For 21 years, the Michigan State University Department of Advertising and Public Relations has been rating Super Bowl commercials based on their creativity, production value, message and strategy. This year, a commercial for Amazon Alexa grabbed the top spot.
“Amazon Alexa was just funny,” said Bob Kolt, Advertising and PR Instructor and CEO of Kolt Communications. “It had a lot of twists and turns which any good story should do. It was also cute and will probably have a long life after the game, and was a great formula for a Super Bowl spot.”
Taking second place was a commercial for the NFL with Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr. doing the famous dance routine from "Dirty Dancing."
The third through 10th spots went to:
- E-Trade
- Budweiser Water
- Jeep Wrangler
- Mountain Dew Ice
- Autralia.com
- T-Mobile
- Toyota
- Groupon
In addition, an MSU alumnus had a spot in the game. Mo Said is a senior copywriter from Droga5 and contributed to the Sprint commercial that showed in the first half.
“The Super Bowl in advertising is like Oscar night in the movie business. It’s a big deal,” said Kolt. “Industries create their best ads, and those ads should generate sales long after the game has ended.”
The worst ad of the night? A commercial by Diet Coke which aired in the second quarter. It remained the lowest rated ad throughout the game.
By Nikki W. O'Meara