Harrison Ford goes to the dogs for Amazon, Zoe Kravitz gets all ASMR, Steve Carell defends Pepsi, and the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 runs errands.
Super Bowl commercials sometimes have more staying power than the big game itself. Everyone remembers the introduction of Apple’s Macintosh computer in 1984 and the Budweiser Whassup? guys, for example. Iconic ads like these start conversations and spark trends nationwide.
What’s coming this year, when the Los Angeles Rams take on the New England Patriots on Feb. 3? Here’s what we’ve seen of the big Super Bowl ads so far. We’ll add to this story often as more commercials show up.
Michelob is smartly capitalizing on the ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) craze, which has people loving videos that make specific sounds that create a tingly sensation in some listeners. Zoe Kravitz whispers, clicks her fingernails on a beer bottle, and pours the fizzy drink. ASMR-ers will love it (the video already has a whopping 10 million views in just three days) but some of us will never get the appeal.
In another Michelob ad, a buff robot shows how it can blow all the puny humans away in running, boxing and golf, then is sad when it realizes even all the workouts in the world won’t allow it to enjoy a beer. This is why Skynet is inevitable.
Two guys are stacking different varieties of Pringles to make unusual flavor combinations, but their Alexa smart device wants in on the fun. Sometimes, it can be sad to be a robot.
Super-athlete Bo Jackson meets a mermaid and a horse with wings in Sprint’s Super Bowl 2019 ad titled “Best of Both Worlds.” Paul Marcarelli, the Sprint spokesman formerly known as the Verizon spokesman, also appears in the 30-second spot, as do a few cute robots.
Regular gaming controllers don’t always work for children with disabilities. That’s where Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller comes in. “I never thought it was unfair,” one young gamer says in the company’s ad . “I just thought, ‘Hey, this is the way it is and it’s not going to change.'”
Classic movie cars like the Back to the Future DeLorean, the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine rush to Walmart to pick up groceries in the company’s commercial. Reads the tagline: “Order groceries online. Pickup for free. No matter what you drive.”
In a kind of disturbing ad for Jeep, a 1963 Gladiator Jeep pickup gets put in a crusher and the camera lingers on its torturous death. It’s eventually replaced by a new Gladiator 2020, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for the classic old truck that’s so cruelly been put out to pasture. It’s worth noting that while this ad is targeting the big game, it will not actually air during the Super Bowl broadcast as FCA is instead targeting digital and social channels this year.
Pepsi plays off the fact that people wanting a cola tend to ask for their rival, Coke, and are often asked by the servers if a Pepsi is OK.
