Everyone loves a great Super Bowl commercial. Best and worst commercials of all time. Let’s gooo!
Every year, for better or for worse, we are treated to some over-the-top ads from the world’s biggest companies and businesses.
Here are the 5 best Super Bowl commercials of all time and the five absolute worst.
Best: Joe Greene’s “Hey Kid, Catch!”
How else were we going to start off this list?
The “Mean” Joe Greene 1979 Coca-Cola commercial set the golden standard for what a Super Bowl ad is all about. This remains the crown jewel of NFL advertisements more than four decades later.
Short, simple, to the point and heartwarming. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ icon suffers an injury during a game and is shown limping through the tunnel. A young boy tries cheering Greene up by telling him he’s the best ever, while offering his bottle of Coke.
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After multiple pleas, Greene reluctantly accepts the drink. He then returns the favor by throwing the kid his game-worn jersey, and uttering the most memorable line in Super Bowl commercial history!
If this wasn’t wholesome enough for you, Greene and Tommy Okon – who played the young fan – reunited for Super Bowl 50.
Also, if you want further evidence as to how legendary this commercial really is? Well for starters, it has its own Wikipedia page! And secondly, “Hey Kid, Catch!” has been parodied aplenty over the past four decades, including in popular American sitcoms like “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy”, “Futurama” and more.
The commercial was also parodied 30 years later for another Super Bowl ad, this time for “Coca Cola Zero Calories”.
For Super Bowl 43 between the Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, Troy Polamalu played the injured player who was offered a free coca-cola from a young man.
Two Coke “brand managers” then snatch the bottle away from Polamalu, but he manages to tackle the thief. Then, instead of giving the fan his jersey, Polamalu tosses the kid the thief’s dress shirt.
Hey, you know a commercial did pretty well when it’s still making its mark over 40 years later.
Worst: Puppy Monkey Baby
Ugh. How did this make it to the networks?
For the milestone 50th Super Bowl game, Mountain Dew ran its cringeworthy “Puppy Monkey Baby” ad. The title speaks for itself: It’s a baby-sized body with a puppy’s head to go along with a monkey’s tail and torso.
WARNING: This ad comes with one of those annoying songs that you may not be able to get out of your head for a few days
Seriously, though… What the heck did I just watch? This was truly an shameful way to honor 50 years of Super Bowl history. The people at Mountain Dew should be ashamed of themselves. Who would have ever thought that they could make a commercial that actually 10 times worse than their drink?
But are you ready for the most shocking part of all???
According to iSpot.Tv, Puppy Monkey Baby performed better than any other Super Bowl 50 add online, attracting over 2 million viewers and over 300,000 social actions.
How that’s possible? I have absolutely no idea.
Best: Betty White Snickers
The universally beloved and adored Betty White passed away on Dec. 31, 2021 – just 18 days before what would have been her milestone 100th birthday.
Gone, but never forgotten. White’s contributions to the film industry cannot be emphasized enough. She never lost her sense of humor, and she never got tired of working.
Then 88 years of age, White starred in a 30-second Snickers commercial for Super Bowl 44 between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. Playing off the whole “You’re not you when you’re hungry”, the ad shows a group of friends playing pickup football on a muddy field.
White single-handedly made this commercial a timeless classic. And she only needed two short lines to make it happen.
After White’s passing, the Snickers commercial resurfaced and continued to go viral around the internet and social media. The success and popularity of the commercial led to plenty of calls for White to host Saturday Night Live—and the calls were answered, as she did just that later on in the year.
Worst: Jay Leno Doritos
This one was just lame, corny and not funny at all.
Legendary American comedian and late night TV show host Jay Leno has done a lot right in his life. We can tell you that much.
Leno did a series of Doritos’ commercials throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Most of them were rather humorous, creative and got to the point of advertising the product. His 1987 “Cool Ranch” ad is a classic, and who can forget his 1984 “Game Show” hit?
But if there’s one notable blemish on his entertainment career, it’s this cringeworthy 15-second Doritos’ commercial that aired during Super Bowl 24 between the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos.
Leno reads a fan letter in which the writer asks if football players make too much money. What follows is a Joker-like laugh that is un-Leno-like…and just plain awkward!
We’ll tell you this: The best part of the commercial was that it was only 15 seconds long!
Hey, when you’re doing so many ads for one specific product over all those years, we suppose one of them is bound to disappoint. Leno mostly hit the jackpot with Doritos, but why oh why did they waste all that money on this terrible Super Bowl ad?
Super Bowl 24 was one of the worst in the big game’s history. The 49ers blew out John Elway’s squad 55 to 10, to clinch their fourth Super Bowl. So maybe Leno’s Doritos ad wasn’t the worst part of the evening after all…although I guess that’s still debatable, depending on who you ask.
Best: Eli Manning & Odell Beckham Jr.’s Dirty Dancing
Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. were one of the NFL’s most dynamic duos of the 2010s. They spent five seasons together with the New York Giants from 2014 to 2018, but the entertainment of these two went far beyond the gridiron.
For Super Bowl 52 between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots in 2018, OBJ and the younger Manning brother starred in a hilarious 60-second “Dirty Dancing” inspired commercial, with the Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes hit song “The Time of my Life” blasting on the speakers.
The Giants just HAD to trade Beckham in 2019 and end this partnership early, huh?
Looking back now, the commercial is even greater considering the apparent drama that was going on behind the scenes. You’ve probably heard all the reports about OBJ being difficult to work with and clashing with teammates and coaches in the Meadowlands.
Well, even if the relationship between Eli and Beckham soured over time, we oughta thank them for at least getting along in this Super Bowl ad.
As if Patriots fans weren’t already irritated by Eli’s appearance during the Super Bowl…the Eagles went on to beat New England 41 to 33 in that game!
Peyton Manning may be the best actor in the Manning family, but as we saw here, Eli really isn’t half-bad himself! Here’s hoping after Beckham’s playing career, we see him and Eli team up for a Dirty Dancing sequel.
Worst: GM Robot
For Super Bowl 41 between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, General Motors ran an ad to promote their 100,000-mile warranties.
The ad depicted a robot accidentally dropping a screw that was supposed to go on a vehicle in the GM factory. The robot’s co-workers angrily stare him down, and the tiny mishap leads to the robot getting fired.
The robot is then seen looking for new career alternatives, but gaining no luck whatsoever. So the robot decides to take its own life by falling into the water. But wait! There’s a twist! It was only a dream, and the robot is seen back at its job, like nothing had happened.
As you could understand, the depiction of suicide led to plenty of backlash for GM. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention pushed for the commercial to be pulled, and GM officials agreed to remove the portion of the ad.
If anyone should have been “fired” at GM, how about the people who thought that this ad would be a good idea? The commercial reportedly cost General Motors $5 million. They were better off flushing that money down the toilet.
Super Bowl 41 was undoubtedly one of the best Super Bowl games ever as far as commercials go. Bud Light and Doritos hit the jackpot that year. GM should have just taken a back seat and saved themselves the money and the embarrassment.
Best: Apple’s “1984”
This was a game-changing time for humanity and technology.
Super Bowl 18 between Washington and the Los Angeles Raiders was far from thrilling. The underdog Raiders blew out the Washington squad 38 to 9.
But millions of viewers were treated to something even more important than a football game: The introduction of the new Apple Macintosh personal computer.
All those viewers were brought to a whole new world that would change technology forever. Back in the ‘80s, commercials like this were never seen.
The ad was subsequently named to the Clio’s Hall of Fame. In 1999, TV Guide named it the greatest commercial of all-time.
Much like the aforementioned “Mean” Joe Greene commercial, Apple’s 1984 advertisement has been frequently spoofed. Perhaps the best and most well-known parody was done by Epic Games – the developer of the Fortnite series. They ran a commercial called a “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite”, which was a clear reference to “1984.”
Worst: Nationwide’s “Dead Kid”
This one is beyond words. Who in their minds thought this would be a clever and well-received commercial?
Nationwide ran the “Dead Kid” ad for Super Bowl 49 in 2015. And to say that it left millions of viewers around the world feeling a little uneasy would be an understatement.
Think about it: You’re trying to enjoy the big game, when a commercial comes on featuring a little boy talking about all the things he missed out on in life…because he died!
Seriously…what the heck, Nationwide?
Nationwide was forced to write a statement, but it did not even feature an apology. Rather, the company simply defended the commercial and its purpose.
Best: McDonald’s “The Showdown” With Michael Jordan & Larry Bird
In 1993, NBA Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Larry Bird took center stage in a McDonald’s Big Mac ad.
“The Showdown” starts off with Bird challenging MJ to a shooting contest. The winner gets Jordan’s Big Mac, and the loser is forced to watch the other eat it. They agree to no-dunking, and the epic shootout commences.
The two men go trick shot for trick shot throughout, with the winner of “The Showdown” to be determined. But it sure leaves us craving a Big Mac!
The GOAT and Bird had so many unforgettable on-court showdowns throughout their Hall of Fame careers .But there’s a case to be made that their McDonald’s Super Bowl ad was by far the most entertaining moment of their rivalry.
Worst: Miller Lite Evil Beaver
Have you ever seen one of those movies where they try so hard to be funny, but it ends up being just downright horrible from start to finish?… Like, say, anything from Adam Sandler in the 21st century?
Well, this Miller Lite’s 1998 “Evil Beaver” ad has plenty of Sandler-21st-century-like qualities to it.
To their credit, Miller Lite has delivered plenty of gems over the years. But we wish they had a magical way of erasing this one from all of our memories’ forever:
Who comes up with this stuff? What does this even have to do with beer? Do they honestly pay people to come up with this crap?
Not only was this one of the worst commercials in Super bowl history, but it’s also one of the all time worst ads in television history. PERIOD!
