While tuning into the Super Bowl has been an American tradition for over half a century, we can all agree the next-day chatter has nothing to do with the game itself. It’s all about the commercials. This year, we patiently twiddled our thumbs as Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccanneers steamrolled the Kansas City Chiefs (and even sat through an over-the-top halftime performance by The Wknd) so we could watch the best commercials of the year.
Best being the keyword as securing a 30-second spot during the big game costs companies a whopping $5.5 million. At that price tag, you really hope advertisers come with their A-game. This year, they did, scoring more celebrity cameos than ever before. From the debut of Timothy Chalamet’s Edgar Scissorhands to the Scandinavian invasion led by Will Ferrell and his elite team of comedians, we have all our favorite Super Bowl LV commercials ranked right here. See who won MVP below.
Cover Photo: Amazon
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8. T-Mobile ‘Spotty Network’
We’re not huge fans of The Voice or any of the pop stars involved, but we like this ad, which gives us the origin story of Gwen and Blake’s hookup, for one reason. It finally explains how the lyrics to Blake Shelton’s latest single “Minimum Wage” went so horribly off the rails.
7. M&M’S ‘Come Together’
Dan Levy is having a much-deserved moment and makes the perfect cameo in this M&M spot about how to say you’re sorry with a bag of candy. From apologizing to a friend named Karen (for calling her Karen) to a remorseful mansplainer, M&M playfully touches on the flavor of current culture inside a sweet, bite-sized package of laughs.
6. GM’S ‘No Way Norway’
Will Ferrell is back and he’s invading Norway. With classic Mugatu vibes, Ferrell enlists Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina to help him crush the Scandinavians in the electric vehicle market. The commercial ends on a cliffhanger, so we’re hoping a sequel drops soon.
5. Cadillac ‘Scissorhands’
Thirty years after Tim Burton’s classic fairytale swept over the land, Winona Ryder reprises her role, this time with Timothy Chalamet as her son, Edgar. Just like his father before him, life ain’t easy for the young Scissorhands as he tries to fit in at school and thrive at his fast-food job. After getting kicked off the bus for cutting the pull-cord, his mom gets him a hands-free Cadillac, and the future is suddenly coming up (hand-cut) roses.
4. Bud Light ‘2020 Lemons’
Budweiser manages to hit the nail on the head when it comes to how we all feel about 2020. Putting a twist on the classic idiom and squeezing as much juice as they can from the very literal interpretation, this ad feels hilariously punchy and incredibly relatable. And while we won’t be drinking their hard lemonade any time soon, we do give them credit for trying.
3. Huggies ‘Welcome to the World, Baby’
A diaper commercial in the middle of a Super Bowl tells you just how many new parents are using sporting events to keep sane by ignoring their babies. Cuteness levels aside, this ad sets a blazing pace from start to finish as it welcomes newborns to the world with Pixar-like precision.
2. Jeep ‘The Middle’
Bruce Springsteen narrates this heartfelt ad about the current state of life in America. With powerful, deeply-felt prose, Springsteen delivers the message we’ve all been needing to hear. Too bad it’s an ad for a car company, otherwise this might be the most important speech addressing our cultural divide you’ll hear all year.
1. Amazon Alexa’s ‘Handsome Alexa’
Michael B. Jordan was just voted ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ and this ad allows him to both own that title while still poking fun at himself. Each vignette is hilariously relatable and Jordan does his part with (suave lower-register) pitch perfection. It’s everything a classic Super Bowl commercial should be: funny, star-studded, and forward-thinking. After all, by the time Super Bowl LX rolls around, we’ll probably all be using Alexa’s celebrity hologram neural link assistant.
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