The 51st Commercials Super Bowl was a blast.
From a stunning performance by Lady Gaga to a miraculous comeback win by the Patriots and a tide of politically charged TV commercials, Super Bowl 2017 was filled with great performances and unexpected events.
It is that time of the year when the entire world is waiting to see the new commercials that the industry’s leading companies have prepared for the prime time during the half time of one of the most viewed games in the world. Once more, the fans of great ads have not been disappointed.
This year’s ads have it all, humor, great visuals, amazing storytelling and some of them were very socially and politically charged. Mr. Trump’s presidency has been controversial so far, and a few companies have opted for putting those controversies to good use. We have seen it all from jokes about Mr. Trump’s hair to equal pay and immigration topics.
Here are the top five Super Bowl 2017 commercials:
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Avocados From Mexico, Secret Society/GSD&M
The Illuminati jokes never go out of fashion. Over the years there have been quite a few of them in the mass media, but Avocados from Mexico has taken the game to an entirely new level. The short but sweet ad is filled with hilarious punchlines that ridicule secret societies, but praise the quality of the advertised product.
A bunch of incompetent people is having a ‘secret’ meeting, that one of the society members is broadcasting live on social media. The context of the commercial is almost political, and yet this is just an underlying layer that sets the context for great comedy and lighthearted jokes.
The ‘Secret Society’ commercial, produced by the GSD&M advertising agency wins the viewers over with awesome cinematography and skilled storytelling, that perfectly convey the sales pitch of the advertised product. You can see the whole commercial here.
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Squarespace, Calling JohnMalkovich.com/ JohnXHannes
John Malkovich is an awesome guy, we all love him. He delivered great performances for more than thirty years, on and off screen. There is even a movie about other people being John Malkovich. Perhaps that is why it is so funny to see him get angry and argue with his web browser about someone else using his name for a website.
John X Hanes advertising agency has come up with a simple but ingenious ad for Squarespace, one of the biggest website building platforms. Basically, it is a one-shot ad, without fancy special effects and its simplicity makes it so effective. The message is straightforward if John Malkovich’s name already taken, hurry up and register the domain under the name you want before someone else takes it. You can watch the commercial at this link.
3. It’s a 10 – Four Years/ Havas Edge and Hungry Man Productions
Let’s face it, Donald Trump’s haircut is not the best one you can get. Havas Edge and Hungry Man productions have realized that and created an amusing ad by exploiting the dreadful hairstyle of Mr.Trump.
The commercial starts by the following words ‘ America, we are in for at least four years of awful hair’, an opening line that sets the humorous tone for the rest of the commercial. It features people of various ethnicities which can be interpreted as a reaction to some of the things the newly elected president said during his presidential campaign as well as recently after he settled in the White House. The entertaining vibe of the ad is accompanied by a more serious statement about equality. Regardless of your origin, you can have a great haircut. You can watch the ad at this link.
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Audi, Daughter/ Venables Bell & Partners
Is this still a men’s world? The women’s rights have been a major political issue for more than a hundred years. From the right to vote to countless moral prejudices, the issues our society had to overcome were plentiful. Mr. Trump’s sexist remarks have left more than just a few people wondering about equal pay opportunities and the position of women in the society in general.
Audi’s Daughter commercial is asking all the right questions. The most important one being, what should we tell our daughters? That no matter how good they are at what they do there will always be limits to what they can achieve? Or that they shouldn’t pursue a career because their job is to stay home and take care of the children. The punchline of the ad ‘Progress is for everyone’ sends a different message, a message of hope and opportunity for everyone, regardless of gender or race and promotes the German car manufacturer as the advocate of these values. Watch the commercial here.
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84 Lumber, The Journey Begins/ Brunner
‘The Journey Begins’ is by far the most controversial commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. Its topic is something mass media and the President of the United States himself have been talking a lot about over the course of the past year. Illegal immigration and the infamous wall are the centerpieces of Brunner’s highly praised commercial.
This is a saga about the journey a mother and a daughter make to cross the United States border from Mexico. Instead of the warm welcome into the country, at the end of their journey, they come to a large and impenetrable wall. But as a ray of hope, they see a door. The original script was rejected by the major TV networks as too controversial, and this ray of hope that is supposed to symbolize legal immigration was a late addition to the script.
Maggie Hardy Magerko, 84 Lumber’s owner, and the president said:
“I still can’t even understand why it was censored, in fact, I’m flabbergasted by that in today’s day and age. It’s not pornographic, it’s not immoral, it’s not racist.”
It is disappointing to see that such a bold statement about the most important issue in the US, was censored and rejected for expressing the opinion that disagrees with the attitude president Trump’s administration has taken. You can watch the edited version of this beautifully crafted commercial here
