By Delaney Benison
One day each year, America stops what they are doing on a Sunday night to watch the one thing they spend the rest of the year avoiding: Super Bowl commercials. This coveted advertisement time is known to produce the best, funniest and most inspirational commercials so the nation of sports fans does not divert its attention during breaks in the game. While there were not any strict trends this year, the usual suspects did show up. This year was filled with promise from the hilarious to the truly touching.
Chevy, financially and shock value wise, came up with possibly the most brilliant commercial of all time. By this I mean this commerical managed to have every football watcher in complete terror, staring at their TV. All the company had to do was turn the screen black. The commercial began with an overview of the stadium and then the TV begins to fritz before it blacks out. After three horrifying seconds, the words play across the screen, “What would you do if your TV went out?” In addition to advertising trucks, Chevy is now offering free WiFi for the Chevy Colorado. Simple as that, Chevy almost brought football fans to their knees and may not soon be forgiven.
Nationwide brought out the star-power in its commercial with Mindy Kaling. In the commercial, Kaling thought she was invisible and acted accordingly. She finds out she is not invisible when she tries to kiss Matt Damon in a restaurant. The humorous sketch was meant to emphasize the way that insurance customers feel ignored by other insurance companies.
Next, Katie Couric and Bryant Gumble took on the retro angle as they showed clip of them trying to understand the internet in 1994. Now they are driving in the BMW i3 built on carbon fiber, which is now this generation’s mystery, which we will apparently understand in 21 years.
While there were plenty of funny moments, there was definitely room for the more serious and touching commercials. Dove’s #RealStrenth commercial shows dads at all ages and their relationships with their kids. Dove answers its own question “What makes a man stronger?” with “Showing that he cares.” Always’ “Like a Girl” Commercial shows that girls’ confidence plummets during puberty. They ask teenagers to do something “like a girl” and they respond by looking ridiculous on purpose. Meanwhile, they also ask ten-year-olds to “run like a girl,” and they are shown trying to run their hardest. Always is simply trying to promote confidence in young women and trying to change the idea that “like a girl” should not be an insult.
On a more serious level, the commercial “No More” gives a very real and very scary look into a domestic violence call. It portrays a woman pretending to be order pizza as the only way to talk to the police. It’s a powerful message; many homes across America can relate to this situation.
Microsoft aired a commercial showing how the company uses its technology to help young children with prosthetic legs. It shows courageous toddlers running around, playing baseball and adjusting to their new prosthetics, both adorable and inspiring.
As always, Budweiser topped the Super Bowl Commercials with its “Lost Dog” advertisement. According to USA Today, “The Budweiser puppy has done what the Seattle Seahawks could not — it won back-to-back Super Bowls.” It was the winning-ranked ad of the 2015 Super Bowl. The commercial shows the pup getting lost once again and being saved by its best bud the Budweiser Clydesdale horse. Always emotional and adorable, the Clydesdale commercial is a fan favorite and I think everybody is already looking forward to what will come next for the #BestBuds.
This year’s Super Bowl averaged 114.4 million viewers per minute, making it the most watched television show of all time, fitting for such a historic game. All we can do is hope that the game and the commercials will be just as memorable next year.
