Everyone has their favorite Superbowl pastime. Whether that’s hanging with family and friends, eating the most American foods you can ever think of, and of course, the stellar halftime shows. While all those aspects are fun, the most notable for me has always been the commercials. Ever since I was about seven or eight years old I remember never caring nor knowing about who was playing the actual game, but what caught my attention was the hilarity, creativity, and insanity of the commercials that played during the game.Â
At some point, there was a switch where the commercials became less about entertainment and more about who was in it. In the past few years, it’s become apparent that there are so many celebrities in them, where the commercial isn’t even about the product or service being advertised, but about who was in it.Â
I watched this year’s Superbowl and I can tell you that it was not for the commercials. Usher killed it. Every single commercial had somebody famous in it, which of course is not the problem. The problem is the extent of the commercial. There’s no creativity or insanity as I mentioned earlier. The U.S. is already a crazy country with weird traditions as it is, but the Superbowl I got behind (surprisingly). It showed me how funny and innovative people could be and the marketing actually worked on me.Â
One commercial that I think about to this day was a Mountain Dew commercial in 2015. It’s about this guy playing video games in his living room while sipping Mountain Dew, causing everything in his house to start dancing. Yes, that includes the lamp, the chair, the TV, and even the dog. It’s something so simple yet so random, which is why it has stuck with me for so many years. It made the game worthwhile by seeing the funniest ads ever.
Now this might just be me, but nowadays companies are trying way too hard to make it funny. The best part about the Mountain Dew one was that it was barely tried and that’s what worked. Maybe I’m too nitpicky but I just miss how outrageous they used to get.Â
Another thing is that they release the commercials weeks in advance which defeats the whole purpose of watching it during the Superbowl right?Â
Besides, they’re not all bad. The Michael Cerav one was so silly! The marketing might work on that one. But overall the quality has definitely decreased over the years, especially in the 2020s. There might not be a specific reason why but in all honesty, we can always blame it on COVID.
