Press "Enter" to skip to content

Super Bowl XLIII

The Best and Worst Commercials

Everyone has a friend who claims he or she doesn’t care about the Super Bowl. 
He or she is above such petty entertainment as football and scoffs at the idea that anyone should view what is possibly the most-watched event in American sports.
And yet this person can always be found at a Super Bowl party, intently watching the TV. Why?
There are two answers. First, he or she could just be a drunk. Or, second, this person will say “I watch it for the commercials.”
We all had our favorite Super Bowl commercials, but which of these million dollar ads failed to be entertaining or persuasive in the slightest? 
We compiled the three best and worst Super Bowl ads that left the wallets of the companies much lighter and left viewers angry at their TV.
TOP 3 WORST
1. Vizio
If you saw this commercial, it instructs the viewer to look down to the logo of the company that makes his or her TV. 
It says that if it doesn’t say Vizio, you probably paid too much for it. 
Suggesting the consumer is uninformed and unintelligible when it comes to purchasing even the most common of household items is a very poor way to swing people over to your side. 
This was a horrendous commercial.
2. Hyundai 
This commercial shows a bunch of angry business people from different car companies yelling at their employees about how they failed to create a car superior to the competition. 
It says it won “North American Car of the Year” and that’s about it. It also tells the viewer they are unable to say the name of the company, which insults the viewer’s intelligence. 
It ends with the ultra-catchy slogan “Its Hyundai, like Sunday.” 
Whoever came up with that one needs to be fired. 
One of the dumbest commercials I have ever witnessed.
3. SoBe
This has got to be the biggest waste of $2 million I have ever seen in my entire life. This commercial features a bunch of NFL players dancing around for some reason, and then one of them is drinking SoBe, and then a lizard gets a sip and then a magical dance party erupts from the unknown. 
There are bugs and aliens and bad music and I have never been so confused in my entire life. 
Whatever awful drug the creators of SoBe put in that beverage, I hope it stays far away from me. 
What was the thought process behind that commercial? Let’s take SoBe, Ray Lewis, a classic song and dance, bugs, lizards and some kind of techno and mash it all into one, to give the viewer a tumor or seizures.
TOP 3 BEST
1. Cash4Gold
I’ll be honest. When this commercial began, all I saw was an old man telling me to send my gold in a dubious attempt to get trifling amounts of cash for the most valuable things I own. However, the appearance of Ed McMahon, shortly followed by M.C. Hammer turned thiscommercial from worst to best in my book during the course of seonds.
Ed McMahon sent in a goldgiraffe, a gold cannon, a gold hip replacement and a gold toilet. MC Hammer sold a gold medallion of himself wearing a gold medallion! 
Though I have no gold to melt down, this commercial made me laugh hard enough for it to earn a slot in the list.
2. Teleflora
I had no idea what Teleflora was when I saw this ad.  
I don’t have much use for florists or the idea that sending the wrong flowers makes me a bad person. But I do love seeing people get insulted, and those flowers were GOOD! 
Seriously, when that wisecracking bouquet told poor 
Diane no one wants to see 
her naked, I almost lost it.
3. Doritos
This commercial was an M. Night Shyamalan-esque road of twists and turns. 
But the payoff was great. 
First, the magic chips took off a woman’s clothes. Underhanded, sex-based marketing, but she was hot, so I guess I get it.
Then, the magic chips made an ATM vomit money. Relieved that it wasn’t just an Axe ripoff where every woman is naked for a man with the right body spray, I eagerly awaited the next twist. 
Then a cop turned into a monkey. Now, I rebel as much as any young person, but I still think the media should respect the law. 
Then, he ran out of Doritos, and I was left on edge as to what happens next. BOOM! Run over by a bus. Fearing for my life, I immediately began eating Doritos.
This has been our list of the three best and worst Super Bowl commercials of 2009. I hope you enjoyed them, or in some cases, didn’t break your TV sets in rage or confusion (or a SoBe-induced seizure).
Copyright © 2023, The Scout, Bradley University. All rights reserved.
The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.