By: Kendra Danielson  

     On February 11, 2024, millions of NFL fans tuned in to Super Bowl LVIII to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers and defeat them in overtime. As most people focused on the game, many others watched to enjoy the highly popular and talked about Super Bowl Commercials. 

     What makes a Super Bowl commercial so special? Super Bowl Sunday is advertising’s prime time, with an average of over 100 million people viewing, it creates a perfect window for companies to promote their products. The Squire interviewed the Eisenhower Arts and Communications teacher to get another take on the importance of Super Bowl commercials, and Miss Howe explained, “The Super Bowl has such high viewership that they have a wide audience, so companies really value having their product or company exposed to that many people.” To further explain the hype, 30 seconds of advertising airtime during the Super Bowl costs an average of about seven million dollars, and CBS profits millions of dollars annually by premiering these attention seeking advertisements.  

     Super Bowl commercials commonly feature celebrity endorsements as an advertising technique to better create popularity and gossip around the company being promoted. The best ranked commercials of Super Bowl LVIII featured well-known celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Beyonce, Ben Affleck, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Brady, and several others. Howe went on to discuss how a good commercial should appeal to the product’s target audience and make them feel something, like empathy or humor. Many high ranked commercials successfully appealed to a specific audience and featured a celebrity testimonial in doing so. In no particular order, some of the best rated Super Bowl LVIII commercials this year include: 

     1. “The DunKings” 

     Dunkin’ showcases the “DunKings” compromised of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady. The commercial shows Affleck crash his wife, Jennifer Lopez’s recording studio to propose a song created by the formed band. They perform while advertising for Dunkin’ Donuts and Jennifer Lopez shuts them down, embarrassed by her husband’s actions.  They used humor and celebrity endorsements to appeal to the audience and promote the Dunkin franchise.  

     2. “Like a Good Neighbaaa” 

     State Farm’s 2024 Superbowl commercial featured Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, and the classic “Jake from State Farm,” Kevin Miles. In the commercial, State Farm producers are forced to repeatedly cut the scene when celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger is unable to correctly pronounce their motto due to his accent. They attempt several shots before coming up with the idea to have Danny DeVito step in and take over the line to finish the shoot. The final cut of the commercial ends with the stars watching it in theater for the world premier when Schwarzenegger calls DeVito a “backstabba” and he responds by correcting him and says, “I am a backstabber.” 

     3. “Talkin’ Like Walken” 

     Christopher Walken campaigns for BMW as he is the star of this advertisement. Walken proceeds through the ad segment doing casual day-to-day activities such as grabbing a coffee or walking his dog. BMW uses humor to mock Walken’s well-known way of speaking. Throughout the scenes, he gradually he gets more annoyed as people continue to mimic his accent. Usher makes an appearance and repeatedly alludes to his most popular hit “Yeah!”. He references his performance at the Super Bowl LVIII Half-Time Show, agreeing with Walken that he has somewhere to be. The commercial wraps up by explaining how BMW is one of a kind and the others are just imitations of it. 

     4. “Old School Delivery”  

     Budweiser returns to the Super Bowl with another captivating commercial. In this 60 second advertisement, a team of six Clydesdale horses journey through a snowstorm to save a small town that lost power. Budweiser promotes their company by showing how once it’s delivered, everything is lightened and happy again, meaning Budweiser is the key to raise spirits. Budweiser is a classic Super Bowl advertising hit. It’s heartwarming use of animals always draws in many eyes and appeals to the audience. 

     5. “Can’t B Broken” 

     To promote Verizon, Beyonce goes through a series of events trying to “break the internet.” Verizon builds up their already high reputation by displaying how no one can tear them down, not even world-famous Beyonce. She tries to prove them wrong and cuts from scene to scene trying to attempt different methods of doing so. She does every stunt she can think of, including releasing a new album, running for president, and even performing in outer space, but is unable to break the internet. The company is overall promoted because it is shown as unstoppable and high quality when the Queen B, Beyonce, is unable to “break” Verizon. 

     Each year millions of people gather around family and friends to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday. While football fans watch for the game, many others watch for the entertaining commercial breaks and advertisements. Be on the lookout for reruns of these hit Super Bowl LVIII commercials!