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Look No Further: You Can Re-Watch All the Best Super Bowl Ads Right Here

Feb. 4, 2013 12:33am Erica Ritz

(TheBlaze/AP) — Super Bowl ads this year morphed into mini soap operas.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shrugged off aliens so he could get more milk for his kids in a Super Bowl spot for the Milk Processor Education Program. Anheuser-Busch’s commercial told the story of a baby Clydesdale growing up and returning to his owner for a heartfelt hug years later. And a Jeep ad portrayed the trials and triumphs of families waiting for their return of family members.

The reason for all the drama off the field? With 30-second spots going for as much as $4 million and more than 111 million viewers expected to tune in, marketers are constantly looking for ways to make their ads stand out. And it’s increasingly difficult to captivate viewers with short-form plots involving babies, celebrities, sex and humor – unless there’s a compelling story attached.

“A lot of advertisers are running long commercials to tell these stories that engage people often in a very emotional way,” said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. “These spots that tell stories really stand out in the clutter.”

Here’s the ads, play-by-play:

TEAR-JERKING MINI EPICS

Chrysler started the long-format commercial trend last year, with a two-minute spot starring Clint Eastwood that became very popular.

This year, Chrysler led the trend again with its two-minute salute to troops and their families. The ad featured Oprah Winfrey reading a letter from the Jeep brand to encourage families to stay hopeful.

Anheuser-Busch also pulled at heartstrings with a spot about a baby Clydesdale growing up and moving away from his farm and his trainer. Years later, the horse remembered the trainer after returning for a parade. He raced down a street to hug him.

“The Budweiser commercial with the Clydesdale made me cry,” said Wendy Ponzo, 49, who was watching the game in Pont Pleasant, N.J.

And of course, Dodge’s “so God made a farmer ad” based on Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech wowed the crowd:

USER-INSPIRED TALES

Lincoln’s 90-second ad was inspired by Tweets by fans about road trips. The company asked people to send their stories, and Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” decided on which tales would be used.

The ad shows adventures during a fictional road trip. A woman picks up a German hitchhiker, and they go to an alpaca farm, get stopped by turtles crossing the road, and drive through a movie set.

Rap pioneer Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons and Wil Wheaton, who acted in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” made cameos in the spot.

Audi also went with an ad that told a story – and was inspired by viewers. The company’s 60-second ad featured an ending that was voted on by viewers prior to the game.

In the ad, a boy gains confidence from driving his father’s Audi to the prom, kisses the prom queen once he arrives at the dance and gets decked by the prom king. In the end, he drives back home with a smile on his face.

The Audi mini-epic was a favorite of Super Bowl viewer Stephanie Bice, 39, a business development director in Oklahoma City.

“It was fun and whimsical,” Bice said.

COMEDY GOES LONG

Not all of the storytelling ads were dramatic, though.

Samsung’s two-minute ad showed Seth Rogen (“The Guilt Trip” and Paul Rudd (“Role Models”) getting called in to do a “Next Big Thing” ad for Samsung. But they’re agitated once they realize that they’re sharing the spotlight. LeBron James, an NBA basketball player for the Miami Heat, makes a cameo, appearing on the screen of a tablet.

The ad won over some fans in the ad world.

“I could watch the Samsung ad over and over again,” said David Berkowitz, vice president at digital marketing agency 360i. “It’s as good as any Seth Rogen movie.”

Budweiser, a long-time Super Bowl advertiser, also told a continuing story in two of its ads. One showed rival 49ers and Ravens fans each creating a voodoo doll for the other team with the help of R&B legend Stevie Wonder. In the other ad, fans go to great lengths to curse a rival fan’s “lucky chair.”

“It’s only weird if it doesn’t work,” the words in the ad read.

Mercedes-Benz’s 90-second ad had a Faustian plot.

A devilish Willem Dafoe (“Spider-Man”) shows a man everything that comes with a Mercedes-Benz CLX: A date with supermodel Kate Upton, dancing with Usher, driving around with beautiful girls, getting on the cover of magazines including Vanity Fair and GQ, getting to drive on a racetrack.

The man almost signs his soul away for the car. But then he sees a billboard that says the car starts at $29,900, and doesn’t sign.

BUT NOT EVERY AD TELLS A STORY

Although many advertisers tried to pull people in with lengthy story lines, there were a few that stuck with short, quirky spots with no particular plot.

GoDaddy.com’s ad was one of them. It showed a close up, extended kiss between supermodel Bar Refaeli and a nerdy guy wearing glasses to illustrate GoDaddy’s combo of “sexy” and “smart.”

Some viewers thought the ad was too explicit for the Super Bowl.

“I don’t care who wins the game. I just don’t want to see that commercial again, ever,” said Stephen G. Smith, 63, an editor at The Washington Times in Washington, D.C.

Striking a less controversial note, Best Buy’s 30-second ad in the first quarter starred Amy Poehler, of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” asking a Best Buy employee endless questions about electronics.

“Will this one read `50 Shades of Grey’ to me in a sexy voice?” Poehler asks about an e-book reader. Then, when the staffer says no she asks, “Will you?”

M&M’s spot showed its red spokescharacter singing Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love,” and wooing beautiful women.

But the M&M stopped short when the women try to eat him:

And Oreo’s ad featured a showdown in a library between people fighting over whether the cookie or the cream is the best part of the cookie. The punch-line? The fight escalates into thrown chairs and other destruction, but because the fight is in a library, everyone still has to whisper.

The ad directed users to follow Oreo on Instagram photo-sharing site, where they could continue the “cookie vs. cream” debate. Meanwhile, Oreo was quick to capitalize on the blackout that hit the game for about 30 minutes in the third quarter. It tweeted a picture of an Oreo in the half-dark with the words: “You can still dunk in the dark.”

Which commercials were your favorites? Did you dislike any? Let us know in the comments section.

–

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Comments (51)

jcldwl
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:46am
In reply to the headline. Why would I want too. I didn’t even watch the game. But you go ahead Blaze and keep participating in leading the sheeple.

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- MsMarylou8
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 11:14am
  There’s a nay sayer in every crowd. Don’t watch! Let the rest of us enjoy. Never happy.
  
  Report this comment
- ColoradoCassie
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 12:35pm
  I didn’t watch the game either but I wanted to see the commercials. Glad I did.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 12:35pm
  The NFL and Superbowl in particular show everything that’s wrong with Amerika in a nutshell. The NFL are supposed to be a bunch of tough football players on the gridiron who spout the virtues of gay marriage, gun control, and other leftist goals. Then it’s all summed up in the Superbowl where it’s corporatism at it’s worse. People actually watch the Superbowl to see the corporate ads, just like sheep. These huge, evil mega corporations that try to get you to part with your wallet in a process called a TV commercial. Corporatism is not capitalism. Capitalism is all about competition, corporatism is all about one company gobbling up smaller companies through consolidation and thus, lowering competition. No wonder the US is hated so much by other countries.
  
  Report this comment
- SquareHead
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 1:32pm
  Well said JCLDWL.
  Sports, like day time TV shows, serves to placate the nation while we are being turned into serfs by DC.
  I suppose it is like the Colosseum was in Rome, that was of the main concern of the masses along with the pebble in their shoe. Imagine the ignorance today, given the fact that we have the internet and all is there for people to see!! ! But they don’t as they are watching sports…. Help us God!
  
  Report this comment
- The_Cabrito_Goat
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 1:41pm
  That Oreo’s commercial was utter chaos.
  
  The STRANGEST one was GoDaddy by far. But I see the point, it was to stay inside your head the morning after, which it did. I guess they’ll be hearing a lot of calls from small business owners today, in an attempt to somehow exorcise that image from their minds.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:36pm
  The Super Bowl is a microcosm of what’s wrong with America today. Everyone has to pick a side. People are either a Democrat or Republican or in the Super Bowl you’re either with the red team (San Fran) or the blue team. People rally around their political party and think their party can do no wrong. Just like when Bush was president and setting up a police state, Rush Limbaugh was there rallying around his QB (Bush) talking about “security moms” and other stupid labels to gain support. Now that the opposing team (Dems) have the ball, Rush will say just the opposite. Both parties suck and people need to stop rallying around either side as they both will sell out this country in a heartbeat (like with illegal aliens getting amnesty).
  
  The Super Bowl is ran by corporations just like our political system and our country.
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:12am
Some of these vids would be good to watch, but – ERICA!!! All the daggum vids are auto-starting at the same time! It’s like a freeking echo chamber in here!

Get billy hallO’well to show you how to embed them correctly. (It’ll keep that strange boy from uploading yet another gay-oriented ‘news’ story…)

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- DaddyDave
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 11:30am
  I had just been talking to friends about the Jamaican accent Audi commercial being called “racist”. If it was racist, then almost every other commercial that degrades someone must be racist towards the “White man”, typically ones with beards:
  
  -State farm commercials, idiot white guy hits black guys car, and white guy has crappy insurance.
  -Nationwide or state farm, idiot white guy cuts limb onto black guys car.
  -State farm: 2 women looking to buy a purse ask their agents how much their saving, Black state farm agent say a large number, other insurance old white fishing guy in getup dangles a dollar-bill on a fishing line.
  -UPS manager (black) compliments a Hispanic looking woman for her wonderful suggestion of shipping. Then wants to talk about someone who always uses Caps lock key, then the idiot white guy yells “SORRY ABOUT THAT, SOMETIMES MY CAPS LOCK KEY GETS STUCK”
  -How about the cave-men commercials, white guys. Or the Capitol 1 viking commercials, primitive white man again. Imagine if they did a Zulu tribe or Tootsie or other African race in those commercials.
  -Then we have the Oreo commercial above, the white guy with a beard is the one to flip the table and start all the chaos, and who comes to the rescue the day, but a Black cop.
  
  The racism is so blatant, but with the Audi commercial the guy couldn’t even compliment the Jamaican laid back happy attitude toward life which was a positive attribute in my opinion, without that commercial being raci
  
  Report this comment
- DaddyDave
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 1:41pm
  Sorry just thinking of many other racist commercials:
  
  - ADT uses only white criminals, except ONE TIME BOTH a black and white criminal enter a home together, and white criminal lunges towards the innocent woman of the house only to have the black criminal stop him. And when they show security staff, they typically are: Hispanic, black, or women.
  - Last night the Doritos Goat commercial with the bearded white guy going to get beat up by the goat.
  - Last night, white men playing dress-up with a little girl for her Doritos, Bearded white guy looked the most ridiculous.
  - I think it was the Capitol 1, where a plane crashed on a deserted island, and the Asian man pieced together a working computer and internet connection from the plane parts only to have the white fat bearded dude ran into trying to get to a picture of a cheeseburger, and destroyed their only connection to the outside world, the pilot was black.
  - Oh the few times a black man is ever mocked in a commercial, it will usually be only in a single race family setting, and the wife or kids are the smart ones.
  
  I think its time the whites had a lobbying organization in the media just as strong as the NAACP to demand stopping the racism towards white males in the commercials.
  
  Report this comment
Mainer forever
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:10am
The Budwiser Ad with the Clydesdale made me cry. It was so sweet.

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Wheelerdude
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:08am
Between the half time show, Go Daddy and a couple other commercials, I thought this year’s theme was SLUT! I’m afraid the Superbowl will soon be come an adult only, or at best R rated event. Sad our society is so accepting of this junk!

My 2 cents.

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woodyee
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:06am
The only standout (for me) was the one with Paul Harvey’s voice over.

You (Loyal American) young-uns ought to listen to him here in “If I Were The Devil” from about 1965 – VERY PROPHETIC, because Left Wing politics has a history which is easily accessible and quite repetitive – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGVCO6CByQ

another good one to listen to (while you’re at it) is comedic Red Skelton reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM

That’ll bring you to tears. The rest of the commercials during the Superbowl were droll, excepting the emotional ones, and I’m not tuning in to the Superbowl for emotional commercials, because I’m getting all the emotion I want from THE GAME!!!

Bring back the HUMOR, NFL!!! And Thank You, for leaving politics and gay-ness out of it!!!!

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@leftfighter
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 9:26am
“The Rock says, know your role and pass the milk!”

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TelecasterCowboy
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 9:25am
I’d say that the Budweiser and Dodge ads are tied for first, Coke ad for second, Samsung for third, and the rest are about average

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FlagWavingPatriot
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:14am
God Made the Farmer was BY FAR the best commercial.

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- Irememberamerica
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 11:23am
  Yes it was.
  
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- Rileydj
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:35pm
  I agree, and the Clydesdale was #2. All the others were mediocre esp. For the SB!
  
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dont-care-anymore
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:10am
the blaze should be charged with child labor laws …. this seems it was put together by a 3 year old…. watch an autorun ad for 30 seconds to watch an ad and then they start over when you watching another video ….. Erica Ritz please fire yourself

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HOOT_OWL
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:05am
Man, I sure miss that country.

This is Paul Harvey ….GOood- DAY!!

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- FlagWavingPatriot
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:39am
  Me, too.
  
  Report this comment
- willbedone
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 9:29am
  Me 3
  
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DennisNJ
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:02am
None of the ads compared to other years. None were funny.

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- Jaimo
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:41am
  I beg to differ. The only ones worth a crap are the Budweiser ones, ever. The Clydesdale horse commercial was beautiful and I cried, cause I’m a mush for those commercials. Remember the Clydesdale horse one right after 9/11 when they kneeled down to the missing world trade center buildings in the landscape of New York City. They only showed it once.
  
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Gonzo
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:50am
I guess advertisers still think Poehler, Fey, Baldwin and Fallon will make me want to buy their products. Quite the opposite pinheads.

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- 13th Imam
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:51am
  The Farmer’s ad by Dodge Ram was by far the best . The Clydesdale ad second . The rest were ho hum.
  
  Beyond SAY was a pole dancers dream.. Funny thing I sat with a 30 something black woman, and she said Beyond looked and gyrated like a ******.
  
  Report this comment
curmudgeon60
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:42am
Oh yes and Kate Upton is ,in my opinion, attractive! Go Daddy was funny if you turned the volume off I found the sucking sounds less offensive than Oprah’s voice trying to sell America (seeing that she believes in her leader’s version). Tide is offensive they are trying to normalize new versions of family-check their history-they used that Nancy boy Tim Gunn at one time , and a single dad ? doing laundry. Read between the lines! Have a good day I’m going to go buy a Soda Stream and give Coke and Pepsi a taste of free enterprise!

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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:18am
Here’s the ad that should have been shown:

youtube.com/watch?v=Pvf7wVsAp60

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- woodyee
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 10:20am
  Ditto! Here’s a good link, and remember –
  
  Copy. Paste. Disseminate! Here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvf7wVsAp60
  
  Report this comment
curmudgeon60
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:14am
They denied SodaStream because it was offensive to Coke and Pepsi! It was a funny ad but welcome to the democrat’s version of “the Land of the Free”! “It isn’t fair Waaa Waaa Waaa, Ban the ad!
P.S. Oprah and the military and our Country???? Very unbelievable.

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The-Monk
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:11am
Go Daddy just lost my account…

“So sick it would even make a troll puke” : ( oooooo

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churchee
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 7:00am
The Go Daddy commercial made me gag. Sorry. Just not what I needed to see. The Paul Harvey ad, and the Oprah one, were great. Tide was fun. Clydesdale ads are always Budweisers best offerings. I think I will always remember their Clydesdale 9/11 tribute ad.

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Kara_ite
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 5:31am
Yes, in Genesis God made man. He put them in a garden and Adam and Eve were farmers. Their son Able grew up to raise live stock. Their son Cain tilled the soil. And so it goes. Get back to the land there is a purpose and lots of peace there.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 5:28am
I find it much more relaxing to use the internet with the video plug in disabled.

There are several reasons, number one, some companies do not want you to save the video to look at it later, they use video as fly paper, so why bother? Some of that is due to the priority format needed to compress the video, some of that is for digital rights management?

Number two, it is extremely difficult to catalog several hundred videos without the transcripts, believe me, I know, I think I have the entire first season of Fox’s Glenn Beck show gathering dust somewhere.

Some of that is changing with the ability to apply database tags to video clips, through social media, however if you don’t have access with the specially developed tools to browse the information, or have access to the transcripts, it would be very difficult to “time travel” and say this is the moment where the organization showed you a video, but left this information out?

By limiting your use of video, I believe you will find your ways of communication more effective in the long run then not using them. A well written piece with a photo attached is probably more effective, and easier to send a viral email with, then watching videos on the internet?

Forgive me if I don’t watch either your football games or your videos? Someone else will have to volunteer to explain to foreignors what those ads mean, I’m not volunteering?

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GuruMeditation
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 5:21am
Again. I’ll pass.

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ezalbeht666
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 4:37am
Common, The Tide commercial was awesome!!! Joe Montana is a God here. I’m sure if it was Dallas in the SB they would have used Aikman.

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Disgusted_in_CT
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 4:12am
Paul Harvey was great and the best laugh was the oreo.

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HUSSAR
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 4:04am
Nothing quite like watching an ad before watching an ad…there is something wrong with that, I’m feeling a bit sheepish.
God made a farmer !!!

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raydg
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 1:48am
Hands down, God Created a Farmer.

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- The Village Idiot
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 2:33am
  I totally concur with RayDG. Funny thing though, after seeing it, I watched it again on YouTube. Then I listened to the original by Mr. Harvey. After that, this GEM came up by the Sainted Mr. Harvey and this, now this, is worth listening to. Keep in mind, it was originally recorded in 1965. In case you didn’t get that last sentence, allow me to put a bit more emphasis on it; HE ORIGINALLY RECORDED THIS IN 1965. Thank You. It IS worth listening to, I would not waste a moment of your life, please trust me. Here is the link. xx, me
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Az0okaHig&feature=share
  
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jhubbard
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 1:20am
Very disappointing crop this year (except for the Farmer ad and one or two others). It seems that the ad agencies are just trying too hard.

It’s like watching a desperate guy try and get a date. It makes you sad and kinda queasy.

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- Big Book Harry
  Posted on February 4, 2013 at 3:09am
  I agree, maybe I have become a tough crowd to please because of previous adds but I don’t think so. I remember one budweiser where the perppy gut has his dog go fetch a beer out of the cooler. The hick has his mutt get him a beer by clamping on to the preppy’s balls causing him to toss the beer in to the hick’s hand. Now that’s funny.
  
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