What is the best part about the Super Bowl? Easy. It’s the commercials.
Unless the New England Patriots are playing on Super Bowl Sunday, I shy away from watching the game and focus on the million-dollar advertisements in between plays. Commercials are just as important as football to me. Super Bowl LV took place on February 7, 2021 and was a big game played by the Buccaneers (we miss you Brady and Gronk) and the Chiefs. Commercials included diverse casts, inclusive representation of various backgrounds, and a mix of all genders.
2021 is a year of change and with change comes the challenge of business to stay open. Therefore, companies needed to be creative this year when it comes to Super Bowl commercials during Covid-19. And this year, companies definitely delivered.
A change from this year’s typical popular brand commercials was that they were missing! Sorry but this means no trucks, Golden Arches, puppies, or soda cans this year. Big brands such as Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Ford, Pepsi Co., and others gave the spotlight to smaller companies this year. Instead of paying, on average $5.5 million dollars for a 30-second spotlight according to CBS, these popular companies donated these millions of dollars toward Covid-19 vaccine awareness and posted their commercials prior to Super Bowl LV. This finally allowed small companies to spread awareness of their brand! In case you missed Super Bowl LV’s commercials, we listed our favorites below:
1. “It Wasn’t Me” by Cheetos
Has anyone ever stolen your snacks? Married couple, Ashton Kusher and Mila Kunis, starred in this hilarious advertisement about stealing Cheetos. They remixed the song “It Wasn’t Me” with Grammy Award-winning Shaggy who was also featured in the creative commercial.There were also two teasers released before the airing of the commervical on February 1 to keep the audience entertained. After the release, the company created a TikTok challenge and involved Snapchat in the ad by having viewers point their phone to the camera to receive a free bag of Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix!
2. “No Way Norway” by General Motors
Who doesn’t love Will Ferrell!? Will Ferrell starred as someone who hates Norway and took the viewer on a journey to gather his friends to give Norwegians a piece of his mind. He gathered Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina to help. This hilarious ad raised awareness on EV sales in the United States.
3. “The Neighborhood” by DoorDash
Remember Sesame Street? DoorDash collaborated with Daveed Diggs Sesame Street and rapped an original song about what a neighborhood has to offer. Digg rapped that every $1 donated will go toward Sesame Street’s kid-focused workshop on social impact. This ad was heart-warming and clever.
4. “Drake from State Farm” by State Farm
Everyone loves Drake. Drake made a surprise appearance as he became Jake from State Farm’s stand-in during a commercial. Paul Rudd also made a surprise appearance in the commercial as another stand-in for Jake’s friend. Fans soon declared this the best Super Bowl LV commercial- no surprise there.
5. “Alexa’s New Body” by Amazon Alexa
Michael B. Jordan had the spotlight once again in this Amazon Alexa annual commercial. Michael B. Jordan becomes Alexa as an employee dreams of him doing her tasks such as turning on the sprinklers, asking for recipes, and dimming the lights. Over the years, iconic Amazon Alexa commercials have become famous featuring Gordon Ramsay, Cardi B, and Rebel Wilson.
Let us know what your favorite Super Bowl LV commercial was!