NEW YORK (AP) — This year some of the Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, like Bud Light's "Game of Thrones" teaser. Other crowd-pleasers focused on humor, like Amazon's take on celebrity product testers.
While the New England Patriots bested the L.A. Rams on Sunday in Atlanta during Super Bowl 53, brands were also winning and losing off the field. Some spots, like Google's ad about its translation service, charmed many viewers. But others like Mint Mobile's ad about "chunky milk" fell flat.
BEST
Amazon
Bud Light
"It was somewhat confusing at first," said Mark DiMassimo, chief of ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein. "But it was super engaging and fun and surprising."
Stella Artois
Hulu
"It was a great misdirect and great placement," DiMassimo said.
Kim Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia, said the ad was an example of how the night's "most powerful ads focused on unity, positivity and commonality."
Microsoft
"It combined true emotion, great storytelling, and relevant product innovation with an insight about their category (gaming) as a great equalizer," DiMassimo said.
WORST
The ad compares Mint Mobile's $20-a-month wireless plan with "chunky milk," then it shows a fake ad with a family drinking the unappetizing beverage. A mint-colored cartoon fox says the milk is "not right," but Mint Mobile's plan "is right."
"The ad could be confusing. People might just remember that Mint's pricing is 'not right,'" said Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins.