same time.
Honda CR-V: This is one of the most interesting ads of the night. Various celebrities such as Tina Fey, Magic Johnson and Steve Carell speak about achieving their dreams through the pages of their yearbook photos. The only downside: Will anyone remember this was a Honda ad?
Bai: If you didn't know what Bai was before this ad, you will now. It's a healthy drink! Why does it work? Christopher Walken sings the lyrics of 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" to Justin Timberlake. That's simple and effective with the hashtag #BaiBaiBai.
Tide: NFL commentator Terry Bradshaw gets barbecue sauce on his shirt during the Super Bowl and has no backup shirt. So he tries to go home using a golf cart. Instead, he ends up at Jeffrey Tambor's house. Tambor cleans his shirt with Tide while they watch a nature documentary. "It's not what's on here that counts," Tambor says to Bradshaw, then points at his heart. "It's what's in here." Bradshaw brightens: "Really?" Tambor grimaces and says "I don't know" as he closes the door.
Snickers: The company decided to do its ad live. Adam Driver ("Star Wars: The Force Awakens") is on a Western set and announces the halftime score to prove it's live. Then he shoots three guys but slips and knocks into a pillar, causing the entire set to fall apart. The kicker: don't do a live commercial when you're hungry. It was amusing if not terribly inventive given the "live" aspect.
Kia: Melissa McCarthy, a day after stealing the show on "Saturday Night Live" as Sean Spicer, pulls off another memorable TV performance trying to save whales, rhinos, trees and ice caps, all with calamitous results. This was to promote how environmentally positive (and safer) it is to merely buy a Kia Niro, a hybrid crossover SUV.
T-Mobile: Oddball buddies Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart already have a VH1 reality show, so in a natural extension, Snoop is looking for a bag of … something. Martha suggests "pot" but a kitchen pot and then a "can of bisque." It was witty enough for a Super Bowl audience without being too naughty.
T-Mobile: Goofy Kristen Schaal ("Flight of the Conchords," "The Daily Show," "The Last Man on Earth") loves to be punished in this "50 Shades of Grey" spoof where data overages and add-on fees turn her on.
It's a 10: In the only glancing reference to Trump, this hair company notes that America will have to suffer through at least four years of "awful hair" and encourages folks to have "great" hair instead, be it "back hair," "chest hair" or even "mohair." It's just weird enough to be effective.
Here are five duds:
Wendy's: For years, Wendy's has promoted the fact its flame-boiled beef is fresh, not frozen. For some reason, the fast-food company thought spending $5 million on an ad with someone trying to melt frozen beef with a hair dryer was a good use of their money.
Febreze: The company attempts to be cheeky about going No. 2 right after halftime and keeping the smells at bay. Instead, the ad just sort of stinks.
Persil: The possibility of having Bill Nye the Science Guy in an ad seemed like a slam dunk, but he's wasted in this rather dull ad that tries to hit multiple dimensions but fails.
Intel: No offense to Tom Brady but an effort to say watching the Patriots quarterback brush his teeth or wake up is exciting is not true — at all.
T-Mobile: This entire commercial about end-zone dancing felt belabored. Nary a laugh could be found despite hardy efforts by Justin Bieber, Rob Gronkowski and Terrell Owens.
The dullest ads:
Alfa Romeo managed to air not just one — but three — incredibly boring ads.
And one head scratcher:
84 Lumber: This company, using an Atlanta creative agency, Brunner, decides to tell a story about a mom and daughter trying to leave Mexico. Reportedly, the original ad featured a wall with a gate and ends "The will to succeed is always welcome here." But instead, we get only part of the story and a note to tell us to go to a website instead to finish it. How many people will really do that? Who watches a Super Bowl ad without an actual conclusion?
