Super Bowl LI was filled with some of football’s most memorable moments. However, for some fans, these moments happened in between the plays and during the commercials. Here are the three best and worst Super Bowl ads that sponsors paid $5 million per 30 seconds to air, hoping to leave a mark in everyone’s mind.
Best: Justin Bieber, T-Mobile Commercial
Justin Bieber appears in one of T-Mobile’s multiple Super Bowl ads as a self proclaimed “celebration expert.” In this commercial, Bieber breaks down the history of touchdown dances and explains the evolution of them. In the ad, there were many recognizable faces, like Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowski and former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens. Bieber shows viewers how celebrations have expanded from a high-five, to the spike, then to the shimmy before giving everyone a taste of his own dance moves, if you can call them that. This commercial will be remembered by fans because of the star power and crazy dance moves that it contained.
Best: Sprint’s No Need for Extreme Measures
This ad poked fun at Verizon in a way that viewers will remember for a long time. The 30 second commercial showed a man faking his death by pushing his car off of a cliff in order to get out of his Verizon contract. In a historical manor, former Verizon pitchman Paul Marcarelli then appears to tell the man that he could’ve just switched to Sprint and none of this would’ve been a problem. Whether it is because of the witty remarks and funny comments between the man and his family or the way Sprint bashed Verizon, this commercial was one of the best.
Best: Buick, Cam Newton and Miranda Kerr
This ad shows two “Pee Wee” football teams playing each other and their parents watching from the sideline. A car pulls up and one parent in the stands tells everyone to look at the Buick that just appeared, before another person says, “If that’s a Buick, then my kid’s Cam Newton.” Next thing you know, Newton is playing quarterback and throws the game-winning touchdown. He then tells the coach to look at the Buick and the coach responds with, “If that’s a Buick, then I’m a supermodel,” before turning into Miranda Kerr, causing the ref to flip over the water table. After watching this ad, it’s hard to say that viewers won’t remember this ad for years to come.
Worst: KFC, Colonel vs. Colonel
This ad shows a gold-encrusted Colonel Sanders staring into the camera and telling us about their new Georgia Gold BBQ sauce. It could have been from the awkward silence or the jokes about parts of the Colonel’s body being covered in gold paint, but overall, this 30 second ad took home the award for one of the worst Super Bowl commercials because its quirky humor might have been too much for viewers to handle.
Worst: Febreze, halftime bathroom break.
This ad starts by declaring “I love you, halftime bathroom break,” before showing slow-motion shots of people lowering themselves onto their toilets. The camera then cuts to a can of Febreze, showing the people smelling their bathroom and letting out a sigh of relief. This ad has earned the title as one of the worst commercials because bathroom humor isn’t how most people like to enjoy their snack break.
Worst: Turbo Tax, Humpty Dumpty.
This 30 second add plays off of the childhood nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty. It shows how easily it is for him to do his taxes with Turbo Tax, before the ad took a turn for the worst and Humpty Dumpty fell to the group breaking into pieces. Watching a British egg-man laying in a hospital bed with yellow puss coming out of this mouth is not the best way to get viewers’ attention.
