Super Bowl 53 will go down as one of the least exciting and lowest scoring games in Super Bowl history. So you could say the commercials were more interesting, but that's not saying much.
Overall, this year's crop was uneventful, just like the game. Companies brought more of the funny and creative starting in the second quarter, but then the quality dipped again. Politics and celebrity cameos were down, robots were in.
Fewer companies released their ads online before the game . . . maybe they finally realized it hurts the impact of the commercial to leak it BEFORE the Super Bowl. The upshot is that more of them felt like a surprise.
Here's what stood out, in no particular order. Remember . . . $5 million for 30 seconds.
1. T-Mobile ran with a series of ads about awkward texting moments. They were short, funny, captured current communication problems we can all relate to, and had great music choices.
2. Bud Light went with their medieval theme, and busted on Miller Lite and Coors Light for using corn syrup in their recipes.
Then they surprised everyone by turning the second ad in the series into an actual promo for " Game of Thrones " . There was an appearance by the character 'the Mountain,' and one of the dragons, with the level of CGI you expect from the show.
3. Audi got some buzz with their commercial about a guy's near-death experience, where he sees the future of electric cars . . . then realizes he's just choking on a cashew. It was funny, but the message was that a third of Audi's new cars will be electric by 2025. That's six years from now. Get excited?
4. Amazon went with the celebrity cameo thing, and had FOREST WHITAKER and HARRISON FORD using products that didn't make the cut. Not all of it worked. In Harrison Ford's case, his dog had a collar that ordered from Alexa, and bought tons of dog food. They should have just stuck with that part. Keep it simple.