The annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the Super Bowl is one of the most talked about sports events in the United States that sports enthusiasts look forward to every year. Baltimore Ravens may have emerged as champion in the Super Bowl XLVII, but talks about the XLVII still remain hot because of the crop of Super Bowl commercials that were released throughout the duration of the season which annoyed, intrigued, touched and even made viewers chuckle off their feet. Aside from sports teams competing against each other for the title, what makes Super Bowl a whale of a battlefield in itself are the advertisers fighting for the attention and pockets of consumers through their winning commercials. Because of the brilliance of the advertisements shown during the past season, 2013 only proved that no battle was fiercer and no competition was more extreme than that of companies trying to leave the best mark in the consciousness of their viewers. Here is a list of the 10 best Super Bowl Ads last year:
10. Wonderful Pistachios – PSY Get Crackin’ (Gangnam Style)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mX31-5pO74
Video Source: www.youtube.com
The Wonderful Pistachios brand is popular for its cartoony commercials that feature celebrities, mostly comedians. This nut brand aired a 30-second commercial starring South Korean rapper Psy who rose to fame because of his song “Gangnam Style.” Directed by Matthew Cullen of Motion Theory, the commercial aimed to penetrate the cultural consciousness of America through Psy, according to Wonderful Pistachios’ Vice President for Marketing Marc Seguin. In the advertisement, Psy wore a pistachio-green suit and showed various ways to crack open pistachios while doing the Gangnam Style dance.
9. Hyundai- Epic Date
Video Source: www.youtube.com
This 60-second Super Bowl commercial by Hyundai featured psychedelic rock band Flaming Lips, which wrote an original song to serve as the ad’s official soundtrack. Known as the Epic Play Date commercial, it was intended to promote the redesigned 2013 Santa Fe model of the car company. It showed images of a bizarre outing, where the father was doing some donuts in the mud, the children were skateboarding, and the entire family was being chased by some security guards, a gang and an ostrich.
8. Budweiser- Brotherhood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0HI4DAmVDo
Video Source: www.youtube.com
This 2013 Super Bowl commercial by Budweiser featured the Clydesdale draft horses, one of the most popular trademarks of Budweiser commercials. Said to be one of the best advertisements released by the beer company in years, this one-minute commercial started off with a man taking good care of a week-old foal. When the man and the horse reunited after three years, the scene was just so tear-jerking that it had viewers grab their tissues and handkerchiefs. The official soundtrack of the commercial was sung by Fleetwod Mac and focused on the lasting relationship of the two characters.
7. Coca-Cola –Cameras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443Vy3I0gJs
Video Source: www.youtube.com
This inspiring commercial by Coke Latin America and production company Landia featured plain unfortunate events around the world caught in surveillance cameras. The objective of this Super Bowl commercial was to show people that there’s still light in the midst of darkness, and that no matter how bad this world may seem, there remain unreported acts of kindness that make this world a beautiful place to live in. Among the acts featured were “honest pickpocketing” which showed someone returning a wallet that somebody else had dropped, as well as “potato cheap dealing” which showed someone handing a bag of chips to a homeless person outside a convenience store.
6. Doritos- Goat 4 Sale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d8ZDSyFS2g
Video Source: www.youtube.com
Written and directed by Ben Callner and Steve Colby, “Goat 4 Sale” was released by Doritos in 2013 as a contest entry for the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. The commercial told the unique friendship between a man and a goat that had an insatiable appetite for Doritos chips. Their common love for the chips ultimately led to the end of their friendship. The use of a goat in the commercial was inspired by Colby’s fondness over goats munching weird things. The commercial became a viral video on the internet and received national media attention.
5. Best Buy- Asking Amy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_yNq3EtXmk
Video Source: www.youtube.com
In this 63-second commercial by Best Buy, Amy Poehler played the role of the female fantasy of a retail employee. Dressed in a black leather jacket and fitted trousers, the 41-year old sexy actress appeared to be shopping for some technology products when she was actually trying to bag a new man. Her portrayal was somewhat inappropriate and aggressive, but viewers of the commercial found it more endearing as she unleashed humorous lines while staring directly into the eyes of the sales assistant in front of her. Viewers found her character in this commercial reminiscent of her character in Mean Girls.
4. Jeep- America Will Be Whole Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FadwTBcvISo
Video Source: www.youtube.com
This commercial by Jeep allowed the car manufacturer to make a name for itself as an advertiser for Super Bowl. It was a two-minute commercial that opened with a quote that sounded like a letter of gratitude for the U.S. Army and featured the voice of Oprah. The commercial was basically about U.S. troops, their families, and their sacrifices for America. It talked about homes and families waiting for their loved ones who were part of the U.S. Army. The last line of the tribute went like “We are a nation that is whole again.”
3. Oreo- Whisper Fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHXaJ7Ob_pw
Video Source: www.youtube.com
Created by Wieden + Kennedy and directed by Tom Kuntz, this hilarious Super Bowl commercial featured two men fighting over a piece of Oreo cookie. The funniest thing about it was that the scenario was set in a library where everyone’s supposed to keep his voice down. It showed cars smashing through walls, bookshelves falling down and men arguing whether it’s the cookie or the crème that’s the best part of the Oreo cookie.
2. Ram Trucks- God Made a Farmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sillEgUHGC4
Video Source: www.youtube.com
This commercial featured a monologue that was derived from a speech delivered by Paul Harvey during the 1978 National Future Farmers of America Convention. The aim of the speech was to recognize the hard work of farmers who provide man’s food every day. It rendered several Super Bowl parties silent because of its very touching message.
1. Kia- Space Babies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDzfFEF8YJ0
Video Source: www.youtube.com
Through this hilarious commercial by Kia, fathers were given a creative way to explain to their young sons where babies actually come from. It featured a funny “birds and bees” dialogue between a dad and his cute and curious son, as well as a broad range of science fiction elements.