The famed Super bowl ad is a draw that goes down as being one of the most talked about aspects of the biggest event in not just football, but in the American sporting world. Some watching ended up not even knowing or remembering what’s being advertised. But it doesn’t matter. With 100 million people viewers, advertisers are estimated to have spent $4.5 million on 30 seconds of televised images made to move folks to remember a product, its tagline, and be inspired to buy. Although market research shows that only 1 in 5 ads actually motivate consumers to buy anything, it’s become a competitive tradition for companies to vie for the title of the most memorable Super Bowl ad. Keeping one eye on the game and the other on commercials playing in-between timeouts and breaks, the Shadow League picked its top 10 commercial favorites.
1. Maserati
Some say designer cars don’t need advertisements. But Maserati’s epic 1:31 minute ad with Oscar nominee Quvenzhane’ Wallis had some of us expecting a trailer for a movie about giant robots. Instead, it was Maserati marketing its name and fly rides to an audience of many who can’t afford to buy one, but only dream. Still, this commercial made us talk.
2. Cheerios
We liked this commercial because we love an underdog. Cheerios’ original ad with the black dad, white mom, and fuzzy haired, ethnically ambiguous girl received a slew of racist hate when it first aired months ago. But hats off to Cheerios for being brave enough to do a follow-up showing dad talking to his daughter about the newest addition to the household. And the sassy little girl, negotiating for a puppy. Beautiful.
3. Kia
Would we ever buy a Kia? Probably not. But if we keep seeing Matrix king Morpheus in the advertisements, might we consider it? Possibly. Although the singing was strange, Laurence Fishburne’s cameo offering the red or blue key not only made us sit up, but made us wonder when a new Matrix movie will hit theaters.
4. Captain America 2
The first installment was ok. But seeing the commercial showcasing Anthony Mackie playing Hawk, of course moved us to look forward to the upcoming Marvel movie.
5. The Amazing Spider Man 2
Just like seeing Anthony Mackie play a super hero, we enjoyed the spot showing Jamie Foxx’s take on nerd turned maniacal weirdo Electro.
6. Transformers: Age of Extinction
Shia la who? LaBeouf used to be the only star of Transformers. But then the Super Bowl showed a commercial with none other than Mark Wahlberg running from giant robots, and we were interested. Bored by Shia. Interested by Wahlberg.
7. Audi
Epic fail for Audi with this commercial. Mainly because we didn’t get the story of the big headed dog destroying everything. It was mostly creepy, not as funny, and not something that we want to think of when driving an Audi.
8. Honda
Bruce Willis began this Honda commercial asking, "Great game, right?" No. Unless you were a Seahawks fan. And the end with the little dude hugging him? One word: Weird.
9. 24: Live Another Day
Keifer Sutherland made a surprising super bowl appearance with this commercial. We all love seeing Jack Bauer blow up, beat down, a smack around the terrorists of the world. And we thought he was gone forever. But to see that Fox is bringing 24 back gave us something to excitedly look forward to in a world of wack TV.
10. Coca-Cola
Coke’s commercial about a little kid running his heart out to not only make a touchdown, but to head to the big league football field, reminded us of the importance of Pop Warner in teaching our boys the competitive work ethic needed to win and be the best.
