The best Super Bowl ads—and the biggest flop

Here we are, the day that every advertiser waits for all year long. The day people don’t totally and completely hate ads, but instead curiously tolerate, and even excitedly look forward to them.

Along with that sense of occasion comes a pressure to deliver. It’s a moment where the pop-culture spotlight on brands is so bright you can practically hear the audience doing its best Judge Smails impression. Brands beg and scheme to steal our attention all year long, and now they absolutely have it. The question is, whaddya got? After all the teasers and clever social posts, it’s time to justify the hype.

Super Bowl commercials are no longer just Super Bowl commercials. They are Super Bowl campaigns that run for weeks before and after the game. In fact, brands are finding ever-inventive ways to use the Super Bowl as an advertising platform, some even without actually advertising during the, y’know, actual Super Bowl. Miller Lite, for example, doesn’t have an official spot during the game, but made an ad starring Rob Riggle to hype a QR-coded T-shirt giveaway to fans to wear during the game that others can scan for free beer money.

It’s very easy to get lost in all this sales-driven spectacle, but for me, the criteria for a great Super Bowl ad is relatively simple. Is it fun or emotional in a way that is both incredibly entertaining and makes sure I remember which brand it’s for? An easy question to ask, but as decades of Super Bowl ads have proven, much more difficult to answer. 

No matter what anyone tells you, the ranking and evaluating of Super Bowl ads is a purely subjective exercise. But hell, it’s also a lot of fun, right? Here are my top ads of Super Bowl 2024. 

Paramount+ “Sir Patrick Stewart Throws A Hail Arnold”

It really comes down to three simple words: Throw the child. Delivered, of course, in the gravitas of Sir Patrick Stewart. But it’s oh so much more than that. 

Created by ad agency Droga5 and directed by David Shane, “Sir Patrick Stewart Throws A Hail Arnold” manages to take the elements of many a Super Bowl ad—a collection of celebrities, a comedic concept—and combine them in a way that makes it feel fresh and actually funny. Why are Stewart, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Survivor’s Jeff Probst, Drew Barrymore, Knuckles, Arnold, Peppa the Pig, and Creed stuck on Paramount Mountain in the first place? Who cares! It’s all just weird enough to make the suspension of disbelief possible.

Sometimes, occasions like the Super Bowl can have brands going as broad as possible, but credit here to Paramount and Droga5 for leaning into dark, odd humor. One of the keys to the successful formula may be David Shane, who has long been a master of commercial and short-form comedy.

The result is quite simply one of the most surprising and entertaining ads of the game. 

Dunkin “The DunKings”

After the Grammys last weekend, we lauded Dunkin and Ben Affleck for the latter continuing his hilariously self-aware run of brand ambassadorship. Affleck stepped it up a few notches, more-than-hinting at ambitions of pop stardom. Now, during the Super Bowl, we see his vision fully-realized.

Here, after a short but exceptional cameo by Jack Harlow, Affleck busts into a J. Lo recording session with his new boy (man) band called the DunKings, featuring Tom Brady and Matt Damon, all kitted out in fresh Dunkin tracksuits. Harlow tries to talk Ben out of it, and Damon plays the role of the supportive (kind of) friend. Lopez perfects the supportive-but-horrified wife look and tone that any husband who went through a v-neck tee and skinny jeans phase will recognize.

Affleck’s ad persona is a brilliant blend of his brother Casey’s SNL Boston Dunkin’ Guy and Affleck’s own Good Will Hunting character in the job interview (“Retaaaaaainer!“). His ability to play with his celebrity reputation as an exaggerated version of himself is easily at Curb Your Enthusiasm levels, and just thoroughly enjoyable.

Not only that, but amid all this, Dunkin is still undeniably front and center, a complete main character in what may just be a first-ballot hall of famer in advertising celebrity satire. The brand is extending the magic on Monday, rolling out The DunKings Menu, including Ben’s first official drink with the brand, The DunKings Iced Coffee, and The DunKings Munchkins Skewers.

And of course, there’s merch, where you can get your own tracksuit. Just run it by your wife, or Jack Harlow, before you decide to wear it in public.

Uber Eats “Don’t Forget Uber Eats”

Just a little over a week ago, Uber Eats dropped a teaser starring David and Victoria Beckham, recreating their viral moment from the Netflix doc series Beckham, to hype their appearance in the actual Super Bowl ad. It was fun, cute, and tapped into a viral cultural moment. 

The challenge here is, it had all the markings of a teaser that overpromises. How can the full ad live up to this? Created with agency Special Group, the premise here is to make sure we remember that Uber Eats delivers almost anything. We open with Jennifer Aniston getting an Uber Eats delivery, and then she delivers a not-so-scientific theory of how the human brain processes memory: In order to remember something, you need to forget something else. In terms of brain science, let’s be honest—this theory might as well have come from Theodoric of York. But we’re not here for brain science, we’re here for laughs. 

So all forgetful hell breaks loose. The Beckhams quickly come back into frame, but neither David nor Victoria can recall the name of that pop group she was in (Pepper Ladies!). Aniston can’t quite remember David Schwimmer. And Jellyroll sees his face tattoos in the mirror for the first time. The cherry on top is the very end. The ad is set to air in the third quarter, and it ends with Usher, looking like he just finished the halftime show, forgetting he just finished the halftime show.

Before the game, there was a slight backlash to one scene, claiming the guy who forgets peanut butter is made from peanuts, makes light of peanut allergies . . . but that takeaway from the ad does forget the entire comedic premise of the spot. That said, Uber announced that it would change the ad to edit out the scene.

Aside from that hiccup, this is how you celebrify a Super Bowl ad. We have a premise rooted in the actual product and a laundry list of celebrities making themselves a part of the joke in a variety of fun ways.

Hellmann’s “Mayo Cat”

What often makes the most powerful pieces of art so impactful is how they are able to change people’s perception of reality. They no longer see the world the same way. 

Am I saying that Hellmann’s Super Bowl ad accomplishes this? Look, I’m not not saying it—that’s between you and your god—but I defy you to hear feline vocals the same way ever again. 

Created with agency VML, the spot opens with former SNL star and Barbie scene-stealer Kate McKinnon stuck in a dilemma of what to do with leftover chicken, scallions, and cheese. “What am I gonna make with this?” she says. The cat responds, “Mayo.”

Now, did the adorable cat say “meow” or “mayo”? This is up for debate and interpretation. For every person who sees Maru, another will see witches with knives in their feet.

What is irrefutable is the spot’s commentary on the modern fame industrial complex—and how the brand was able to embed its product into the very language of that adorable, darn mayo cat. 

Bud Light “Easy Night Out”

You remember the Bud Knight? Well, the brand is back to its absurd character ways with this year’s Super Bowl ad and the introduction of the track-suited, mustachioed, Bud Genie. What’s the Bud Genie do? In the spot created with agency Anomaly, he can give an ‘80s metal mane, at least one massive bicep, a DeLorean stretch limo, make Peyton Manning your best friend, and get Post Malone to show up at the bar.

Last year’s spot, “Hold” with Miles and Kaleigh Teller dancing cutely to hold music, was well-received and fun. But the Genie definitely marks a turn back to the silly party tone and personality that the brand had long built. Recall the Dilly Dilly campaigns, and of course, the 2019 Super Bowl ad in which the brand collaborated with HBO to see the Bud Knight take on Game of Thrones’ heavyweight, Drogon.

The brand may still be struggling after the long and ridiculous right-wing backlash to its inclusivity efforts, as well as others’ reaction to the brand’s own limp response to that backlash. Parent company AB InBev is certainly hoping that the Bud Light Genie will grant its wish to put all of that behind it. 

Goofy, entertaining beer commercials go with the Super Bowl like wings and nachos, and this ad definitely hits the spot. 

Kawasaki “Mullets”

There are brands that bring a certain level of expectation to the Super Bowl. Good or bad, funny or sad, you just know that the makers of beer, cars, and junk food are going to be there. 

But every year there’s an unexpected guest at the party. Someone who comes in with no expectations whatsoever and charms the crowd. Last year, Farmer’s Dog showed up out of nowhere to win the USA Today Ad Meter. 

This year, my surprise guest is Kawasaki. With its first-ever Super Bowl ad, advertising what is admittedly a pretty damn niche product in an off-road side-by-side vehicle, Kawasaki took those circumstances and threw a Hail Mary. Or Hair Mary.

While you can practically see the Super Bowl ad checklist at work—funny premise, animals, unexpected celeb cameo—the spot is clever and earnest enough to make you forget that formula and instead feel the mountain breeze blowing through your own majestic-yet-imaginary Camaro Crash Helmet.

And finally . . . the worst ad of the 2024 Super Bowl.

Michelob Ultra “Superior Beach”

I’ll start by saying that obviously this isn’t the worst actual ad of the Super Bowl. It’s fine. But it’s my worst ad because it’s the most disappointing. It’s the one with perhaps the most wasted opportunity—and it had so much potential. 

This is a perfectly suitable and dutiful beer ad. Many people will love this. I wanted to be one of those people. I am not.

Here we have a world-class ad agency (Wieden+Kennedy), a world-class marketer (AB InBev), and an A-list talent roster with global soccer’s (arguable) GOAT Lionel Messi, Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis, and NFL legend Dan Marino. But the funniest thing about the whole spot is the name of Marino’s boat. 

This is the Super Bowl. This is a Super Bowl beer ad. Those two things provide a license to get as wacky as possible. Instead, we get Meh-ssi. Why is Sudeikis even there? It’s like Mentos made a beer ad. 

It is, however, the perfect opportunity to take Coach Lasso’s best advice.