Commercials were once the best part of the Super Bowl aside from, you know, the game itself. Advertising giants came up with absurd, creative, and heart-wrenching spots that imprinted on viewers. But those days appear to be gone as celebrity and nostalgia rule the day.
It’s a microcosm of entertainment these days.
Cheetos showcased Ashton Kutcher. GM trotted out Will Ferrell, Kenan Thompson, and Awkwafina. Doritos, once the Super Bowl’s commercial juggernaut for outlandish and hilarious commercials, has been phoning it in with actors as well, with Matthew McConaughey as this year’s feature.
Meanwhile, Tide used George Costanza in an ad about George Costanza to promote its detergent. Uber Eats went back to Wayne’s World while hitting its celebrity quota by adding rapper Cardi B. Bud Light played on Avengers: Endgame by bringing back the characters from its old commercials. Singer Bruce Springsteen talked about unity to sell Jeep vehicles.
The absurd creations that graced our screens during the breaks are few and far between. Like last year, none of this year’s spots compare to E-Trade’s talking baby or Old Spice’s reliable ridiculousness. Apple’s iconic “1984” commercial has no challenger among the modern crop. Budweiser sat out this year’s big game, keeping its puppies and Clydesdales on the sidelines.
The slate of commercials is a better commentary on our culture-obsessed culture than any one commercial could be. The pinnacle of entertainment now is reboots and spinoffs. Saved by the Bell has been rebooted, and the Jetsons will join them. Jurassic Park was rebooted into a trilogy, as was Star Wars. Even Disney’s Marvel juggernaut is half-entertainment, half-advertisement for itself between its callbacks and big-name actor crossovers.
As network launch their own streaming services to hold their shows and movies (another, Paramount+, aired its own commercial during the game), these streaming services are continuing to reach into their back catalogs for new reboots and spinoffs. The cookie-cutter model eschews originality for “Hey, you remember this character you loved? He has his own series now!”
Who knows when we may next see a commercial as absurd and original as Mountain Dew’s “Puppy Monkey Baby” or a celebrity presence in commercials that actually stands out (like Betty White’s Snickers ad in 2010)? But today’s commercials reflect the entertainment sphere we have built for ourselves: a recycling bin.
