Arts and Entertainment

The Best Super Bowl LV Commercials

In addition to the impressive graphics and diverse selection of restaurants featured, this commercial will take you back to childhood and get you humming along to its infectious tune.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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By Yaqi Zeng

Even if you don’t know much about football, there are plenty of reasons to watch the Super Bowl: the halftime show, spending time with family, the food, and, most importantly, the commercials. Every year, the Super Bowl features some strange commercial breaks between the action, and this year was no different. A large range of topics was covered this year, from cars to food to insurance and so much more! However, were they all worth the multi-million dollar investment?

The Good

1. All-electric Cadillac’s hands-free is perfect for Timothée Chalamet’s “Edgar Scissorhands”

In this commercial, a boy played by Timothée Chalamet is ridiculed for his sharp, scissor-like fingers but is finally able to drive thanks to Cadillac’s hands-free car. It is hilarious to see Chalamet attempt things like football, cooking, and school with his scissor hands. The acting is on point, and the costume design resembles the classic Edward Scissorhands look perfectly. Seeing Chalamet transform from a sad, lonely freak to a licensed driver is heartwarming yet comedic.

2. Doordash delivers everywhere, including Sesame Street

This unique ad features singer Daveed Diggs traveling around Sesame Street with Big Bird and visiting several local eateries to promote the food delivery service Doordash. In addition to the impressive graphics and diverse selection of restaurants featured, this commercial will take you back to childhood and get you humming along to its infectious tune. The wide range of sets, like a burger stand, corner store, noodle kitchen, and empanada booth, paired with the vibrant palette of Sesame Street, create a smile-inducing visual experience.

3. Statefarm finds stand-ins for Rodgers and Mahomes

Even if you’re not well-versed in football, you’ve probably heard the names Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. It was a delight to see the iconic players featured in this commercial alongside Paul Rudd, Drake, and the legendary Jake from StateFarm. In this commercial, Mahomes, Rodgers, and Jake are introduced to Rudd and Drake in a store. The variety of celebrities makes this commercial special, especially when Drake attempts to rap the State Farm motto. This commercial will surely put a smile on your face, but try not to cringe when Rudd attempts to throw a football.

4. Toyota: See 13-time Paralympic gold medalist Jessica Long’s story

A little different from other commercials, Toyota’s advertisement tells the story of Paralympic gold medal-winning swimmer Jessica Long and her journey to success. Her story is accented with clips of a girl growing older and swimming to mimic Long’s journey. It is heartwarming, inspiring, and tear-jerking. Despite not having legs, Long was able to find so much joy, success, and hope in a sport she loves. Though the commercial was for Toyota (the partner of Team USA for the Paralympics) the brand came second to the story it told.

The… Not So Good

1. Michael B. Jordan is Alexa by Amazon

This commercial features Michael B. Jordan as Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa for a day. A swooning woman is awed by Jordan’s presence while her jealous husband doesn’t approve. Instead of being funny, the ad comes off as cringy and at times creepy. Jordan’s artificially blue eyes and obedient voice are off-putting rather than soothing. It is also hard to not pity the husband, to whom the woman pays no attention, defeating the whole premise of the commercial. Though the idea behind the ad seems hilarious, the execution fell flat.

2. Mila Kunis takes Shaggy’s advice on hiding Cheetos from Ashton Kutcher

Another slew of celebrity cameos, this ad centers around Mila Kunis constantly eating Cheetos in various rooms of her home. Her husband, Ashton Kutcher, suspects that she is the culprit, but Kunis takes Shaggy’s advice to deny his claims. While Shaggy’s silky purple costume looks great and the Cheetos themselves look flavorful and crunchy, the whole skit just isn’t very funny. Not only is the ad annoyingly unrealistic, it’s also ineffective. Unless you’re already a fan of Cheetos, you won’t want to grab a bag after watching this ad.

3. Oatly is like milk, but made for humans

There’s not much to say about this commercial. It’s just a 16-second song sung by the CEO of Oatly, a plant-based milk company, while sitting in a barren field. The singing is off-key, the lyrics are too simple (just the words “wow, wow, no cow”), and the setting is slightly comedic at best. The commercial doesn't say anything about the nutritional benefits or even if the milk tastes good. After seeing this commercial, the only people who’ll want to buy this milk are hard-core vegans.