Super Bowl LVI: Advertising Winners and Losers

The most anticipated game of the year is over, and the Los Angeles Rams rallied in the final minutes to edge past the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, 23-20. All-Universe wide receiver Cooper Kupp was the game’s top player and claimed the MVP award.

Those things include the profitability of the Super Bowl, which rewards its network with boatloads of income generated from its advertising. This year’s tally should edge past last year, as NBC will likely pocket about $265 million from the more than 44 minutes of advertising that ran during the game — and that doesn’t include the pre- and post-game ad revenue.

As for the big game ads, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. Here are my top 10 and bottom 9:

1. NFL– “Bring Down the House.” The league brought a video game into the living room and even into a swimming pool. They teased this constantly leading up to the game, and it was worth the wait.
2. Rocket Mortgage – “Dream House.” Anna Kendrick and Barbie teamed up to inform us about Rocket Mortgage’s usefulness in home buying. It was the evening’s funniest moment.
3. Disney+ – “Has all the GOATS.” Awkwafina’s tour through the Disney+ vault of classic shows — the Greatest of All Time — included an introduction to some actual goats.
4. Nissan – “Thrill Driver.” If you can turn Eugene Levy into an action star, you’ve really done something. Advertising entertainment at its best.
5. Toyota – “The Joneses.” Very clever ad that put three Joneses (Tommy Lee, Leslie and Rashida) behind the wheel of some Tundras, and added a gatecrasher (Nick Jonas).
6. Planet Fitness – “What’s Gotten Into Lindsay.” One of the day’s most pleasant surprises, and hopefully part of Lindsay Lohan’s long-overdue career resurrection.
7. Doritos/Cheetos Flamin’ Hot – “Push It.” Super fun ad during the Super Bowl that got some help from Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” — and a very cheeky three-toed sloth.
8. Amazon Alexa – “Mind Reader.” I agree with the ad – if Alexa is going to anticipate my thoughts the way it did in this ad, I’m getting rid of my unit!
9. Lays – “Golden Memories.” Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen are real-life friends, and their chemistry helps sell this very funny Lays spot.
10. FTX – “Don’t Miss Out.” Larry David’s deadpan skepticism makes the perfect comparison between past “failures” (like the wheel and space travel) and the next thing he says will fail — cryptocurrency.

Honorable mention: E-Trade, “Off the Grid.” BMW, “Zeus & Hera.” Verizon, “Goodbye Cable.” Greenlight, “I’ll Take It.” Sam’s Club, “Sam’s Club VIP.” General Motors, “Dr. EV-il.” T-Mobile, “Hint.” Hellmann’s, “Tackles Food Waste.” Squarespace, “Sally’s Seashells.” Pringles, “Stuck In.”

Now for the bottom nine:

9. Universal – “Nope.” Movie ads are almost always forgettable. One that’s named “Nope” is just asking for trouble.
8. Bud Light NEXT – “Zero In the Way of Possibility.” There was zero way that this ad was going to succeed on the Super Bowl stage.
7. Gillette – “Gillette Labs With Exfoliating Bar.” Traditional razor ads were always boring. Nothing has changed.
6. Chevrolet – “New Generation.” A car drives through a city and recharges. Scintillating stuff. (Note: I get now that this is an overt nod to “The Sopranos.” But if you didn’t watch that show — and I didn’t — you missed that point completely.)
5. Cutwater Spirits – “Here’s to the Lazy Ones.” Great idea, Cutwater. Insult the customers you want to buy your swill.
4. Polestar – “No Compromises.” Be honest — did you even know there was a car called Polestar before this ad ran? I’m still doubtful it exists.
3. WeatherTech – “WeatherTech Fit Crew.” God bless WeatherTech for continuing to advertise in the big game. Despite a losing Ad Meter formula, they must be selling a lot of floor mats.
2. Wallbox – “Supercharged Seth.” The full-length version of this ad isn’t bad, but the 15-second Super Bowl version had nothing that generated any interest.
1. Coinbase – “Coinbase Big Game ad.” Even the name for the ad was a bummer. A QR code that bops around for 60 seconds has to be the worst ad I’ve ever seen. And yet it generated so many hits on the Coinbase site that it crashed. The trick is, how many of those QR scans will result in any crypto investment. Hits or no hits, it was still a terrible ad.

Dis-honorable mention: crypto.com, “The Moment of Truth.” AMC+, “Stream Better With AMC+.” Irish Spring, “Welcome to Irish Spring.” New Republic, “Ambulance.” Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer, “Caddy.” Carvana, “Oversharing Mom.”

Here is the full ranking of all of this year’s 65 ads:

Rank Advertisement Score Grade Ad Meter
1 NFL – Bring Down the House 128 A+ 10
2 Rocket Mortgage – “Dream House” 123 A+ 10
3 Disney+ – “Has All the GOATS” 120 A+ 10
4 Nissan – Thrill Driver 116 A+ 10
5 Toyota – The Joneses 116 A+ 10
6 Planet Fitness – What’s Happened to Lindsay 116 A+ 10
7 Doritos/ Cheetos Flamin’ Hot – Push It 115 A+ 10
8 Amazon – Mind Reader 115 A+ 10
9 Lays – Golden Memories 114 A+ 10
10 FTX – Don’t Miss Out 113 A+ 10
11 E-Trade – Off the Grid 112 A+ 10
12 BMW – Zeus & Hera 111 A+ 10
13 Verizon – Goodbye Cable 109 A+ 9
14 Greenlight – I’ll Take It 109 A+ 9
15 Sam’s Club – Sam’s Club VIP 108 A+ 9
16 General Motors – Dr. EV-il 108 A+ 9
17 T-Mobile – Hint 108 A+ 9
18 Hellmann’s – Tackles Food Waste 106 A+ 9
19 Squarespace – Sally’s Seashells 106 A+ 9
20 Pringles – Stuck In 105 A+ 9
21 Kia – RoboDog 104 A+ 8
22 T-Mobile – Miley Do It For the Phones 103 A+ 8
23 Meta for Meta Quest – Old Friends, New Fun 101 A+ 8
24 Amazon Prime Video – The Rings of Power 99 A 8
25 Intuit – Duality Duets 99 A 8
26 Hologic – Her Health Is Her Wealth 99 A 8
27 Turkish Airlines – Pangea 98 A 8
28 Taco Bell – The Grande Escape 98 A 8
29 TurboTax – Matchmaker 98 A 8
30 Michelob Ultra – Superior Bowl 98 A 8
31 Booking.com – Idris Elba Says Things 96 A 7
32 Toyota – Brothers 95 A 7
33 Amazon Prime Video – Football Is Open 95 A 7
34 Avacados From Mexico – Colosseum Tailgate 95 A 7
35 Vroom – Flake the Musical 94 A 7
36 Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda – Loud Flavors 94 A 7
37 Google – Seen on Pixel 93 A- 7
38 Expedia – Stuff 92 A- 7
39 Netflix – Trailer: The Adam Project 91 A- 6
40 Uber Eats – Uber Don’t Eats 91 A- 6
41 T-Mobile – Dolly PSA 91 A- 6
42 HBOMax – Winning Time 90 A- 6
43 Salesforce – The New Frontier 90 A- 6
44 Cuehealth – Meet Cue 90 A- 6
45 Caesar’s Sportbooks – Sit Down Dinner 89 B+ 6
46 Disney+ – Moonknight 89 B+ 6
47 Budweiser – Clydesdale’s Journey 88 B+ 6
48 Draft Kings – Fortune: Life’s a Gamble 88 B+ 6
49 Rakuten – High Stakes 88 B+ 6
50 eToro – Flying Your Way 86 B 6
51 Carvana – Oversharing Mom 85 B 5
52 Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer – Caddy 85 B 5
53 New Republic – Ambulance 85 B 5
54 Irish Spring – Welcome to Irish Spring 85 B 5
55 AMC+ – Stream Better With AMC+ 83 B- 5
56 crypto.com – The Moment of Truth 81 B- 5
57 Universal – Nope 79 C+ 5
58 Bud Light NEXT – Zero in the Way of Possibility 78 C+ 5
59 Gilette – Gillette Labs With Exfoliating Bar 78 C+ 5
60 Chevrolet – New Generation 78 C+ 5
61 Cutwater Spirits – Here’s to the Lazy Ones 77 C 4
62 Polestar – No Compromises 76 C 4
63 WeatherTech – WeatherTech Fit Crew 73 C- 4
64 Wallbox – Supercharged Seth 64 D 2
65 Coinbase – Coinbase Big Game ad 58 F 2
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About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.
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