Automakers Grade Well With Car Humor During Super Bowl LI Spots, Highlighted By Kia

Car humor "won the day" among Super Bowl LI's roster of national ads last night, highlighted by Melissa McCarthy's Kia commercial where she "gets bounced out of a boat by a rampaging whale, among other ecological calamities," according to Erik Brady of USA TODAY. McCarthy's "slapstick shtick" won the 29th USA Today Ad Meter competition. Hyundai "took the prize" last year, making it two years in a row for automakers after A-B InBev "won it the three previous years." Honda ("Yearbooks") and Audi ("Daughter") took the Ad Meter’s second and third places, respectively. A-B InBev's "Born the Hard Way," which told the "immigrant story of Budweiser co-founder Adolphus Busch, finished fourth." P&G's Tide ad starring Fox' Terry Bradshaw finished fifth (USATODAY.com, 2/6). On Long Island, Verne Gay writes Kia and McCarthy had a "shrewd strategy going into this game." There was first a "series of 'teases,'" followed by her "surprise super-social-media-charged turn" as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on NBC's "SNL" the night before the Super Bowl. Gay: "These things don’t happen by accident" (NEWSDAY, 2/6).

THE RESULTS ARE IN: Data from Google showed that A-B's "Born The Hard Way" ad was the most-viewed spot on YouTube as of 2:00am ET. Rounding out the top 5 was Bud Light's "Ghost Spuds," Hyundai's "A Better Super Bowl," Kia's "Hero's Journey" and T-Mobile's "#UnlimintedMoves" spot featuring Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, the top 3 Google Search questions during the game were as follows: "How old is Lady Gaga," "How does overtime work in NFL" and "Who owns Alfa Romeo?" (Google).

COMING OUT HOT: ADWEEK's Tim Nudd notes there were a "number of strong comic spots," including T-Mobile's "#NSFWireless" ad. T-Mobile "made a mess of things early in the game with its Justin Bieber spot, but made up for it with two hilarious ads starring Kristen Schaal as a Verizon customer addicted to the pain of her carrier's crappy service" (ADWEEK.com, 2/6). The AP's Mae Anderson lists her Super Bowl ad winners, which include T-Mobile, Tide, Kia, Budweiser and the NFL (AP, 2/6). In Chicago, Steve Johnson gives A- grades to Intel, Sprint, Honda and 84 Lumber (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/6). ESPN's Mike Golic said of the Tide spot with Bradshaw, "Great job, because he was trending. I liked how they played that" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/6). In Atlanta, Rodney Ho writes his "favorite commercials" included Skittles, Bai, Tide, Budweiser, Honda and T-Mobile (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/6). NBC's Matt Lauer said the Honda "Yearbooks" spot was "brilliant" with its use of technology ("Today," NBC, 2/6). 

ROCK-A-BAI BABY: In Houston, Fernando Ramirez notes Bai's "hilarious" ad starring Justin Timberlake and Christopher Walken "seems to have captivated the internet" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/6). In DC, Judkis & Butler write Bai's ad was "particularly impressive given the borderline offensive dud the low-calorie, antioxidant beverage company delivered during last year's Super Bowl" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/6). In N.Y., Kate Feldman writes, "When you can get Justin Timberlake and Christopher Walken in the same room, you always say yes. When you convince them to recite NSYNC's 'Bye Bye Bye,' you wake up from your nap." Bai "convinced the two legends to do exactly that, resulting in one of the funniest and least predictable commercials of the night" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/6).

RAINBOW WARRIOR: In N.Y., David Li notes Skittles had "one of the night's biggest winners among conventional spots," with its "Romance The Rainbow" ad (N.Y. POST, 2/6). In Toronto, Laura Beeston writes Skittles' ad was "so bad, it's good" (TORONTO STAR, 2/6). However, SLATE's Seth Stevenson writes Skittles' "bizarre gag fell flat" (SLATE.com, 2/6).

FALLING FLAT: ESPN's Mike Greenberg called the slate of Super Bowl ads last night was "very unmemorable." Greenberg: "The humor, I thought, which is usually what we associate with Super Bowl ads, atrocious. I did not think that they were very memorable or particularly good last night at all" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/6). The WASHINGTON POST's Judkis & Butler note there was "a lot of mediocrity during this Super Bowl -- bland ads that made us feel meh." This year's worst ads "aren’t as bad as some of the worst ads from previous years -- let us not forget the gross GoDaddy commercials, or the Nationwide 'Dead Kid' commercial of Super Bowls past -- but they’re definitely the cringeworthiest of an already forgettable crop." Mr. Clean, Bud Light and regional spots from Yellow Tail wine, Cyprus Air and Tiffany & Co. ranked as the "five worst Super Bowl commercials" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/6). NBC's Lauer said ads for mobile video games -- which included "Mobile Strike" and "World of Tanks" -- "did not resonate." USA Today's Charisse Jones said of the video game spots, "They were kind of dull, they were kind of obscure, didn't speak to a broad audience" ("Today," NBC, 2/6). In Boston, Mark Perigard writes under the header, "Commercial Lineup Lacking As Ads' Creativity Falls Short" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/6). The AP's Anderson listed American Petroleum Institution, Febreze, Snickers and Wendy's as ad losers from last night (AP, 2/6). In Atlanta, Ho writes Febreze, Wendy's, Intel and T-Mobile's Bieber spot were "duds" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/6).

THEY DID WHAT? The WASHINGTON POST's Judkis & Butler write Bud Light using an old Spuds MacKenzie character in its "Ghost Spuds" spot "might be nostalgic for some, but other people were sad to be reminded that the dog was, in fact, dead." That "tapping noise" heard during the fourth quarter was the "sound of millennials across America Googling: 'Who is Spuds MacKenzie?'" Reincarnated as a "drunken ghost dog-bro, Spuds is actually kind of creepy" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/6). CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd: "I think I speak for all of America in welcoming back the ghost of Spuds McKenzie." IBM Social Business Manager Tariq Ahmad: "If Bud Light brought back Spuds McKenzie, this means Reebok will bring back Terry Tate next year, right?" N.Y. Times' Dave Itzkoff: "Now we know what killed Spuds McKenzie." Mixed Media Fusion Founder & CEO Demi Newell: "Clearly, Hollywood and Madison can't let anything die. Including Spuds McKenzie. Come on, people. This is tired. Get ORIGINAL" (TWITTER.com, 2/5).

SQUEEKY CLEAN IMAGE: The WASHINGTON POST's Judkis & Butler write Mr. Clean's "Cleaner Of Your Dreams" spot "perpetuates the tired, sex-starved, desperate housewife stereotype, as well as the notion that bumbling husbands can’t possibly be good at cleaning." The CGI character's pants are also "so, so tight, and his gyrations so realistic." If animated characters "look too realistic, they become physically repulsive." That is the "scientific explanation for the yucked-out feeling you got when Mr. Clean was grinding up on that mop" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/6). In San Diego, Kirk Kenney writes Mr. Clean's ad was "kind of creepy." However, Mr. Clean was "most clever" with its Twitter account, "poking fun at other Super Bowl advertisers with tweets in the leadup to its spot" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Suzanne Vranica writes a "sexy Mr. Clean" was among ads that "scored big with marketing experts" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/6).

FILM STUDY: VARIETY's Lawrence Yee ranked every Super Bowl movie trailer, with his top three being "The Fate Of The Furious," "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," and "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2" (VARIETY.com, 2/5).