Newbird’s Favorite Super Bowl Commercials
This Sunday is “The Big Game,” Super Bowl LI. Historically known to be the most watched television broadcast of the year, the Super Bowl is not only the pinnacle event for the NFL, but also the time when many well-known brands spend large amounts of their advertising dollars. Football fan or not, often times you’ll hear people say that they only watch the Super Bowl “for the commercials.” As an advertiser, that’s a pretty big deal.
To get you warmed up for this year’s commercials (so far slated to consist of brands like Buick, Kia, and Budweiser), the team here at Newbird got together to pick our favorite Super Bowl commercials of all time. Happy “Throwback Thursday,” Super Bowl style!
Lucy:
Always #Like a Girl:
https://youtu.be/yIxA3o84syY
Coke & Marvel:
“My favorite Super Bowl commercials are the ones that use the opportunity to send a strong, positive message in their advertising, as well as the ones that have motion picture like intricacies. These two ads represent commercials on both of those spectrums, and the Always ad is simply genius! What a great way to get this positive girl power message to a wide audience!”
Ken:
Mountain Due Puppymonkeybaby:
https://youtu.be/ql7uY36-LwA
Doritos Crash The Super Bowl:
https://youtu.be/vH2LsFcWOFY
“One year later and the PuppyMonkeyBaby still keeps me up at night.”
Daniel:
Apple 1984:
Old Spice:
“Directed by Ridley Scott, the Apple commercial in 1984 was revolutionary for so many reasons, and what I believe to be the gold-standard for all Super Bowl commercials. The commercial is even more interesting when you read the history behind it.
With Old Spice, they took the time to get to know their audience (and potential audience) and created the ultimate “buyer persona.” They recognized that they needed to elevate their brand to a new audience, and the persona they created is one that the audience they are going after wishes they could be. Beyond that, the commercials are simply some of the coolest ever made.”
Jamie:
Google Love:
Betty White Snickers:
“Love this minimalist spot from 2010. It elegantly tells one person’s story through a series of Google searches. While most of the time I prefer quality over funny, you can never go wrong with Betty White.”
Lindsay:
Pepsi w/ Britney Spears, Pink, & Beyonce:
Rold Gold w/ Jason Alexander:
https://youtu.be/16vBycD3t2E
“From 2001 to 2004, Britney Spears starred in a series of Super Bowl commercials for Pepsi, of which the intention was to show Pepsi as the young and hip soda of this new pop-culture generation. In this 2004 ad, three female pop superstars (also including Pink & Beyonce) are seen being sentenced to compete in a gladiator-style competition against each other. Instead of fighting, the women throw down their weapons and engage the crowd with a performance of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” I love this commercial because not only is it a perfect snapshot of bubble-gum pop culture history, but it’s also a metaphor for how these women (and other female celebrities like them) were pitted against each other in the media at the time. Celebrity appearances in Super Bowl commercials wasn’t a new trend at the time, but the style and casting of this commercial is what I would describe as simply “epic.”
In 1995, Seinfeld was the most-watched sitcom on television. So of course it would make sense that the man who uttered “these pretzels are making me thirsty,” would star in a Rold Gold commercial. As a kid watching the ad, I remember thinking how incredibly cool the commercial’s “fake out” ending was. Plus, who doesn’t appreciate a man’s love for both his dog and pretzels!”
Have a favorite Super Bowl commercial? Tweet it to us @NewbirdDesign!