The Monday after the Super Bowl you get to go on the Web to watch an ad that is the price of admission to still more ads, the Super Bowl commercials generating water-cooler buzz that you might have missed or want to see again.
It’s a great country, isn’t it?
Monday is also when we sum up how all those oh-so-expensive ads did, according to the various popular and critical ratings that exist.
While there was general agreement that the advertisers played it safe this year, leaning heavily on celebrities and attempts at humor after some failed bids at sincerity last year, the ads that people actually liked and disliked show a fair bit of variation.
People mostly liked the Heinz wiener dogs and Avocados from Mexico spots and mostly disliked Mountain (or Mtn, as the company now has it) Dew’s lapdancing Puppymonkeybaby creature, but there was disagreement even on them.
And while the winners of Doritos’ annual make-us-an-ad contest scored huge in USA Today’s Ad Meter, a popular vote, they were near the bottom in the rankings by the critic for AdAge, a trade publication.
Here is a sampling of the five ads ranked best and worst, including mine for the Tribune:
AdAge
High five: Mtn Dew, Puppymonkeybaby; Toyota (Prius), The Longest Chase; Avocados from Mexico, #AvosinSpace; Budweiser, Not Backing Down; Hyundai, Ryanville (Ryan Reynolds)
Low five: Doritos, Ultrasound; SunTrust Bank, Hold Your Breath; Doritos, Dogs; AstraZeneca, Opioid Constipation; Buick, Wedding
USA Today Ad Meter
High five: Hyundai, First Date (Kevin Hart); Heinz, Wiener Stampede; Doritos, Ultrasound; Doritos, Dogs; Hyundai, Ryanville
Low five: Valeant, Jublia (toenail fungus); Valeant, Xifaxan (GI distress); Persil ProClean, The Professional; AstraZeneca, Opioid Constipation; Squarespace, Successes (Key and Peele)
High five: Heinz, Wiener Stampede; Honda, A New Truck to Love; Bud Light, Bud Light Party; Audi, The Commander; Avocados from Mexico, #AvosinSpace
Low five: LG, Man from the Future; AstraZeneca, Opioid Constipation; Mtn Dew, Puppymonkeybaby; Snickers, Marilyn; Marmot, Love the Outside
Washington Post
High five: T-Mobile, Restricted Bling (Drake); Audi, The Commander; Heinz, Wiener Stampede; Bud Light, Bud Light Party; Avocados from Mexico, #AvosinSpace
Low five: Marmot, Love the Outside; Toyota (Prius), The Longest Chase; Bai, Horse Whisperer; Valeant, Xifaxan; Valeant, Jubila
AdWeek
High five: Jeep, Portraits; T-Mobile, Restricted Bling; Audi, The Commander; Heinz, Wiener Stampede; Doritos, Ultrasound
Low five: LG, Man from the Future; Budweiser, #GiveaDamn (Helen Mirren); Fitbit, Dualities; T-Mobile, Drop the Balls (Steve Harvey); Advil, Distant Memory.
