Who won the Super Ad Bowl this year?

The creativity of commercials produced for the Super Bowl has been slipping for a few years. Many of the 2016 crop were barely up to preseason game standards, let alone the biggest stage in all of television. But that’s just my opinion. What follows is what others had to say on the subject.

Adweek listed the top five spots produced for the Super Bowl as:

  1. Jeep “Portraits” – This commercial used photos as a dramatic connection to the company’s history.
  2. T-Mobile “Restricted Bling” starring Drake – The rapper happily agrees to numerous revisions made by lawyers to his song “Hotline Bling” song.
  3. Audi “Commander” – This spot takes off largely because of the soundtrack, David Bowie’s “Starman.”
  4. Heinz “Wiener Stampede” – What’s not to love about dachsunds in hot dog costumes running across the field to their human masters dressed in Heinz condiments variety costumes.
  5. Doritos “Ultrasound” – This baby can’t wait to be born to enjoy the taste of Doritos.

USA Today had the following 10 as its top spots based on its annual Ad Meter voting:

  1. Hyundai “First Date”
  2. Heinz “Wiener Stampede”
  3. Doritos “Ultrasound”
  4. Doritos “Doritos Dogs”
  5. Hyundai “Ryanville”
  6. Hyundai “The Chase”
  7. Honda “A New Truck to Love”
  8. Audi “Commander”
  9. Budweiser “Simply Put”
  10. Toyota “The Longest Chase”

BrainTrust

"What were the pharmaceutical companies thinking when they ran spots about irritable bowels and opioid-induced constipation adjacent to ads for pizza, beer and snack foods?"

James Tenser

Retail Tech Marketing Strategist | B2B Expert Storytellingâ„¢ Guru | President, VSN Media LLC


"Over all the creativity continues to decline, or it’s simply that these commercials are not designed to reach me. No commercial was so outstanding that I backed up and viewed again."

W. Frank Dell II

President, Dellmart & Company


""

Adrian Weidmann

Managing Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC


Discussion Questions

What did you think of this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials overall? What spot was your favorite?

Poll

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Tom Redd
Tom Redd
8 years ago

Doritos just seemed to fit the average Dorito freak and most of my kids. I watched our Millennial-filled football room during the ad. The guys really liked the Doritos ad and the women loved the little hot dog ad. The Vizio TV ad was way off any mark. No one paid any attention to that stupid glass TV ad. The Prius ad was good — even though I will NEVER buy a Prius. Batteries run flashlights. Engines power cars!

Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Richard J. George, Ph.D.
8 years ago

At $5 million per 30 seconds, I was not overly impressed with the ads which ranged from offbeat humor to upbeat messages. I did not see a clear blockbuster ad as has been the norm for previous Super Bowls. For example, while I enjoyed the Doritos “Ultrasound” commercial I can understand why some people were put off by it.

My favorite ad, which had neither offbeat humor nor an upbeat message, was the domestic violence PSA — powerful and timely!

Steve Montgomery
Steve Montgomery
8 years ago

I have to admit that even after they were over I was unsure of what some ads were for. Some it was because the music overshadowed whatever message they were trying to communicate. In a few cases it was that I simply had no idea of who the company was or how what the ads showed related to what they did.

My vote is Budweiser’s “Simply Put.” The message was simple, clearly stated and carried the message that drinking and driving can hurt many people. Admittedly I see the irony in it being sponsored but a beer company in the midday of what had become a national holiday based watching football on TV, where much of the audience is consuming beer and other alcoholic drinks.

Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
8 years ago

There were some gems and some clunkers in this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads. Personally, I liked the Doritos Ultrasound spot. It was funny and memorable, supporting the brand’s core story and image.

Cathy Hotka
Cathy Hotka
8 years ago

Once again, Doritos smoked the competition by making everyone laugh out loud. The Ultrasound spot was a hilarious brand-builder, and you can’t go wrong with a spot that stars scheming dogs.

That said, most of this year’s ads were safe and predictable, and unremarkable. Let’s spice it up next year!

Mark Heckman
Mark Heckman
8 years ago

Overall better than average, but with each passing year in my mind the bar gets a bit higher given some of the great ones of years past. This year, I would salute the Doritos Ultrasound as the best, given the product’s early presence in the spot and certainly to the visual impact of seeing an unborn baby react to the consumption of Doritos. Very funny.

Some of the other spots that do not mention the name of the sponsor of the ad until very late in the production run the risk of not connecting the product or service with the spot. To that point, I still cannot recall who sponsored the spot “Herding Cats” a few years ago.

Ron Margulis
Ron Margulis
8 years ago

Nothing really new in the ads this year, at least nothing that had me running to see it again. The only ad in the USA Today list that was engaging was the Audi one. The others were just rehashes of last year’s, and I usually enjoy the Doritos ads. My favorite was the Amazon ad with Alec Baldwin and Dan Marino. It was stylized but got its message across loud and clear. Didn’t care for the Mountain Dew ad with the monkey/puppy/baby shtick and the one for the opiate laxative should have been on the nightly news or Jeopardy, not in the Super Bowl.

Joan Treistman
Joan Treistman
8 years ago

There was no uncertainty about the message of the Jeep ad and for me there was entertainment value as well. The ads place Jeep in a consideration set that may have eluded them in the past.

James Tenser
James Tenser
8 years ago

Our crowd laughed most at the Heinz wiener dogs. I found Jeff Goldblum’s movin’ on up on Apartment.com’s soaring piano entertaining. The Toyota Prius chase spot was oddly fascinating too. But as a collection, this year’s ads left me lukewarm.

And what were the pharmaceutical companies thinking when they ran spots about irritable bowels and opioid-induced constipation adjacent to ads for pizza, beer and snack foods? What’ll they try next year — treatments for traumatic head injury? Ugh.

Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly
8 years ago

For those in the bottom half of the list, such extravagance at $5 million per 30 seconds.

Favorite? “Puppy Baby Monkey.”

what was it for again?

Li McClelland
Li McClelland
8 years ago

This was not a banner year. Lots of meh.

The Heinz wiener dog stampede was a shameless (and not nearly as clever) cinematographic take-off on the brilliant EDS herding cats Super Bowl commercial of yore.

This year’s favorite for me was the Doritos Ultrasound. And for both nostalgia and brand awareness I thought Jeep and Audi were stellar.

Shep Hyken
Shep Hyken
8 years ago

I would agree that the commercials weren’t as collectively entertaining as usual. I miss the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. I also saw some “institutional” type adds that didn’t measure up to the typical Super Bowl spots. Still, some hit the mark. Congrats to Doritos for some great commercials — and for the process behind them (the contest).

One that I’m surprised didn’t make the list was the Snickers commercial with Marilyn Monroe (played by Willem Dafoe). There was creativity, famous people, humor — and you knew exactly what the commercial was pitching.

Ed Rosenbaum
Ed Rosenbaum
8 years ago

Mediocre might be an overstatement this year. Overall, the ads did not do enough to warrant the “shhs” in the room. There were disappointments. Where were the Clydesdales? Where was Coke? Where was Pepsi?

The old reliable were hardly seen. Best of the best was the Doritos “Ultrasound”. Maybe the Prius was second. And the Heinz wiener was third. But that is not saying much. A lot of money spent for little viewer enjoyment.

Brady Willhite
Brady Willhite
8 years ago

I told one of my friends who I was watching the game with that I believe the days of all of the Super Bowl ads being great are behind us. I’m not sure why, but it seems more and more like some companies/brands think it is good enough to just have a spot during the Super Bowl and that less and less creativity is being used.

It’s always difficult for me to choose only one favorite, but wow, what a powerful “Don’t drink and drive” message delivered through Helen Mirren from Budweiser. Definitely a far cry from the status-quo and bare minimum of “Drink responsibly.” Being a topic that is especially relevant in my region, that was a breath of fresh air and long overdue from the alcohol industry. Speaking of Budweiser, I was pretty heavily disappointed that they didn’t also feature a heartwarming Clydesdale ad this year … further underscoring what I said to my friend.

Christina Ellwood
Christina Ellwood
8 years ago

The NFL ran the best ads. The best product brand ad was Jeep’s “portraits.” The rest were a disappointment — especially at $5M per 30 sec spot.

Daryle Hier
Daryle Hier
8 years ago

Have to admit, I cringed at the waste of money involved with this monkey-see, monkey-do exercise. Didn’t even know what some of the ads were for. Just a bunch of typical and very ordinary commercials that once again signal the end of marketing and advertising as we know it.

Matt Schmitt
Matt Schmitt
8 years ago

The Heinz spot generated a lot of water cooler buzz. But the Jeep spots were really well done, and are probably the best of the lot as far as lasting impact.

W. Frank Dell II, CMC
W. Frank Dell II, CMC
8 years ago

Over all the creativity continues to decline, or it’s simply that these commercials are not designed to reach me. My favorite as Doritos “ultrasound” followed by Toyota “The Longest Chase.” First Date was cute and Wiener Stampede was okay, but not out of the park. No commercial was so outstanding that I backed up and viewed again.

Karen S. Herman
Karen S. Herman
8 years ago

A week ago, Patrick Kulp of Mashable posted a heads up on the Heinz commercial, featuring a stampede of wiener dogs that was spot-on. This commercial, by far, was my favorite. It was fun, warm and, as Mr. Kulp points out, just so cute. My feeling is that advertisers were trying too hard to cater to Millennials and make a tech play in their spots, which, for the most part, failed to connect with the overall audience.

Chuck Palmer
Chuck Palmer
8 years ago

I’m with the crowd that thinks overall, it was a lot of the same. Doritos Ultrasound stood out, but the dad in me was a bit creeped out (same with the Super Bowl Babies). The sap in me couldn’t help digging the wiener dogs and I thought the Amazon Alexa (?) ad was the best production.

With that said, I maintain the most audacious award goes to Jublia for making 100 million viewers think about famous sports dudes’ toe nail fungus.

Seriously?

Joel Rubinson
Joel Rubinson
8 years ago

Doritos, followed by Jeep. Hands down. I also thought the Paypal ad on old vs. new money was effective.