Manufacturers of all sizes dished out big money for an ad in Super Bowl XLIX.
The average cost for 30 seconds during the Big Game worked out to about $4.5 million.
Here’s a look at which companies did it best, and which ones fumbled.
These were some of the best:
Procter & Gamble (IW 500/14) made a big impact if you were keeping up on social media. The company continued its #LikeAGirl campaign with a spot directed by documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield for Always feminine products.
Candy maker Mars had one of the night’s favorite commercials, using a very special episode of the Brady Bunch to push Snickers.
Budweiser didn’t venture too far away from past efforts, using their signature Clydesdale horses and in this case a puppy to tug at the heart strings. And while the company has done it before, it does it the best.
Playing It Safe
U.S. car mat manufacturer WeatherTech played it safe, giving viewers a behind the scenes look at how they make their product, while talking up the fact that it’s “Made in the U.S.A.”
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman (IW 500/47) made a rare television appearance. Its futuristic-looking spot showed off the YB-35, B-2 bomber and X-47B aircrafts while teasing the next generation Air Force bomber.
Fumbled But No Turnover
An ad during the Super Bowl doesn't necessarily have to be good to be effective, just memorable. These are a few that weren't either.
Loctite, the maker of chemical adhesives, made its first Super Bowl appearance and dropped just about its entire ad budget to do so. The spot featuring dancing do-it-yourselfers and seemed to come a bit unglued.
Coke (IW 500/28) wants everyone to believe not only will their soda make you smile, it can do the impossible, and make the Internet a nice place. Just don’t try this at home.
Frito-Lay again left it up to customers to come up with their Super Bowl ads. It was the ninth year in a row for the user-submitted contest and probably one of the weakest.
Questionable Play Calling
Intimate details of foot fungus and a tired premise of flying pork make the following commercials very forgettable.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals used a boxing toe to talk feet and its foot fungus medication Jublia. And like most pharmaceutical ads, most of it dealt with the side effects.
Viewers had a love-hate take on mobile device battery maker Mophie’s ad predicting the end of the world because God didn’t use their product.
Shoemaker Sketchers took an interesting approach to push its relaxed fit shoes. It used banned baseball player Pete Rose, and joked about his exclusion from baseball’s hall of fame.
