The 2019 NFL season is kicking off this weekend, so we’re looking back at our favorite Super Bowl commercials from Super Bowl 53.
The 2019 NFL season has just kicked off this weekend, but here at Dog O’Day we’re looking back at our favorite Super Bowl commercials from Super Bowl 53. While obviously we were far more interested in Puppy Bowl XV earlier in the day, the biggest game of the year wasn’t bad, as the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in a defensive battle.
For the most part the commercials were entirely forgettable, or what is possibly even worse, otherwise just dumb. But there were a handful of ads featuring dogs in some capacity, some even starring canines, so that somewhat made up for it.
The folks at Thrilist tallied up 51 ads during the game itself, and ranked them appropriately, not counting ads shown during the pre- or postgame shows, or teaser ads run online in the runup to the big game itself.
Mercedes-Benz
What it’s for: The Mercedes A-Class
What happens: A man has the ability to make the world bend according to his wishes, which he uses for good. Among the highlights: He causes golfer Rickie Fowler to make a key putt, a lost cat go back home, makes a random person’s parking ticket disappear, frees the orca Willy, makes a boring opera exciting, helps Wile E Coyote catch the Roadrunner, and gets Lassie the Collie to help an elevator full of trapped people.
How can he do this? Because his Mercedes A-Class car has voice controls that obey his whims, meaning that he can do things like make an ATM fling money out haphazardly into the street.
What we thought of it: This premise is highly concerning, because of the likelihood that mayhem and chaos would ensue from using it for nefarious purposes, even if the intention behind acts like tearing up the parking ticket and the ATM were good.
It could make for a good movie, though – can he control these powers? Would they disappear if the car were totaled?
We rate it this low because Lassie was just thrown in there for no reason, and even given how fantastic (in a fantasy sense) this world is, she wouldn’t have that kind of rapport with a random thirtysomething rich city dude. Besides, Wile E Coyote loose in the real world is just asking for all kinds of trouble.
Mint Mobile
What it’s for: Mint Mobile
What happens: A chunky-style milk is pitched in this satiric ad, complete with an idyllic family breakfast with a generically-pretty mom, a suit-wearing dad, and their teenage daughter. “That’s just not right,” a man watching the commercial frowns, which is where the actual ad part of the spot begins.
What we thought of it: While it’s cool that they have a glasses-wearing fox as a mascot, a cell phone provider that claims to offer bills of $20 per month just sounds too good to be true, especially if the general public has never heard of the company in their lives. A somewhat bland satirical ad probably isn’t the best introduction strategy, either.
The man watching the ad we just watched (who is still inside the ad viewers are watching) was too jarring a transition to be effective, and sorting out the tangles of that timeline forces viewers to overanalyze the spot way too much, killing what humor there was to be found in it in the first place.
Also, lumps in milk would mean it was amazingly spoiled if it were the standard pasteurized kind sold in grocery stores, as it is, coming from the paper carton container. If it were raw milk from goats or cows, those lumps are whey, which appear naturally, and can be turned into cheese.
Another strike against this commercial itself and the chunky milk concept specifically – while it’s very healthy, raw goat’s milk tastes very gross. (Wesley’s family raised dairy goats for several years.)
Budweiser
What it’s for: Budweiser
What happens: With her ears flapping, April the Budweiser Dalmatian rides regally atop a wagon full of beer pulled by eight of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales through a wheat field during the Golden Hour just before sunset while in the distance viewers can see giant windmills capturing wind energy. A bouncy pleasant acoustic guitar melody (with a fairly high capo setting to raise the key a few steps) accompanies the beautiful imagery and camerawork.
What we thought of it: There’s a little too much CGI, but the camerawork is masterful, the image is beautiful, and the music is amazing. And April the Dalmatian looks like she’s having the time of her life, and what’s better than seeing a dog love what they do? In this case, guarding a beer wagon through a landscape from Field of Dreams.
The implication of the importance of wind energy is also nice, subtly emphasizing its importance while not hammering home a point that could quickly turn divisive (unlike the rest of the beers that got into squabbles on social media in the week following).
This ad scored in the favorites of our sister site FoodSided. Interestingly, there is no dialogue whatsoever in this spot, which made it a welcome change of pace for Super Bowl commercials.
Amazon
What it’s for: Amazon Alexa
What happens: As an Amazon engineer explains, Harrison Ford and his Boston Terrier demonstrate one of the failed experiments in the ever-expanding line of Alexa technologies – a dog collar doesn’t work very well. Ford’s dog barks continually, which Alexa interprets as repeated orders for dog food, gravy and sausages, while Ford complains that he isn’t paying for all those extra snacks.
Other Alexa things that didn’t go so well include a toothbrush that plays podcasts and a hot tub that synchronizes water and light displays with music. The spot ends with a delivery truck dropping off at least eight 50-pound sacks of dog food in front of Ford’s house.
What we thought of it: This ad technically ran after the game was over, but it still counts by our rankings, and our quick recap is one of the biggest articles in pageviews in the site’s history.
Who doesn’t like Harrison Ford in anything? This really made the commercial in our opinion, and given the ever-expanding list of Alexa products, most of which seem unnecessary, it was cool to see Amazon is able to laugh at itself.
WeatherTech
What it’s for: WeatherTech PetComfort
What happens: A Golden Retriever wanders through the WeatherTech factory where they make a variety of vehicle floor mats and other car accessories while an impressive-sounding narrator talks about the company’s commitment to excellence and pleasant piano music plays in the background.
Suddenly, the dogs uses a cool Mission: Impawsible style paw scanner to access a hidden elevator into a basement level where the WeatherTech PetComfort feeding system is being developed and tested by a variety of humans and canines, respectively.
What we thought of it: To begin with, it has a Golden Retriever, so that’s hard to to top. Then there’s the low-key feel overall of the spot, with the obvious bit of high-tech gadgetry in the paw scanner amidst all the complicated machines at the factory.
Secondly, who knew that WeatherTech had a line of pet products? This was an extremely effective spot.
Avocados From Mexico
What it’s for: Avocados…from Mexico.
What happens: Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked) is the judge of a dog show…run by dogs, where the humans are put through various ridiculous poses and outfits? We’re pretty sure that has nothing to do with how they actually work in real life…
Dogs put humans through their paces, including sitting, rolling over (taxes), which the humans willingly agree to in order to get the yummy guacamole. There’s even a Pug or French Bulldog sideline correspondent in Charles.
That’s not even mentioning the woman wearing the super-embarrassing Cone of Shame, or a Gandalf-like man who wins Best in Show. And then Kristin makes fun of her cohost’s extra-refined British accent, annoying him.
What we thought of it: While not quite as entertaining as the teaser ads were in the lead-up to Super Bowl 53, this wins our favorite of the doggy Super Bowl commercials for how creative and detailed this ad was. There were about a half-dozen dogs at least, along with all the humans and extensive wardrobe department.
While it makes sense as a Super Bowl spot, since more avocados are consumed on that day than any other, it’s still a little strange that they Avocados From Mexico chose to use dogs to sell their product, since in real life avocados are highly poisonous to dogs.
What were your favorite Super Bowl 53 commercials? Did you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments, and see here if you’d be interested in writing for us.