While most of the media seem to have focused almost all their attention on the off-pitch romance between Kansas City Chiefs tight end (chuckle) Travis Kelce and most famous person on the planet Taylor Swift, last night’s Super Bowl was a standard affair given a bit of a Hollywood makeover. Here at Creativepool, however, unless she’s starring in an ad, we don’t care. We don’t even care about that woman who created a life-sized Taylor Swift out of cake; that’s not creative, it’s just silly.
As ever Super Bowl 2024 delivered an unforgettable array of commercials featuring some of the biggest names in the business, underlining the star power (if not the risks) brands are willing to invest to capture the audience's attention on a night where over 100 million people are watching. But if you slept through it (I wouldn’t blame you), here are 5 of my best spots from the night.
Nothing truly iconic to write home about, admittedly, but there were certainly a few standouts worth mentioning.
Dunkin' - "How Do You Like Them Donuts?"
Featuring a range a notable stars, including Ben Affleck, Tom Brady, and Matt Damon, this commercial was a celebration of Dunkin's Boston roots. To be fair, this one makes sense as Ben Affleck is notoriously fond of the chain and him and Matt Damon are basically attached at the hip. The cheesy reference to Good Will Hunting is a bit cringe-inducing but the fact it’s delivered by Affleck’s wife Jennifer Lopez lends it a smidge of relevance.
CeraVe - "Michael Cera-Ve"
By casting Michael Cera in a pun-filled ad, CeraVe creatively used the actor's name alongside his token awkward nature to promote its skincare products. It’s not quite on the Arrested Development level as far as genuine belly laughs are concerned but it’s a surprising and chuckle-worthy time.
Verizon - "Can Beyoncé Break Verizon?"
With Beyoncé attempting to break Verizon's cellular service, this ad captured viewers' attention by using the iconic star's fame to showcase the strength of Verizon's network. It was, in all honesty, a bit of an “ok” spot with a solid central idea but the real shock (and the reason it belongs here) is that she used the ad as an opportunity to announce her new album. There is perhaps only one other star on earth who could get away with this and she was busy cheering on her boyfriend from the VIP box.
State Farm - “Arnie’s a Good Neighbaaa”
I’m torn with this one. It’s really just a bad joke making fun of Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s accent, which is a pretty antiquated idea to base an entire spot around. But I love Arnie and Danny DeVito shows up at the end, so it deserves to be here… just.
Mountain Dew - “Audrey Plaza has a Blast”
The deadpan star of Parks & Recreation headlines this Mountain Dew Big Blast spot that plays out exactly as you’d expect it would. But then there’s a weirdly outdated Game of Thrones reference at the end that would be incredibly lame if it wasn’t for the fact Nick (Ron Swanson) Offerman shows up riding a dragon and I can’t not love that.
Other notable spots included David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston pretending to forget each other for Uber Eats, Tina Fey being reliably charming for Booking.com and Martin Scorsese’s bizarrely ambition spot for Squarespace. In fact, I’m going to finish with that one as an honourable mention, just because.
Any others you think deserved a mention from adland’s biggest night of the year? Let me know in the comments below!
