For most Super Bowl ads, it’s all about the humor!
Super Bowl commercials have long been cultural staples. In a limited amount of time, they seek to tug at human emotions. However, most of these ads love a good joke as their backbone. That’s why the most memorable Super Bowl commercials are usually the funniest ones.
As Usher preps to headline the halftime show, we expect a new wave of hilarious ads. For example, Cardi B will star in a Super Bowl NYX commercial. Moreover, as fans anticipate what’s to come from the hilarious rapper, many other stars like Ice Spice are set to star in a host of commercials as well. With that being said, the following is a list of humorous Super Bowl commercials that fans can’t get over.
E*Trade has quite a long list of famous Super Bowl commercials. A more recent addition to the company’s hilarious commercials is 2018’s “This is Getting Old.” The video features clips of older folks belting out the eerily fitting “Day-O” chorus: “I’m 85, and I want to go home.” We get clips of the fur-coated DJ NANA headlining a rave, as well as a senior Firewoman as she’s whipped around by the water hose. There’s even a senior lifeguard disrupting the Baywatch-style march of his younger, toned colleagues. However, the humorous finance company’s commercial closes with a sobering stat: roughly one-third of Americans lack retirement savings.
Hated by some, loved by many, “Puppy Monkey Baby” was a bizarre yet hilarious commercial. Mountain Dew sponsored the commercial for their new drink: the Mountain Dew Kickstart. This drink was an interesting combination of soda, juice, and caffeine. In the commercial, the drink is served up by Puppy Monkey Baby—a dancing mascot with a pug’s face, monkey’s body and baby’s legs. The scene would probably remain bizarre if it didn’t end with the strange creature getting its own backup dancers to join in the party and birthing a viral sensation.
As a brand, Old Spice managed to reach an advertising peak in 2010. In one of the most hilarious commercials of all time, this now iconic Old Spice ad premiered at the Super Bowl. On paper, it’s all about getting your man to smell as good as the protagonist. However, Old Spice opened up a multiverse of some sorts, with many other brands following a similar pattern.
In 2003, Reebok unleashed office mayhem with Terry “Terrible” Tate for Super Bowl XXXVII. The idea was born from the short film Pilot, by Peter Chiarelli in 2000. Tate, a character Lester Speight portrays, is an American football linebacker turned office enforcer. Tate’s catchphrases became popular, from the ominous “The pain train’s coming” to the coffee-centric “You kill the joe, you make some mo.” It remains one of the most memorable Super Bowl commercials, blending humor and workplace dynamics seamlessly.
In 2018, Tide pulled off the ultimate ad takeover, compiling numerous Super Bowl commercials and turning them into Tide ads. Narrated by David Harbour, the company basically declared that whenever viewers laid eyes on spotless clothes, they had Tide to thank. The twist? Harbour popped up not just once, but a whopping seven separate times. Did you think that was the beginning of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial? Wrong! It’s a Tide ad! Altogether, it was the Rick Roll version of commercials, and everyone loved it.
One of the most iconic Super Bowl commercials features the talented and humorous Betty White. It starts with a group of guys getting down and dirty playing tackle ball with the iconic Golden Girl. Specifically, White gets tackled down hard into a mud puddle by one of the guys. Soon after, one of the guys shouts at her, “Mike! You’re playing like Betty White out there.” In a hilarious twist, she fired back: “That’s not what your girlfriend says.” Overall, heads were turned, and White furthered her icon status.
Amazon hit the jackpot with the celebrity-fueled Alexa ad in 2018. It features notable names like Cardi B, Anthony Hopkins, and Gordon Ramsey. One of the most hilarious Super Bowl commercials of all time, it gives us a peek into what life would be like if Alexa lost her voice. Needless to say, Alexa doesn’t need any celeb replacements anytime soon.
