Every year millions of Americans sit around and root for two teams they don’t really care about. Why exactly? For the commercials!
After a long arduous process, involving several Skittles-like arm-wrestling matches, The Workprint staff have finally settled on the best Super Bowl commercials of 2015.
Clash of Clan featuring Liam Neeson
Nicole – Super Bowl ads were utterly underwhelming this year with the exception of Liam Neeson in Clash of Clans. Going into an intense “Taken” monologue after being defeated in a video game he is then interrupted by the barista mispronouncing his name. Thank you Clash of Clans for hilariously making fun of Liam Neeson in his slew of recent action movies.
Jen – By far the best commercial from Superbowl XLIV was the one for LSD. I mean, dancing palm trees and sharks with hips that don’t lie, where do I sign up? It would be so awesome to have beach balls singing about–wait, what? That wasn’t an ad? They weren’t promoting drug use at the Halftime Show?
*ahem*
By far the (second) best commercial from Superbowl XLIV was the promo for Taken 4, starring Liam Neeson. After successfully rescuing his entire family over the course of three movies, Liam has decided to settle down and play a game on his phone, only that’s when things take a dire turn. Soon, his entire clan is torn asunder and AngryNeeson55 goes on a rampage for revenge. Can’t wait to watch this movie!
Esurance featuring Bryan Cranston
Erin – The best and most memorable Super Bowl commercials cater to pop culture’s collective consciousness and soft spot for nostalgia, often blending contemporary marketing innovation with old-school classics. Snickers scored with its technically impressive and comedically airtight Brady Bunchriff, while early-aughts hip-hop diva Missy Elliott single-handedly overshadowed current pop princess Katy Perry’s halftime extravaganza in a matter of seconds. However, one of the night’s most talked-about moments proved audiences are always ready for a comeback, even when what we’re missing hasn’t been gone for very long.
Cue Esurance’s shrewdly timed spot featuring perennial good sport and class act Bryan Cranston reprising his role as “pharmaceuticals” expert Walter White. The ad’s premise caters brilliantly to Breaking Bad fans who remain largely insatiable for any reference to the acclaimed drama since its 2013 departure, and helps set peripheral groundwork for AMC’s upcoming spin-off Better Call Saul.Sporting his trademark hazmat gear, gravelly voice and piercing stare, Cranston’s “Sorta Greg” actually went full Heisenberg and the bit wouldn’t have worked with anything less.
The pharmacy’s weary customer might have succumbed to Sorta Greg’s intimidation tactics rather begrudgingly, but viewers took their medicine like a spoonful of sugar. The only thing missing from the prescription was Jesse Pinkman’s enthusiastic “Yeah, bitch!”, but the sentiment still echoed loud and clear.
Snickers – “The Brady Bunch”
Keith – Snickers has been on an absolute roll for the last five years with it’s celebrity-laden commercial campaign that has over the years featured the likes of Aretha Franklin, Robin Williams, and Betty White amongst others. But for this year’s Superb Owl, they’ve gone completely meta, and as a result knocked it out of the park.
Their newest spot is a scene from one of the most iconic episodes of The Brady Bunch, in which Marsha gets hit in the nose with Peter’s football. Robert Reed and Florence Henderson are there…and so is Danny Trejo. Now we’re not in some semblance of reality, in which all other Snickers commercials are based, but we have crossed over into TV, which immediately ups the celebrity ante. Trejo is hilarious in full ‘Machete’ mode as he bemoans his injured schnoz to Carol and Mike, who suggest that she chill out and eat a Snickers bar. She does, and classically turns back into her old self, but the button at the end which sends it over the edge is Jan, perched atop the stairs screaming “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”, only Jan is so upset and un-Snickersed that she’s turned into Steve Buscemi. It’s fucking amazing and the only thing missing is Nicholas Cage. Maybe in the next one he can play Tiger the Dog…
Furious 7 Trailer
Bilal – There was a time before every commercial ended up on Youtube before the Super Bowl when people couldn’t help but be pumped for movie spots shown during the big game. Last night, no movie trailer brought it quite like the Furious 7 trailer. I’ve already gone into detail on crazy it is here. Furious 7 will be Paul Walker’s last theatrical debut and it looks like the franchise will be sure to honor his memory with the most batshit crazy movie yet.
