Super Commercials

By Mason Steinberg

     Commercials are normally a time to get a snack or to go on your phone. However on Superbowl Sunday, viewers around the country stay glued to their TVs during the commercial break. The broadcasting companies charge more than five Million dollars for a thirty second ad. In the past, popular commercials such as Budweiser’s clydesdales, E-trades baby commercials, and the Old Spice Man have stolen the show. This year, a junior at Glenelg said, “ I thought the funniest commercial was the Alexa commercial from Amazon because all the celebrities being substituted for Alexa had me laughing so hard it hurt.” Here are the top five commercials this year according to a poll of randomly selected Glenelg students.

1. Giants Dirty Dancing: In the most popular commercial this year, Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Quarterback Eli Manning reenacted the  Dirty Dancing scene. This commercial drew a mixed response while most found it hilarious, some found it strange. The usually boring Manning stepped well out of his comfort zone by performing a ballet routine with Beckham Jr. It was both funny and strange seeing Manning acting like this.

2. Alexa Loses Her Voice: In this commercial, Amazon’s digital assistant loses the ability to talk and the replacements are Rebel Wilson, Gordon Ramsay, Cardi B and Anthony Hopkins. They hilariously scold the users of Alexa for their questions and leave the users wondering what is going on with their Alexa’s.

3. The Bud Knight: Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” campaign is the most polarizing ad series today. Many find the catchphrase humorous and constantly repeat it. However, others are annoyed by it and think that the commercials are cheesy. In the ad aired during the Super Bowl, the Bud Knight comes to save the day, but instead jokes that he has to get to a party. At the end of the commercial the Bud Knight ends up saving the day and everyone yells Dilly Dilly!

4. Doritos and Mountain Dew Rap Battle: Doritos has consistently had popular Super Bowl ads recently. This year, they teamed up with Mountain Dew in a “fire vs. ice” rap battle. Two of the most talented actors today, Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage, channeled their inner Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot respectively. The speed of the lip syncing along with their serious facial expressions gave the commercial a humorous vibe.

5.  Avocados From Mexico: In this commercial, the people are living inside of a dome. All of citizens are enjoying avocados when someone notices that chips are sitting just outside the dome. Chaos occurs while the leader frantically  reminds people that avocados are also good on toast, which is referring to the current joke about millennials being obsessed with avocado toast. At the end of the commercial, people have calmed down, but the wifi shuts off which causes everyone to go crazy again.

     Commercials in general are designed to get mass amounts of people to buy the companies product. The most effective commercials get stuck in the viewer’s heads. While most try to accomplish this with something strange or funny, some go with a more serious tone. Companies such as Budweiser and Stella Artois focused their campaigns on helping people. 2017 was a tough year for America, much of the country was divided, and major natural disasters caused massive amounts of damage. Budweiser showed its employees passing out water to victims of Hurricane Harvey and the California wildfires. Stella Artois and Matt Damon teamed up to advocate for selling water to third-world countries. The Super Bowl and it’s commercials provide time for everyone to come together and forget about their problems for three hours. Hopefully by the time next year's Superbowl comes around, the country will be more united.