The Best Big Game Ads of 2023
The hottest and most expensive day of the year in ad land is upon us with the big game commercials for the Super Bowl.
With costs reaching between a staggering $6 and $7 million per thirty seconds as of this year, and a national audience of more than 113 million, brands were up against some stiff competition.
Crypto is out and dogs are firmly in, with copious amounts of celebrities and a side of laughter – we selected some of our favourite ads that scored big this year!
Bright Ideas
Clever, funny ads were undoubtedly our favourite category this year, and there were quite a few brands that delivered some great concepts. Below are our top picks:
Ram Trucks– Premature Electrification
Electric vehicles were a big theme of the 2023 Super Bowl campaigns, with Ram Trucks promoting its new electric pick-up with an offbeat, humorous ad that brilliantly subverts the real worries of transitioning to electric vehicles and the very serious EV conversation, with a spoof campaign for a drug to help with “premature electrification”.
Unapologetically funny.
Workday – Rock Stars
A straightforward but nonetheless hilarious ad that sees the business software reclaim the term “rockstar” for actual rockstars. Wryly pushing back against corporate speak, Workday enlists real rockstars including Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Paul Stanley of KISS and Gary Clark Jr.
Simple and effective.
Squarespace x Adam Driver – The Singularity
What could be better than Adam Driver? Multiple Adam Drivers!
This surreal sci-fi commercial revolves around a singularity described as a “website that makes websites and can create itself in a loop of creation”. It also includes a teaser called “backstage” which sees the multiple Adam Drivers working with each other.
Both clever and memorable.
Hellmann’s – Who’s in the Fridge
Two A-list celebrities and terrible puns? Yes, please! John HAM(m) and BRIE Larson both star in this fridge-based commercial where they realise they’ve been chosen because their names both contain foodstuffs that go well with mayo.
Dad humour at its best.
Bonus Tears & Dogs
Two brands played on the emotional relationship between humans and dogs and scored big.
Amazon told the story of a lonely dog who finally finds the company that he craves and made us smile.
While, according to USA Today’s Ad Meter, pet food brand The Farmer’s Dog won the best Super Bowl ad.
The Farmer’s Dog – Forever
An emotional tearjerker titled “Forever” that saw Ava and her dog, Bear, grow up together through childhood to adulthood, ending in a poignant final screen titled “Nothing matters more than more years together”.
Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Celebrity Nostalgia
Another common thread for 2023 big games commercials was a healthy dose of Millennial nostalgia with hit movie and TV show references scattered throughout multiple ads. Some of these included Ben Stiller x Pepsi, T-Mobile x John Travolta channelling Grease with Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison.
The winner in this category has to be Not So Clueless, Rakuten starring Alicia Silverstone.
Rakuten – Not So Clueless
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