This Sunday’s Super Bowl marks the occasion when the leading creatives in the advertising game put their best game face on for us. Which commercials will be the most memorable, most emotional, the funniest, the most technically astonishing? And would viewers even be able to remember the products being sold?
To view the commercials, click through our gallery — you can advance by hitting the next button in the upper right. More commercials will be added as they become available online.
A little girl competes in a soapbox derby race while her dad, in voiceover, contemplates the world into which she was born — one in which women are valued less than men — and how that world is changing. An emotional testament to girl power (especially to those sitting behind a wheel), and to pay equality in the workplace, to which Audi has pledged its commitment. Agency: Venables Bell & Partners.
This extended cut of “Man and Machine” (featuring just the LC model) stars dancer Charles “Lil’ Buck” Riley, with vocals by Sia (“Move Your Body”) and narration by Minnie Driver. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Agency: Team One.
Hyundai’s Super Bowl ad was not available for pre-screening, because it hadn’t been shot yet. It will actually be filmed during the game , featuring fans’ reactions, and shown right after the final play. Their campaign line is: “This year, some of the better moments of the Super Bowl won’t only happen on the field. ”
If celebrities’ yearbook photos could talk, they’d tell us to continue to chase our dreams. This clever ad’s FX bring authentic high school yearbook pictures of TV, film, sports and comic book legends like Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Magic Johnson, Stan Lee and Steve Carell to life. Directed by Angus Wall (who won two Oscars for editing “The Social Network” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”), Honda’s clever ad – part of its “Power of Dreams” campaign – also showcases the CR-V 20 SUV, though the car being sold seems secondary to the concept of pursuing dreams, as told by some notables who’ve certainly achieved theirs. Agency: RPA.
The automaker’s “That’s Not a Buick” campaign continues with this goofy take on kids football, featuring Cam Newton and supermodel Miranda Kerr. Agency: Publicis Groupe’s EngageM-1.
With Ford transitioning from a mere automaker to a “mobility company” (through a mix of smart technologies, electric and self-driving cars, car-sharing and ride-hailing apps), their whimsical commercial shows the ignominy of being stuck – and the joyous freedom of getting un-stuck. With Nina Simone’s jaunty “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” and the dulcet tones of narrator Bryan Cranston. Agency: Global Team Blue.
Mercedes-Benz skipped last year’s Super Bowl, but now they’re back, courtesy of the Coen Brothers, who direct this comical scene at a biker bar with none other than Peter Fonda (and a Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster). Is it heresy that the Easy Rider himself is sporting four wheels and not two? Agency: Merkley and Partners.
Melissa McCarthy stars as a wannabee eco-warrior whose efforts to save whales, trees, polar icecaps and the like run afoul of gravity and the laws of physics in the most slapstick fashion. Fortunately she has a Kia Niro hybrid crossover vehicle to ferry her in comfort from eco war zone to eco war zone. Agency: David & Goliath.
Budweiser proves you don’t need puppies or Clydedales for an emotional ad. And in today’s political climate (where the idea that an immigrant is of questionable value to the United States is raised by certain people in the White House), the commercial is a sharp, patriotic jab to the gut. “Born the Hard Way” is a 60-second story of immigrants, namely one Adolphus Busch, a brewmaster from Germany who makes a perilous journey to America in the mid-1800s. Confronted by anti-immigrant bias and overcoming tremendous adversity, he manages to work his way to St. Louis, where he joins forces with another immigrant, Eberhard Anheuser. The rest, as they say, is history.
Directed by Chris Sargent and filmed in New Orleans, the commercial reminds us that, yes, immigrants — including brewmasters — are who have always made America great. (And it’s a message that has caused some controversy — som have called for a boycott of Budweiser .) Agency: Anomaly.
The spirit of Spuds MacKenzie escorts a lonely beer drinker on a “Christmas Carol”-like journey through parties past, present and future. Agency: Weiden & Kennedy.
The “Busch Guy” wants you to enjoy the great outdoors with a cold (and very loud) can of fizzy Busch beer. Agency: Deutsch New York.
While Anheuser-Busch’s beer competitors are locked out of the Super Bowl broadcast, purveyors of wine are welcome! Yellow Tail’s ad makers are no doubt hoping that “Wanna pet my roo? ” (spoken to comely model Ellie Gonsalves) becomes a catch phrase, though the relative paucity of actual kangaroos in America leads us to suspect it’s a double entendre. Those naughty Aussies!
There is something that Freemasons, the Illuminati and those guys in charge of Area 51 know that we shouldn’t: Avocados from Mexico are delicious and good for you! The commercial’s humor is a little thin, compared to the hypnotic teaser that Avocados from Mexico released just a few days ago featuring comedian Jon Lovitz, which is so visually scrumptious we want more, more! Agency: Omnicom Group’s GSD&M.
Two Colonel Sanders (Billy Zane and Rob Riggle) are crammed into one 15-second commercial for KFC’s Georgia Gold Honey Mustard BBQ. But only one is gold-plated. Agency: Wieden+Kennedy.
Last month Wendy’s Twitter account scorched a troll who questioned the fast food outlet’s claim that their beef is never frozen. Now the war between Wendy’s and other burger joints is heating up, in a Super Bowl ad in which the other guys’ frozen beef patties are given a real roasting, courtesy of Foreigner and a hair dryer. Agency: VML.
Throwing Skittles at your true love’s bedroom window late at night is certainly better than pebbles. They taste better, and they’re more fun to share. Agency: Omnicom Group’s Adam & Eve/DDB.
John Cena is the voice of Ernie the Elephant, who appears to be taking this New Year’s resolution about getting into shape a little too hard. Agency: Wonderful Agency.
King’s Hawaiian dinner rolls are so popular they’ll disappear … through the wall? Agency: Levit Agency/Gartner.
Pepsi is launching its new premium line of bottled water with electrolytes, to the tune of John Legend’s “Love Me Now. ” Directed by two-time Oscar-winning art director Robert Stromberg (“Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland”), the commercial demonstrates how a clear liquid can add color to our lives. Agency: R/GA.
Action stars Jason Statham (“The Transporter”) and Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman”) deftly take out some Eurotrash thugs at a smart restaurant, while enterprising young chef Felix – using wix.com to create a website – is oblivious to the mayhem. A two-minute “director’s cut” was also posted online. Agency: Internal.
Wix is also sponsoring a contest , with a prize of $50,000. The catch? You have to post Felix’s picture as the profile photo on your Facebook page.
