We gave “Dunkin’ ‘Drive-Thru’ Starring Ben” the #4 Spot. Photo from Dunkin’.
By Amelia Magel, Ashleigh Tobin, Francisco “A.J.” Camacho, Theodora Lawson, and Trevor Kieth
Who doesn’t love the Super Bowl commercials? While some years give us beauties like “It’s a Tide Ad” and others give us whatever Mountain Dew was fever dreaming when they came up with “Puppy Monkey Baby,” most Americans enter the biggest TV program of the year with high expectations for the expensive commercial slots. With that in mind, the WRGW Blog gathered a small group of staff to review some of our favorite, least favorite, and ‘you didn’t even try to do something cool,’ commercials from Super Bowl LVII. After gathering together the reviews, we ranked our favorites and tallied together our collective rating.
The Wins:
#7: Pringlegate: They Finally Addressed It
There was one particular commercial that had everyone at the Super Bowl function feeling both validated emotionally and hungry for one of America’s most polarizing snacks: Pringles. The commercial began with the all too familiar image of a kid trying to reach the last few Pringles at the bottom of the infamous Pringles can — and getting both hand and wrist stuck. The commercial went on to feature a series of images including but not limited to: a surgeon performing surgery with a Pringles can stuck on his hand, a judge meting out justice with a Pringles can stuck on her hand, an ultrasound image of a fetus with —you guessed it—a Pringles can stuck on its hand, and even a Meghan Trainor cameo (can on hand, of course.) Pringles rocked the nation with its nod toward the snack’s main defect: its shoddy design. But they still managed to pat themselves on the back by recognizing that people will ALWAYS brave the horrors of the can for the untold delights of the crunchy, tactile chip.
-Amelia Magel
#6: Jeep Commercial with Boogying Safari Life
Jeep delivered my favorite commercial of the night. Two Jeeps race through Safari blasting Shaggy/Marcia Griffiths’ Electric Boogie, and suddenly, a plethora of animals from around the world start to boogie along. The extensive list includes Meerkats, a Brown Bear, Dolphins, a Parrot, Frog, bumblebee, and an adorable mother and baby Elephant duo. Then, upping the ante, a seal is shown doing the backward worm dance on the beach, as owls bob their heads to the boogie. The cherry on top isn’t the winking sloth, but the show-stopping goat that steals the show with his little jig at the end. My only hope is that this commercial is a guarantee that buying a Jeep will prompt a never-ending animal flash mob.
-Theodora Lawson
First a big win to Popcorners. I have no idea how a brand I’ve never heard of got Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul to reprise their roles as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, but I am glad they did! Both of them don’t look like they’ve aged a day and the set design and acting takes me back to season 1 of Breaking Bad. BB maintains a lot of relevance since the end of Better Call Saul and I think this was the perfect time and place for the ad. Who knows, maybe I’ll even try Popcorners sometime.
-Trevor Kieth
#4: Dunkin’ Donuts
This commercial was golden from the start. Opening with a scene from Medford, MA, where the franchise started, and panning to Ben Affleck reciting orders flawlessly while surprising customers was a great way to open. The Boston accents on display throughout the advertisement contributed to the humor before Jennifer Lopez, Affleck’s wife, pulls into the drive-through. Lopez, surprised to see her husband working at Dunkin’, says, “Is this what you do when you say you go to work all day,” before telling him to get her a glazed donut. The delivery and timing of both lines make this commercial one of the better ones of the night.
-Ashleigh Tobin
#3: John Hamm and Brie Larson: Hellman’s Mayonnaise
What’s better than John Hamm and Brie Larson making puns about their food-themed names? How about making a ham & brie sandwich, topping it with Hellman’s mayonnaise, and then feeding it to a towering Pete Davidson because… why not? Not sure Hellman’s could have done a better job with what they had to advertise. Brava.
-Theodora Lawson
#2: “Premature Electrification:” Ram Trucks
If there’s one thing middle-aged men fear as much as erectile dysfunction, it’s road-tripping with their partner. Among many Americans, this concern is especially acute with electric vehicles, which have a reputation for lacking good range. The risk of a wife nagging, “I told you to fill it up in Chattanooga,” for the hours it takes AAA to arrive might leave a fellow to take his chance on Amtrak! But EVs can already travel over 300 miles on a single battery charge. By next year, Ram says they’ll have a 500-mile range truck! Ram presents this cure with a hilarious innuendo-filled commercial directed at those who want to buy an EV but are still worried about the range problem that . . . well, isn’t really a problem anymore. This was the one commercial that had all folks at my watch party tilting their heads back and laughing out loud.
-Francisco “A.J.” Camacho
#1: Crown Royal
I want to give another win to the great country of Canada! I guess Crown Royal too, but mostly Canada. When I saw this commercial I totally missed the “Crown Royal” tag in the beginning so I look up and just see this girl shredding on the guitar and I think, “This is cool, I’ll buy whatever this is probably.” But then I hear a list of all the things Canada has contributed to society and I think, “Oh cool, the country of Canada bought an ad in the Superbowl.” Only in the very end to be shown a bottle of Crown Royal? This ad kept me guessing and for that, I gave it a win.
-Trevor Kieth
The Worst:
The Roast of Mr. Peanut: Planters Peanuts
I need to give a massive, colossal fail to Planter’s Peanuts. The roast of Mr. Peanut was the worst ad I saw during the Superbowl. I don’t know if all of you remember but a number of years ago Mr. Peanut died in one of his commercials. Well, it went viral and Planters has been chasing that high ever since. Even mentioning it at the end. The roast of Mr. Peanut was lazy and unoriginal. I don’t care about celebrities I’ve never seen talk shit about a fictional peanut man. A word to the marketing department at Planters, Mr. Peanut should never talk under any circumstances. I will probably go out of my way to not buy anything Mr. Peanut branded after today. Jesus Christ.
-Trevor Kieth
Cox Mobile Gives a Sheep a Tattoo
I’ve never heard of Cox mobile, and their Super Bowl ad didn’t leave me wanting more. I’m not sure I entirely understand the purpose of CGI Annie The Sheep, and how she has anything to do with cell phone plans. Playing High School Musical’s Breaking Free, Annie seems to escape on the back of a truck to fulfill her wildest dreams of getting a giant lightning tattoo. It seems Cox Mobile tried a little too hard to be funny and missed the mark by delivering a weird tale about Annie, the tattoo-loving sheep.
-Theodora Lawson
Tubi, c’mon, man! You bring us back to the Fox Sports casters who make it seem like play’s back on! That is, after all, why most of us are watching: Football (and maybe Rhianna, too). Then our smart TV home screens are on and someone’s changing to the Tubi app to watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I grant that some people may have found this momentary confusion funny, but my watch party just collectively rolled our eyes after a few seconds screaming at whoever had the remote. The idea of a bad roommate switching the channel on me left me with the worst taste in my mouth for a product I’d otherwise feel neutral on. Still, I give points for creativity and boldness, though I don’t think it paid off.
-Francisco “A.J.” Camacho
The Farmer’s Dog: Painfully Unoriginal
Welcome back to the OG Super Bowl dog ad: an adorable puppy jubilantly running around with a little girl. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was a dog food commercial as the puppy ravenously slurped up his The Farmer’s Dog kibbles. It’s a tale as old as time: dog and girl are best friends, until the girl goes to college, and the dog is left behind. Thirty seconds later, the girl returns from college, is married, and pregnant. The final shot of the commercial is one big happy family of mom, dad, baby, and graying dog cuddled in bed together. Of course, the story’s moral is a declaration to audiences to feed their pet The Farmer’s Dog food because, if not, he certainly won’t live long enough for family cuddles in bed. After all, their motto is ‘nothing matters more than more years together’. How adorably cliche.
-Theodora Lawson
Leave a Reply