Second Quarter
Google, “Loretta”
In-house
Score: 
Google, remember that I’m not crying; there’s just some dust in the air. In a 90-second spot that feels half as long, Google’s third consecutive Super Bowl spot is a tear-jerker that highlights Google’s intuitive interface. Here, an elderly man types in “how not to forget” and then asks to see pictures of his late wife Loretta through the years. He tells Google to remember that she hated his mustache and loved going to Alaska. Google uploads his memories to the big cloud in the sky and movingly plays them back for him at the end. (Of course, we’re all outsourcing our memories and broader knowledge to some extent in these information-overloaded times.) Here’s hoping Loretta’s data stays safe up there.
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Squarespace, “Welcome to Winona”
In-house
Score: 
Squarespace is no stranger to lavish, self-referential Super Bowl ads (in its 2015 spot, actor John Malkovich screams at another man named John Malkovich for taking his domain name). Here we have Winona Ryder, who at least for us was not instantly recognizable as Winona Ryder, evoking the opening scenes in “Fargo.” Lying on her back on a highway snowbank at the entrance to a Minnesota town, she is approached by a cop who asks her what she’s doing. (Mercifully no one attempts the famously flat accent.) She is making a website, she says. (In the snow? Oh Winona, how adorkable!) It’s not a self-contained ad so much as a prompt to visit a landing page that purports to be Winona Ryder’s own website. Turns out she was born in, and named after, this real-life town called Winona, but you don’t get any of that from this quirky ad. You only get ... confused.
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Verizon
McCann
Score: 
Last year Verizon’s Super Bowl commercial reunited a crash survivor with his first responders in a way that felt natural and aligned with the brand. This year Verizon wants you to know that 5G is coming and it will be amazing! But, hold your horses, this isn’t really about 5G. It's about first responders again. (Cue heroic Harrison Ford-narrated speech about heart and grit with sweeping music.) Wait, maybe it's about 5G too after all! Someday, first responders will benefit from using 5G in the field. Verizon’s 5G, to be specific. It’s a well-intentioned spot that tries to have its cake and eat it too.
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Mtn Dew, “Zero Sugar, As Good as the Original”
TBWA
Score: 
The “Heeeeere’s Johnny” door-axing moment in “The Shining” has become such a cultural touchstone that invoking it in an ad risks coming off as somewhere between lazy and cliché—at best. But in this spot featuring the masterly Bryan Cranston, one suddenly wishes for an entire “Shining” remake starring Walter White. The craftsmanship of the commercial—the look and feel is uncanny—heightens a potentially easy gag. And we’re happy any time Tracee Ellis Ross simply shows up, much less effortlessly channeling Shelley Duval. What does Mountain Dew have to do with “The Shining?” Nothing. The hallway tsunami of fluorescent green soda in lieu of blood is a nice nod to the brand, and while the sight gag of Cranston as the creepy murdered twins is logically nonsensical, well, so is “The Shining” itself. As long as we’re dream-casting this remake now, how about Donald Glover in the Scatman Crothers role?
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Avocados from Mexico, “Avocados from Mexico Shopping Network”
Energy BBDO
Score: 
Avocados from Mexico continues its string of wacky Super Bowl spots starring a non sequitur celeb with this ode to home shopping channels. Here, “buying stuff for your avocados totally isn’t weird!” says the too-chipper hostess before handing things off to Molly Ringwald. The “Sixteen Candles” star leverages her ’80s cachet to gamely walk us through some of the merchandise on “sale”: a Baby Bjorn for your little green guy, a chip-shaped pool floaty, a bike helmet for your fruit’s noggin. It’s cute enough. Then back to the host, who delivers the only actually funny line of the spot, “Shop now and we’ll throw in Molly!,” catching Ringwald visibly off guard. (A fun Easter egg: The phone number for the Avocados From Mexico Shopping Network connects to a working line that offers some surprises.)
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Planters, “Tribute”
Vayner Media
Score: 
Planters made headlines when it appeared to have humorously killed off Mr. Peanut in a teaser commercial last month. Now, with this ad we get his funeral. “He spent his life bringing people together,” Wesley Snipes says as he delivers the eulogy. “I know he’d be happy that we'’e all together now.” By “all” he means other mourning brand mascots like Mr. Clean and the Kool-Aid Man, who sobs “Oh yeah" in agreement—and sheds a tear that lands on freshly dug soil that sprouts a ... new baby Mr. Peanut. The baby nut chirps like a dolphin for nearly five seconds, which by our estimates cost Planters $933,000 in media spend, and then says “Just kidding, I’m back.” Look, if you’re going to kill your mascot just do it. This feels like a cop-out. Also, fine—we kind of want some peanuts now.
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Hard Rock, “The Hype”
VaynerMedia
Score: 
Someone has stolen Jennifer Lopez’s bling cup as she’s getting ready in her Hard Rock suite. Directed by Michael Bay, this cameo-studded ad is about as big-budget and low-concept as you might expect. As J. Lo chases down the suspect through the Miami property, we get an adrenaline-packed tour of the giant guitar-shaped hotel. The thief rappels down the building, scoots across the pool (and dodges a pineapple projectile tossed by Pitbull), stomps through the restaurant, and even interrupts a Little Steven concert. Hey, this hotel looks snazzy when people aren’t hurtling through the lobby! The big reveal: the thief is A-Rod! No, wait, that’s a mask! It’s DJ Khaled, who just wants to be her hype man! (Thirsty flex, even for you, Khaled.) At only 60 seconds, we'll happily rewatch this Bay content before queuing up “Pearl Harbor” again.
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Hyundai Genesis, “Going Away Party”
Innocean
Score: 
It's not often you see the luxury car segment going for humor, much less succeeding. But in this commercial, new-money power couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend scoff at old-money Establishment. Legend throws a going away party for “old luxury” and its tropes, like “woman who claims she hasn't had any plastic surgery” and “lady who goes to Asia once and suddenly thinks she’s spiritual.” Young luxury, on the other hand, laughs at itself, as do the charming stars of this ad for the first-ever SUV from Genesis. “Somebody had to make luxury fun,” Legend says. Surprisingly, it works.
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Famous people: They’re just like us! Turns out Marty Scorcese doesn’t like going solo to parties either. In a 60-second ad to plug its new energy drink, Coke shows us what happens when Scorcese’s wingman Jonah Hill accidentally stands him up. The whole world (for some reason) waits to find out whether Hill will come through for the man who directed him in “Wolf of Wall Street.” The suspense is irritating! The whole world (for some reason) is relieved when Hill comes through with the help of Coke Energy! Mostly, the whole world is just glad this goes down quicker than “The Irishman.”
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Pop-Tarts, “Pop-Tarts Fixed the Pretzel”
MRY
Score: 
Oh to have been in some Midwest man-cave when this ad, featuring “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness giving Super Bowl snacks a fab makeover, swished onscreen. A defeated and drably dressed woman “struggs” to snack on her pretzels when Van Ness appears to proclaim “Pop-Tarts fixed that for you!” In an instant, everything from the woman’s snack to her gray sweatsuit gets a snap makeover. “From ho-hum to so yum,” he snaps. Pop-Tarts is trying to reposition its toaster pastries as a snack food with its first Big Game spot. Sadly, we're watching our figure.
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Pringles, “Pringles Rick and Morty Commercial”
Grey
Score: 
For “Rick and Morty” fans biding their time as they wait for the second half of season 4, this spot comes as sweet relief. For everyone else, it might just be upsetting. That’s OK, though, for Pringles—a brand that knows its target audience. Here we have the titular Rick watching TV with Morty’s sister Summer when a Pringles commercial about flavor stacking comes on. Meta! An excitable Morty bounds in eager to try stacking as many flavors as possible, leading Rick to realize that they are themselves trapped inside some dystopian parallel-universe Pringles ad (spoiler: Morty is a bot impostor and everything goes haywire). Previous Super Bowl spots from Pringles have been more conventional (read: not very good) ads that played up the idea of combining Pringles flavors. The good folks at Adult Swim, the network where “Rick and Morty” will ultimately air the rest of season 4, have delivered along with Grey—and we’d love this ad completely if we didn’t suspect it may have delayed the show’s return.
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Sabra, “How I ’mmus”
VaynerMedia
Score: 
What do feuding “Real Housewives of New Jersey” co-stars Teresa Giudice and Caroline Manzo have in common with drag queens Kim Chi and Miz Cracker ... and rapper T-Pain? They’re all in Sabra’s poppy, colorful Big Game ad—and they don’t seem to care if you know who they are or not. Taking a hipper-than-thou approach to promoting a hummus that’s having a moment, VaynerMedia’s spot is rife with self-references: Scary Spice makes an appearance, and so does Chester Cheeto and [checks notes] Kombucha Girl. All of it is in service of coining a catchphrase: “This is how I ’mmus” ... as in “This is the individualistic way in which I choose to enjoy hummus.” The spot is cute, will be lost on some, and “how I ‘mmus” sounds, well, kind of gross.
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TurboTax, “All People are Tax People”
Wieden & Kennedy
Score: 
What unites us all as Americans? It’s not our politics, nor is it necessarily our values. It’s taxes! TurboTax is looking to bring the world together through dance (and taxes) with a music video that features a diverse cast from all corners of this great nation jigging to the same refrain: “All people are tax people.” Kudos to TurboTax for trying to make something dreadful fun. Because the spot is fun. It’s an homage to New Orleans-style bounce music (which probably doesn”t unite Americans) and is directed by Prettybird's Calmatic, who’s perhaps best known for helming the video for the hit “Old Town Road” (see also: the Doritos Super Bowl spot staring Lil Nas X). A humble suggestion: Do dentists next!
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Hummer, the polarizing General Motors brand, will be returning as an electric truck this year, instead of an infamous gas guzzler. In its Super Bowl spot, GM boasts that Hummer’s electric motors will produce up to 1,000 horsepower, enabling it to go from zero to 60 miles an hour in three seconds. But it really leans into the soundlessness of all that thrust and torque (with no mention of other environmental benefits). “Pure dominance” looks like LeBron James shattering a backboard in the spot, but sounds like—you guessed it—nothing. The commercial is all machismo: a dark, monochromatic palette that is all about power. And, uh, quiet Hummers.
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This is not your typical Super Bowl commercial. For starters, it never once mentions WeatherTech or shows any of its products. It’s a love letter from WeatherTech founder David MacNeil to his dog Scout—and the staff at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that saved Scout’s life last year. Told from the point of view of Scout himself (who starred in last year’s WeatherTech Super Bowl ad), the ad explains why he’s such a lucky dog, thanks to the treatment he received. “I’m a cancer survivor,” Scout tells us over shots of him in the hospital. “Had a tumor on my heart and only a 1 percent chance of survival.” The spot ends with a healthy Scout flouncing on the beach and a call to donate to the vet school. The ad itself lacks much in the way of punch or power, but the impact it could potentially have on cancer research for animals—and ultimately humans—is far bigger than a 30-second Super Bowl ad spend.
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Michelob Ultra Pure Gold, “6 for 6”
FCB
Score: 
Less than one percent of our farmland is organic, according to Michelob, and some quick Googling appears to back up that surprising statistic. The beer brand wants to do its part: “Pick up a six-pack,” the ad promises, “we’ll help transition six square feet of farmland to organic.” Brand purpose may be all the rage, but the marketing battlegrounds are strewn with failed attempts at glomming onto causes. Finding a way to have some positive impact on the world in a way that’s authentic to your brand’s DNA—and isn’t just a marketing gimmick—is easier said than done. With this idea, Michelob seems to have struck the right balance, and announces it in a spot that is packed with pleasingly symmetrical visuals. A vast improvement over last year’s awful ASMR-themed spot starring Zoë Kravitz.
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Quicken Loans, “Comfortable”
Highdive
Score: 
This visuals of this ad are so distracting that it took a few viewings to really grasp that it’s for Quicken Loans’ Rocket Mortgage. Jason Momoa drives up to his incomparably lovely home and expresses a universal sentiment: “It’s my sanctuary. It’s the one place I can let my guard down,” he says as he takes off his shoes. Who doesn’t relish that feeling? Then things take a turn for the delightfully weird. “It’s where I can just kick back and be totally comfortable in my own skin,” he adds as he peels off his famously beefy arms to reveal scrawny limbs. He unlatches his torso like a bra to expose a reedy, concave chest. Then he plops on his couch to take off his wig. It’s so jarring—and, yes, funny—that, again, the brand is almost completely overshadowed. At least the link between the message behind the gag (home is comfy!) and the product (mortgage loans; yawn) exists, which is more than we can say for a lot of other ads.
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