CarMax decided to try and play the slow-clap card this year and while the car dealership chain offers a few chuckles in the nearly one minute ad, it’s a little lackluster. It’s certainly worth catching but we doubt people will be talking about this one for long. However, if you look real close, you might just spot Rudy star Sean Astin, reprising his role.
Another car company that’s getting involved this year is Audi – and we must say, the car company did a great job with this one. What if there was a new dog breed, say, a Doberman and a Chihuahua mixed together? Well, it would be pretty funny to imagine — that’s exactly what happens in this spot. This could be the hit commercial this year. Kudos to Sarah Mclachlan for poking fun at her often depressing and tremendously long-run adoption commercials.
Meanwhile, the folks at Cheerios went in a different direction. The cereal company’s commercial is cute but has a stronger message behind it. As you may recall, last year Cheerios decided to run a commercial featuring an interracial couple, causing – for some stupid reason – a controversy. Well, it stuck to its guns and the family is back again this year – and we couldn’t be happier.
Jaguar features Sir Ben Kingsley in their SB spot. The car company went all out trying to figure out why all villains enjoy being bad, incorporating Kiss-Ass bad guy Mark Strong and Marvel’s The Avengers’ Loki, better known as Tom Hiddleson. Classy, enjoyable and captivating – we wouldn’t expect anything less from the luxury car brand.
Of course it wouldn’t be a football game without an outrageous Jack In The Box commercial. As usual, they don’t disappoint in this rodeo.
And finally, it’s funny…the best Super Bowl commercial released online may not even be a Super Bowl Commercial at all. The folks over at Newcastle had a genius strategy — produce a Super Bowl commercial without forking over the millions of dollars it takes to actually air a spot during the game. How’d they do it? With their “Mega Huge Gameday Ad,” aka, their “NOT Super Bowl commercial” with hottie Anna Kendrick in this YouTube video — it already has over a million views.
Well done Newcastle. And Anna, we love you.
Also be sure to check out Hulu’s AdZone, where you can not only see nearly 20 commercials that have been “leaked” online before the big game, but you can also vote live for your favorite spot on Sunday and re-watch some of the best commercials in the history of the Super Bowl. We think it’s rad.
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Sports Channel Editor Josh Helmuth also contributed to this article.