The Super Bowl is a snack-laden occasion for many Americans, so it makes sense that nearly one-third of the commercials that aired during Super Bowl LVIII were advertising food and beverages. Many of this year’s spots were produced by brands that had never undertaken a Super Bowl ad before, and the evening was largely defined by that eagerness to impress. What follows is our ranking of every food and drink commercial from Sunday night’s broadcast, from worst to best.
“Mr. P”
Dan Harmon’s podcast once described the age-old screenwriting mistake dubbed The Monopoly Guy—that is, the writer can’t manufacture a comedic setup and then wring a punchline out of simply pointing it out to the viewer. That’s what this Chris Pratt Pringles ad is: one big Monopoly Guy. The “joke” here is that Pratt, seen in the commercial sporting an early 20th century mustache he’s never sported before in his life up to this point, “looks like the Pringles guy.” This notion then takes hold across social media, with millions of fans weighing in, until Pratt’s agent lands him the role of the Pringles guy in a Pringles biopic. For this to be funny, all sorts of conditions must be met: You have to think Chris Pratt is charming; you have to believe that he has, or would ever, walk around with such a mustache IRL; and you have to consider it plausible that millions of people on social media would enjoy a discussion of Chris Pratt/Chris Pratt’s facial hair. Pringles, you’ve done way better than this before.
This is the worst type of Super Bowl ad—even worse than the ones that spend millions on bad CGI and hackneyed celebrity cameos. It’s a nicely scaled-down concept, with normal customers all tasting Pizza Hut’s new Hot Honey Pizza and Wings for the first time… only to exclaim “Pizza Wha-Huuuuuut?!” after taking a bite. It’s repeated six times throughout the 30-second spot, as if to drill the cursed phrase into our frontal lobe for all time, a tryhard version of Budweiser’s “Wassup?” for the 2020s.
“Almost Champions Ring of Comfort”
Once again, M&M’s seems primarily concerned with wedging a big marketing gimmick into its Super Bowl ad spot when all we really need is a fun 30-second diversion between plays. Former NFL quarterback Dan Marino’s broad appeal holds an otherwise anticlimactic ad together as he floats the concept of a diamond ring made for the “almost champions” out there, forged from the peanut butter center of an M&M and polished “with the sighs of those who almost won a Super Bowl.” It’s mildly funny, but it seems to be directing us toward some sort of…sweepstakes? Contest? Something involving an actual ring? And yet, having poked around the website and read the press release about the ad, I still can’t figure out if the ring is something that exists. That’s the sign of an ad trying to do Too Much.
“Mayo Cat”
This ad takes a simple premise—that a cat’s “meow” sort of sounds like “mayo”—and proceeds to ratchet it up to exhausting heights. Kate McKinnon is amazed when her cat suggests that “mayo” will save her leftovers (Hellmann’s slogan is “Make Taste Not Waste”), and the duo go on a whirlwind press tour that launches the so-called talking cat to international fame. The cat’s 15 minutes don’t last, of course, and McKinnon quips to the washed-up cat that “you lasted longer than most” before mugging directly to the camera. We’ve gotten way better celebrity-stuffed spots from Hellmann’s before, featuring Amy Schumer, Jon Hamm, and Brie Larson. It sounds ridiculous to say this, but by focusing more on the cat than the mayonnaise, Hellmann’s loses the thread.
Martin Lawrence eats Oikos; Martin Lawrence is strong enough to lift a golf cart out of the water and hurl it back onto the green as former NFL player Shannon Sharpe and his so-called “show muscles” stand idly by. That’s it—that’s the ad. We would never have made it through a televised event in 2024 without being reminded of the awesome protein-packed power of some sort of snack, and yogurt brand Oikos chose to take up that torch with a funny little spot that leaves a mark.
“It’s Time to See Other Sodas”
It was an objectively savvy move for this Gen Z–focused lemon-lime soda to align itself with Gen Z icon Ice Spice in its first-ever Super Bowl ad. However, as we saw with the debut of the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink at Dunkin’ last year, the rapper probably won’t be up for any acting awards anytime soon. Ice Spice is pretty wooden in her delivery as she sits between animated Starry mascots Lem and Lime, explaining that she has moved on from her lemon-lime ex-boyfriend (personified as an emotionally crushed man spewing soda from his head like a geyser). It’s not all that interesting an ad spot, but it’s nice to see a Super Bowl commercial that doesn’t feel the need to be as big as a Michael Bay action film. In that one small way, this ad was, like Starry itself, refreshing.
Whether or not you enjoy this commercial will depend entirely on your tolerance for Dr. Umstick, the ice cream mascot that looks like a character from Team America: World Police and has a sultry vibe that brings a weird amount of sexiness to an otherwise juvenile treat. In this spot, comedian Eric André plays an airline passenger in medical distress, and Dr. Umstick prescribes—what else?—a Drumstick ice cream cone. But he actually prescribes them to everyone else on board the aircraft, with pilots and passengers digging into the treats with gusto as André suffers. At the risk of overanalyzing something intended only to be silly, I’m a little frustrated by the hat-on-a-hat nature of this ad featuring an anachronistic puppet with a nonexistent surname failing to treat a patient because he is “not a body doctor.” André brings the only comedy worth its price tag here.
This commercial isn’t trying to be funny, or clever, or extreme, or sentimental. Instead, it takes a radically lighthearted approach, offering viewers a cute little ride through some gorgeous cityscapes and vistas as a LINDOR Truffle catches a song on the wind, zooming past dozens of happy folks enjoying their moment of sweet indulgence. Lindt might have just succeeded in creating the least controversial ad of all time.
“There’s no substitute for real.” Bodyarmor, a Coca-Cola-owned sports drink, has made a rather earnest ad about the power of “real” in a world of artificial intelligence. It begins with ostensibly AI-generated images of athletes, which eventually give way to undeniably genuine ones. This hits all the beats you’d expect of a sports drink spot while also serving as a timely commentary on modern technology.
“It’s me, America’s Sweetheart,” Aubrey Plaza deadpans at the start of this 30-second spot, and her expression doesn’t get much more expressive from there. We see Plaza in various burdensome scenarios where she’s having “a blast,” thanks to the titular soft drink. She’s funny as the straight-faced protagonist—and she’s so good at it, in fact, that by the time we see her riding a dragon alongside Nick Offerman (soooooooo random, right?!), you realize that the more down-to-earth scenes are actually the funniest ones. The montage is best when it’s more grounded—literally.
The beloved candy brand announced its new Big Cup Caramel product in the loudest way possible: with a roomful of people screaming in both agony and joy. Will Arnett’s voiceover breaks the fourth wall to announce “big changes” to Reese’s, which causes a crowd of Super Bowl party attendees to panic, run around, and smash their heads into the wall. Arnett then clarifies that the change is a good one: a ribbon of caramel added under the chocolate coating of the Reese’s. The partygoers then begin cheering, only to revert to chaos when Arnett clarifies the Big Cup Caramel a limited-time-only item. It’s the same comedic whiplash The Simpsons made full use of in early seasons, though I can’t decide whether this commercial is more like the classic “frogurt” scene or more like the classic triple bypass one.
“Big Game Commercial ft. Addison Rae”
This is not only the Nerds brand’s first Super Bowl ad in its four-decade history, but also the first Super Bowl ad its parent company, Ferrara, has ever been involved with. This inaugural spot aims for a mixture of cute, funny, and just a tiny bit bizarre—a pretty good balance for something broadcast to 100 million people. A CGI gummy creature that almost looks like a cross between the Kool-Aid Man and a Kewpie doll dances a Flashdance-esque routine, but instead of having a bucket of water poured atop its head, a bucket of anthropomorphic Nerds candies rain down from above, adhering to the creature’s body and forming a Nerds Gummy Cluster. The spot is bookended by TikTok celebrity Addison Rae (a dancer herself) eating the candy and winking at the camera. But honestly, the gummy monster steals the show.
“Imagine a world where the twist of an OREO could change everything. Literally everything.”
“Twist on it.” With this refrain, Oreo wants to establish itself as the key to all difficult decision-making, the 2024 equivalent of flipping a coin. The ad brilliantly capitalizes on the scientifically proven fact that Oreo creme tends to stick to one cookie more than the other, and it’ll probably inspire some real-life instances of people “twisting” to determine which path to take in life. Everything about this commercial, from its cameos to its cartoonishly elaborate set pieces (Ancient Troy, UFOs, Mount Olympus), screams “Super Bowl ad.” But the perfunctory inclusion of Kris Jenner halts the momentum of this otherwise propulsive spot.
How do they do it? How do Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck agree to do the most objectively square thing they’ve ever done—a Dunkin’ ad in which Affleck assembles a star-studded, tracksuit-rocking, Dunkin’-obsessed boy band to audition for J.Lo’s latest album—and leave us begrudgingly charmed by it all? When I first saw the ad running on mute, I wanted to pull my hair out, especially given the Tom Brady cameo. But on second viewing, Matt Damon’s shamefaced apology to J.Lo for joining the boy band is genuinely funny, and America will never stop being enchanted by Bennifer, our favorite resurrected celebrity couple. Keep cashing those Dunkin’ checks.
To enjoy this ad, viewers had to get up to speed on a whole lot of setup in the first three seconds: Popeyes has been around since 1972, but has never served wings before. Now, 52 years later, wings are on the menu, meaning it’s time to awaken a cryogenically frozen Ken Jeong, who has, I guess, been in a state of suspended animation until humanity invents “a better chicken wing.” Jeong is so impressed by this “new invention” that he goes on to experience everything else that has been invented since 1972: goldendoodles, delivery drones, roombas, self-driving cars, and several more servings of Popeyes wings. This ad makes great use of Jeong’s goofy, likable persona, even though, given the scale of the framing device, it feels like a de-escalation to see a reanimated time-traveler playing with a puppy and getting jostled by a massage chair. The wings, however, look tasty enough to make up for this shortcoming.
This is what we want out of Budweiser, isn’t it? Nostalgia-trap visions of an America that values tradition? With “Old School Delivery,” the brewer has impressively managed to find a fresh angle to its perennial Clydesdales approach: A neighborhood bar runs out of Bud in the middle of a snowstorm, so the horses pull a carriage along perilous roads to bring the kegs where they’re needed most. Lest you think there are any elements of Americana missing from this spot, there’s a faithful dog and a music cue for The Band’s hit song “The Weight,” too.
This ad isn’t just about a goofy dad who feels so good drinking Silk almond milk that he dances on the kitchen counter. It’s about the real-life ordeal that actor Jeremy Renner went through just over a year ago after a nearly fatal snow plow incident, and the remarkable recovery he has managed since then. Watching him impersonate his Hawkeye character while making a smoothie and perform other highly choreographed breakfast stunts (which Renner says he did himself on set) is a victory we all share, and Silk seems to capture the moment honestly, without undue fanfare.
“Throughout all of humanity’s existence on earth, there have been ideas, strides, and accomplishments.” So begins an ad for Poppi, a low-sugar soda that boldly positions itself alongside the moon landing and the invention of the internet. The swaggering claims only continue from there, with a voiceover insisting that this is what our grandchildren will think of when they think of soda. The weight of these claims is backed by the truly perfect Yazoo track “Only You,” without which I doubt Poppi could get away with any of this. But the visuals are a rich and colorful blend of Gen Z modernity and midcentury timelessness, resulting in a commercial that’s easy to sit back and enjoy.
Sometimes, the people just want to see the GOAT be the GOAT, and this Lionel Messi–starring Michelob spot simply cedes the floor to the phenom’s soccer skills. As he waits for the Michelob keg to be replenished at a beachside bar, Messi starts dribbling a soccer ball through throngs of revelers, with energetic music backing the playful scene. The ad doesn’t need Jason Sudeikis as an implied Ted Lasso providing play-by-play commentary from under a beach umbrella, nor does it need Dan Marino catching the soccer ball and chucking it back toward Messi. But the simple premise of this ad doesn’t get bogged down by its missteps. Deft footwork by all.
Now here we have a fundamentally Super Bowl–sized Super Bowl ad. It starts with a mildly fun premise—two seemingly feeble abuelas, Dina & Mita, who love their Doritos Dinamita snacks—and layers on every high-budget Super Bowl ad trope imaginable: a high-speed chase scene, gratuitous action sequences, swelling musical cues, baby humor, old people kicking ass, and celebrity cameos (Jenna Ortega and Danny Ramirez) that don’t really serve much of a purpose in the spot except to lend some SEO heft to its pre-game promotional rollout. All that said, it’s a pretty fun 60 seconds, even if we can detect, in all its bloated excess, the mathematical precision of something calibrated to generate maximal post-game buzz.
“The Return of the Coors Light Chill Train”
What starts as the old Super Bowl party cliche—oops, the boyfriend showed up in the rival team’s jersey!—quickly cuts to the long dormant Coors Chill Train, buried deep in the snowpack of the Rocky Mountains. We see it roar to life for the first time in 12 years and tear across the American landscape to deliver beer to those in need, spewing its frosty ice crystals on everything it passes (including two people lounging on a beach, in a hilarious visual reference to Corona’s marketing). By the time it’s revealed that LL Cool J is the conductor of the train, you don’t even need a celebrity cameo to make this ad pop. It’s only a shame that the 30-second version aired during the actual Super Bowl has to cut out so much of the visual splendor. See the full version here.
America’s most embattled beer of 2023 is ready to burrow back into the hearts and livers of Americans with not only a splashy new ad campaign, but a whole new mascot: the Bud Light Genie, who grants wishes of all kinds (but especially those that involve drinking Buds with your pals). Wisely, Bud Light didn’t cast an A-lister as the Genie, whose everyman energy is loose and funny without being over the top. The commercial spot quickly spirals into an overstuffed montage of wishes granted by the Bud Light Genie, which include conjuring up Post Malone, Peyton Manning, and a full-on rampaging Tyrannosaurus Rex. The ad careens around at breakneck speed, lingering for only a millisecond on each of the Genie’s powers, but the message is clear: This beer has everything you want, and Bud Light has the budget to tell you so.
SToK absolutely nailed its first ever Super Bowl ad—it is, by Big Game standards, a genuine shock to behold. It begins with a pitch-perfect shot of Anthony Hopkins rehearsing in the mirror, string music backing the spare and serious scene as he agonizes about embodying his role. But halfway through the ad, we see that the “role” is that of Wrex the Dragon, costumed mascot for Wrexham Association Football Club. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony swells behind footage of Hopkins (allegedly) dancing on the pitch and hyping up fans. “Ironically, it is the cold brew that births the fire-breathing dragon,” Hopkins says with all the gravitas in the world before taking a sip of SToK. The ad makes a quick exit, not lingering too long on its conceit. It’s properly scaled, self-contained, and just the right amount of ridiculous—a blend as potent as cold brew concentrate.