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Super Bowl commercials bring highs and lows

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This image provided by Mountain Dew shows Bryan Cranston in a scene from the company’s 2020 Super Bowl commercial.

Another year, another Super Bowl.  Two teams go face-to-face and every company, large and small, competes for the best advertisement.

Some were good, some were bad.  These are the best and worst three of this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Best:

  1. Mountain Dew Zero “The Shining” parody

Over the last two years, there have been a lot of tributes to the Stephen King book-turned-classic horror movie.  First, there was “Ready Player One,” and last year saw a full-fledged sequel in the form of “Doctor Sleep.”

Mountain Dew continued the trend of paying homage to “The Shining” with a commercial that featured Brian Cranston as the crazed Jack Torrance.  Cranston brings his own brand of intensity to the character, and though it’s played for laughs, one can’t help but wish he’d play the role in a full-fledged retelling of “The Shining.”  Nevertheless, a funny effort.

2. Jeep Liberty “Groundhog Day” parody

There were a lot of spoofs making the rounds with this year’s Super Bowl ads.  This commercial is the unofficial sequel to the 1993 comedy where Bill Murray once again finds himself caught in the time loop, but it’s not a total loss because there’s a brand new Jeep to go riding in!

Murray’s trademark dry humor makes the commercial a fun watch.  Even better is the amount of effort that went into recreating the movie from using the same shooting locations to even cameos from some of the same actors from said movie.

It’s an excellent tribute, and fitting, given how this year’s Super Bowl fell on Groundhog Day.

3. Doritos’ wild west duel

A lot of big names appeared in this year’s batch of ads and went as far as to get legendary people like Martin Scorcese and Sylvester Stallone.  This wild west showdown with a dance twist features Sam Elliot as a gruff cowboy who challenges a fresh-faced gunslinger to a dance off.

It’s amusing to see Sam Elliot in a comedic manner, and this commercial hits all the right spots.

Worst:

  1. Turbotax’s leg dance

For all the good commercials, there were just as many bad ones.  A common misstep with the bad ads was their reliance on an unfunny gag, such as an ad for TurboTax which features people doing what could be best described as a leg spasm.

It’s not a clever dance and doesn’t do enough to convince folks he or she should get TurboTax in preparation for doing taxes.

2. Little Caesars does delivery

Little Caesars is the dime store knock-off of pizza chains.  It’s serviceable, but there’s much better out there.  

So, what did the chain do as a big ad for the Super Bowl?  Announce that they now deliver, and it only took them 30 years to finally do such a thing!

If you were the one person holding out for a delivery option from Little Caesars, that’s good news for you. For others, stick with Domino’s or Digiornio on Friday nights.

3. Fox Nation

Need a streaming service for the senile grandparent in your life?  Fox Nation has you covered!

Now, people can experience the crackpot antics of Fox News, but through a service that costs money!  Fox Nation, nonsense on the go.

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Super Bowl commercials bring highs and lows