Super Bowl Commercials 2015: Best Ads Still Resonating with Viewers

While the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl with a 28-24 dismissal of the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, they were not the only ones to emerge victoriously.

The companies that elected to fork over the serious amount of cash necessary to advertise during the big game were rewarded with the largest audience in the history of television at an average of 144.4 million, according to Frank Pallotta of CNN Money. Considering that number doesn’t account for the countless parties that went on across the country, it is likely even much bigger.

Talk about getting bang for your advertising buck. 

Although reactions to specific advertisements are often based on individually driven tastes, some of the commercials were clearly better than others. Here is a look at some of the best ads that still have people talking two days later.

Snickers

Snickers found a way to mix in some humor for the younger audiences with nostalgia for the older viewers, as Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi delivered amusing performances as Marcia and Jan Brady, respectively.

As is the case in many of Snickers’ ads, the two actors represented people (in this case the Brady girls) who were in unusually sour moods because they were so hungry and in need of a Snickers. It also played off one of the most iconic scenes in the history of The Brady Bunch.

Always

AdWeek editor Lisa Granatstein commented on the commercial from Always, via Susanna Kim of ABC News: “It was a night filled with empowering, inspirational ads, especially for dads, so it was nice to see one for the girls.” 

This was a meaningful ad with a powerful message that aired right after Katy Perry dazzled the crowd with her performance. The NFL dealt with its fair share of domestic violence issues this season, and having such a pro-woman commercial during the Super Bowl was a much-needed step in the right direction, even if it was just a small step.

Budweiser

Bruce Horovitz of USA Today noted that no commercial resonated more with audiences than the one from Budweiser:

"

The Budweiser puppy has done what the Seattle Seahawks could not — it won back-to-back Super Bowls.

If you're keeping score, not only is that two in a row for the puppy, but three in a row for Anheuser-Busch and the 13th time in the past 15 years that Anheuser-Busch has won USA TODAY's Ad Meter ranking of all the ads by a consumer panel.

"

The consumer panel has spoken, and “Lost Dog” has won. 

This was the sequel to last year’s “Puppy Love” commercial from the company, and it tugged on the heartstrings of viewers across the nation. Dogs have a funny way of doing just that.

Clash of Clans

Who would have guessed that a phone app would have one of the funniest commercials of the entire Super Bowl?

Clash of Clans featured actor Liam Neeson doing his best impersonation of his character from the Taken movies, as he menacingly threatened his opponent in a coffee shop as he struggled with the game. The employee only added to the humor by pronouncing Neeson’s name incorrectly.

Avocados From Mexico

Speaking of unexpected surprises in the humor department, Avocados From Mexico came through with a gem with its “First Draft Ever” commercial.

From the polar bear hoping to get drafted by Mexico to the appearance from a dodo bird, the entire thing felt like a Saturday Night Live sketch. That is a great tone to capture in a brief 30-second advertisement.

It will be interesting to see next year’s Super Bowl ads and the tone they take after this year’s big game. Many of the advertisements used emotionally driven or inspiring messages to get their points across instead of the typical elements—celebrities, sex, humor—that are generally employed in Super Bowl commercials.

Granted, there was still some of that (to different levels of effectiveness), but Horovitz called it the “Super Bowl of commercial kumbaya” and noted that “there wasn’t a national ad too racy for kids’ eyes or tasteless for grandma’s ears” for a reason. 

The responses over the course of the next week and beyond will likely dictate the themes of the messages we see next year, but it was hard to argue with the emotion used in this season’s commercials (even if there were a few misses—looking at you, Nationwide). Viewers will simply have to enjoy the advertisements they were given Sunday in the meantime.

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