We got through another Super Bowl, everyone! High fives all around.
Before the New England Patriots beat out the Seattle Seahawks to win the whole shebang, we were treated to a nail-biter of a game, dancing blue sharks and even an on-field brawl. Wow, no wonder we all feel exhausted this morning.
And that was just during the game itself. Let's not forget about the commercials, shall we? During this year's slate of highly anticipated Super Bowl ads, we laughed, we cried and we mostly felt uncomfortable. But still, this year's Super Bowl spots did their job in giving us plenty to talk about the morning after the big game.
Here are this year's best and worst Super Bowl commercials that may even stay with you until next year's event.
The Best:
1. Snickers, "The Brady Bunch"
Ever since Betty White was tackled in Snickers' 2010 Super Bowl commercial, the candy company has never gone wrong with its hilarious spots for the "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign. Snickers did it again with its 2015 Super Bowl commercial featuring Machete's Danny Trejo standing in for Marcia in a very special episode of The Brady Bunch. It was kind of awesome to see The Brady Bunch with a bit of grit, and Trejo's head of hair could even rival Marcia's.
2. Skittles, "Settle It"
What do you do when there's only one piece of lemon Skittles left? Arm wrestle for it, of course. In fact, this whole town does this sort of thing a lot since everyone — men, women, babies, dogs — has one extremely buff arm and one regularly sized arm. This commercial was weird, wacky and wonderful, which is everything I expect from Skittles.
3. Nationwide, "Invisible Mindy"
More Mindy Kaling is always a win in my book, although this commercial, which features the funny lady walking around as if she's really invisible, i.e. doing whatever she wants, was kind of meh for me until the end. Kaling has a great moment with a surprise cameo appearance that I kind of just want to watch again and again.
4. Budweiser, "Lost Dog"
Our social media feeds were inundated with this commercial days before the Super Bowl, but when the spot offficially aired during the big game, it still did the trick. I didn't want to give in to the warm and fuzzy emotions Budweiser so obviously wanted me to feel, but they were undeniable. Plus, the ethereal cover of The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" was perfection.
5. Avocados From Mexico, "First Draft Ever"
I didn't even know you could advertise a fruit like this in general, but apparently you can and Avocados From Mexico, which organizes the marketing efforts of two Mexican avocado growers and importers associations, did. This cute and funny spot features former NFL players Jerry Rice and Doug Flutie providing color commentary for the world's first draft ever as each country picks its plants and animals that will become native to that region. Australia chooses the kangaroo, the United States chooses wheat and Mexico disappoints a polar bear by choosing the avocado. If you're not hankering for some guac after this commercial, you probably have no soul.
The Worst:
1. T-Mobile, "#KimsDataStash"
Kim Kardashian West grabbed headlines when her T-Mobile spot hit the Internet days before the big game. The ad was smart with Kardashian West warning against losing your monthly data so you don't miss out on seeing all of her selfies. However, when you have someone like Kardashian West who makes waves just by breathing, I was expecting more from this spot, and I was ultimately underwhelmed and disappointed it held back a little.
2. Coca-Cola, "#MakeItHappy"
How do we solve the problem of online harassment? Just pour some Coke on all the world's Internet servers, apparently. The sugary, syrupy drink will transform all of the cyberbuylling and hate people experience online daily into words of joy. If only it was that easy, Coke. If only.
3. Nissan, "With Dad"
There was so much wrong with Nissan's ad about a racecar-driving dad who needs to spend more time with his family and a son who grows up to have a passion for cars as well. Well, that's depressing in and of itself. Then you have the fact that the company set the commercial to Harry Chapin's "The Cat's in the Cradle," which everyone knows is the most depressing song ever. There's also the fact that Chapin died in a car crash in 1981, which makes this commercial super awkward to think about. Sorry, Nissan. This spot was just uncomfortable, not profound.
4. Nationwide, "Make Safe Happen"
If you watched the Super Bowl this year, you may have detected a pattern among this year's commercials. They were incredibly dark. Like Nissan's "With Dad" commercial, another commercial that really bummed viewers out was Nationwide's "Make Safe Happen" ad. Nationwide's commercial featuring Kaling was so delightful, but then it had to go and harsh all of our mellows with this spot, which started out as a whimsical ad showing a boy who says he won't ever get cooties, learn to fly or get married. Then the kicker comes when the boy says, "I couldn't grow up because I died from an accident." Of course, this simultaneously freaked everyone on social media out and launched a thousand memes. There are not enough buffalo chicken wings in the world that can help you get back into the spirit of the game after watching this commercial.
5. Carnival Corporation, "Come Back to the Sea"
Advertising always tries to force sentiment on us. It's kind of its thing. However, Carnival's Super Bowl ad, which showed glorious shots of cruise ships and the ocean as a 1962 speech about the sea by President John F. Kennedy played, just tried too hard. Although there is apparently a deeper meaning behind Kennedy's speech than it just being about humanity's ties to the ocean, it really just seemed like Carnival exploited a beloved historical figure to give it some legitimacy.
