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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. starred in an ad parodying "Dirty Dancing," that aired during the Super Bowl. </p>

Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. starred in an ad parodying "Dirty Dancing," that aired during the Super Bowl. 

Ah yes, the Super Bowl. The event where millions of people around the country flock to a TV set for three and a half hours, not to watch the championship game of America’s most popular sport, but to obsess over the new, fun, flamboyant commercials that debut throughout the night.

Especially this year, when the game featured two of the most disliked teams in the NFL. The Eagles, who skated by following the loss of starting quarterback Carson Wentz, defeated the Patriots 41-33, earning the Lombardi Trophy for the first time. The matchup made it easy for viewers to focus mainly on the advertisements.

But now that Super Bowl LII is over and hopefully Halapoulivaati Vaitai didn’t make you too drunk it’s time to look back at why everyone watched the game in the first place and rank the top three commercials from Sunday night.

 

No. 3: "Touchdowns to Come"

This one was important. In the last few years, sports fans have become disillusioned with professional football, christening the NFL as the “No Fun League.”

Rule changes, not knowing what a catch is and playing favorites for certain teams — *cough, cough Patriots* — have made fans angry.

Penalties on touchdown celebrations, something the NFL has since changed its stance on, have pissed off fans beyond belief.

This commercial highlighted that. Showing Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning practicing a celebration to the theme of Dirty Dancing, the advertisement reminded us why we love football in the first place.

It was fun.

When you have the new and improved XFL knocking on the door attempting to weaken the NFL’s professional football monopoly, a commercial like this is exactly what was needed to lighten the mood.

 

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No. 2: "DORITOS BLAZE vs. MTN DEW ICE"

I don’t know about you, but Peter Dinklage rapping to Busta Rhymes’ verse in “Look At Me Now,” followed by Morgan Freeman lip-synching Missy Elliot’s “Get Your Freak On,” was nothing short of awesome. It was one of the best moments of the night, behind the actual game.

Bringing the fire-and-ice theme from season seven of Game of Thrones (and using one of the characters from the show), PepsiCo succeeded in reinventing two products that most Americans already know about. The new Doritos Blaze and Mountain Dew Ice are fresh takes on old products.

Not to mention the final shot featured both Dinklage and Freeman facing each other, with fire on one side and ice on the other.

It also may or may not have spoiled a possible plot point for Game of Thrones season eight.

 

No. 1: "It's a Tide Ad" & "It's Another Tide Ad"

NBC charged just over $5 million for a 30-second ad for the Super Bowl. Tide had just shy of two minutes worth of ads and paid roughly $20 million.

It was worth it.

In what seemed like yet another car, beer or Mr. Clean advertisement, David Harbour, coming off his role as Jim Hopper from Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” interrupts to utter the phrase, “It’s a Tide ad.”

It’s one of those ideas designed to show that not every Super Bowl commercial needs to be the same to be iconic. Poking fun at conventional advertisements can be just as effective.

When Harbour appeared in what seemed to be an Old Spice commercial, it proved that notion.

In an event as large as the Super Bowl, where all eyes were watching the Patriots lose, standing out made all the difference.

Jake Dreilinger is the Alligator’s assistant sports editor. Contact him at jdreilinger@alligator.org.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. starred in an ad parodying "Dirty Dancing," that aired during the Super Bowl. 

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