This year’s Superbowl, or rather the Bruno Mars concert that had Peyton Manning losing to a bunch of sea creatures, had a slew of commercials that ranged from hysterical to controversial.
Winning the award of cutest commercial is Budweiser’s “Puppy Love.” The brand that mainly causes people to act like animals had a friendship brewing between a Golden Retriever and a Horse, who get separated, but then rightfully reunited.
Another advertisement champion was Radio Shack’s “The Phone Call,” which brought nostalgia to the screens of the 10.8 million viewers by using 80’s celebrities such as Dee Snider, Chucky, and Hulk Hogan. The thirty second clip poked fun at the store, which has “radio” in it and isn’t named after a fruit.
Another cute but somewhat controversial ad came from Cheerios. The thirty-second clip had an interracial couple explaining to their daughter, Grace, that a new sibling was on the way with the breakfast cereal. The girl wasn’t to affected by the news and slyly slid a another Cheerio next to her cereal family and said “and a puppy.” When the ad was first released in May, YouTube comments featured phrases describing disgust, feelings of vomit, and shock over the fact that the black father actually stayed with his family. On the other end, the company was praised for featuring a mixed-race family because its 2014 and if a box of crayons can have different colors, families should be able to, as well.
A mini Full House reunion fueled Dannon Oikos’ commercial. John Stamos, already the spokesperson for the yogurt, is first seen sitting closely to an attractive woman who wipes off some yogurt from his face with her finger and then again with her lips. Stamos then drops some yogurt on his lap, but before the ad leads to an R rated scene, Dave Coulier and Bob Saget show up. Saget, who played cleaning obsessed Danny Tanner tells Stamos, Uncle Jesse, to take off his pants before they get stained.
The sports-fan dominated Superbowl couldn’t escape being affected by the upcoming Valentine’s day. Axe Body Spray had a commercial that seemed much more like a trailer for an upcoming romantic movie. The minute-long ad had different couples, each affected by war in someway, proving that love really does prevail. One couple is a presumed ruler of a country who gets his soldiers to lift up cards that put together a picture of him and his love, while another couple has the man approaching his love via a tank before the two embrace.
Beasts of the Southern Wild star Quvenzhane Wallis, who was nominated for an Oscar for the film at age 9, starred in Maserati’s commercial. The ad seemed more like a sequel to the film before the luxury vehicle appeared zooming down a street.
The commercial that received the most uproar was Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful,” which had the nation’s anthem being sung in different languages. The ad was meant to highlight the diversity of the country, the melting pot of cultures, but instead caused a division. On Twitter the hash tag #SpeakAmerican started trending, while others seemed less upset of the ad but rather of the people making a big deal over it.
Now that the Superbowl is over, we can all happily return to changing channels whenever a commercial plays.
