I'll Give Bridgestone, Chevy, Chrysler and Budweiser an "A" for Effort

Last night's Super Bowl commercials left me feeling "ehhh"--the way I've felt about Super Bowl ads the past decade. Nothing stood out as the funniest or craziest ad or even very memorable. As expected, Danica Patrick made more bad sex references in Go Daddy commercials, Doritos went the user-generated ad route, eTrade baby is pretty funny and somehow Jerry Seinfeld is still relevant. The most disappointing ad hands-down is Pepsi's Elton John X-factor medieval mess. Seriously, Pepsi went from having Britney, Beyonce and Pink rock gladiator outfits to this? Sad.

There were a few advertisers that delivered strong ads with rather interesting stories. My favorite goes to Bridgestone's "Performance Football and Basketball" spots, a follow up to the Bridgestone's "Performance Balls and Puck" commercial that debuted during the Winter Classic in January. I also admire Chevy's use of Rob Dyrdek and OK GO in the Sonic "Stunt Anthem" spot; Chevy really went all out in pulling off these crazy car stunts and the effort is noted. Bud Light Platinum managed to make its new product feel sexy through music, using Kanye's Runaway track and Levels' DJ Avicii's unexpected cameo. Again, effort noted. I particularly liked Budweiser's America through time in"Eternal Optimism", mainly because it referenced the 1980 Winter Olympics "Miracle on Ice". Instant winner.

Like Budweiser, Chrysler also played off the sentiment of "America" in it's Gran Torino 2 "Halftime" spot (wait.. you're telling me Gran Torino is not even a Chrysler car?). The spot featured Clint Eastwood being Clint Eastwood--it was serious and attention grabbing, and for a second I felt patriotic until the next ad with a moon-walking dog snapped me out of it.

This year's ads were slightly better than lasts, so I'm hopeful that next year we'll be see brands take their ads back to Super Bowl levels of epicness.

Bridgestone Performance Balls


Chevy Sonic "Stunt Anthem"


Budwesier "Eternal Optimism"


Bud Light Platinum "Work"


Chrysler "It's Halftime in America"