Sunday night was an exciting night in Football as the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots went head to head, but if you’re not the biggest sport’s fan then I’m sure you enjoy the commercials a little bit more. Marketers of top companies such as Tide and M&Ms watched and waited to see if the colossal amount of money they spent would pay off. This year NBC charged a whopping $5 million for a 30-second spot, which basically guaranteed their ad would reach the eyes of millions of onlookers. So was it worth it for companies to spend this much cash on a Superbowl spot? We think it paid off for these three companies whose ads were attention-grabbing and hit the nail on the head.

1. The Bud Light Spots
   These days you can’t walk into a party atmosphere without someone shouting the phrase that Bud Light has turned into a hit and this year, for the Superbowl, they capitalized the success they’ve seen with their “Dilly, Dilly!” campaigns. The two-part set of commercials were each set during a medieval time period, just like their other ads, with the ‘underdogs’ battling a much more prepared army, all for cases of Bud Light. What makes this commercial so successful is that Bud Light took something that they know works and made it arguably better by creating a humorous storyline that almost ran parallel to the football game (the Eagles being the underdogs going up with the more favored Patriots). Introducing the “Bud Knight” was also a great addition that I’m sure will pop up as a Halloween costume a few times next year. Watch the spots here: Part I www.youtube.com/watch?v=77NX05V6tq8 and Part II www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvTE_5c7buk
2. Alexa Loses Her Voice
   Amazon used their Superbowl spot to promote Alexa, their digital assistant. What made this spot stand out from the rest and made it such a success were the various cameos by big (and relevant) celebs including Chef Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson, Cardi B, and Anthony Hopkins. From Chef Gordon Ramsay, who is known for his temper, going off on a young man who asks Alexa for help with a grilled cheese recipe to Cardi B rapping her 2017/2018 hit when asked to play some country music. The spot was clever, humorous and made us all want Cardi B to be the permanent Amazon digital assistant. Watch the spot here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6-8DQALGt4
3. Budweiser’s “Stand By Me” Spot
   Budweiser has been stirring up some “tugging at the heartstring” content for years now starting with their Clydesdale Pony commercials and now with their latest Superbowl spot. This year, the country was shaken by the massive damages that natural disasters caused in places such as Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. So instead of promoting their beer directly, Budweiser showed the work they put into providing canned water for disaster relief. With the song “Stand By Me” playing in the background, this ad did a beautiful job at storytelling, it was relevant and touching while giving viewers a break from all the humorous spots we saw this year. Watch the spot here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxGUmtRLm5g

Some honorable mentions are the Tide ads as well as the Dorito/Mountain Dew commercials featuring Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman. If you feel we dropped the ball on this list, let us know what your favorite spots were!