From corona convalescence to Super Bowl scrutiny

I celebrated my 40^th birthday a couple of weeks back. The next day I celebrated getting Covid.

Ten days later and I’m officially out of isolation and about to peel myself out of bed, back to work… or, as we call it nowadays, Slack. Fully aware of the tsunami of in-tray obligation that’s about to hit, I write this on a Sunday, out of practice, punch drunk and cabin-fevered to the fingertips. 

Why am I sharing this? Because all rest and no work makes Stu a cynical boy. Forty-five Super Bowl ads is surely the perfect welcome back, right? Set my expectations to the Lemsip Max!

Above: Toyota's Super Bowl offering offset some of the 'let's change the world' sincerity of other brands.

Ok, I watched them. Now, questions:

Why all the big-name directors? And why are only three of them women? Did Dolly Parton Zoom in that performance? Was that an ad for a car mat? Is that a Snapchat filtered Demi Moore? Or just Mila Kunis? Can a Burrito please not change the world? Or washing liquid for that matter. Has Oatly jumped the shark? Did an M&M ad really make me LOL? Can you go wrong with Will Ferrell? Is it racist to laugh at Scandinavia?  

Will that do? The weariness is setting back in.

Why all the big-name directors? And why are only three of them women?

Fine, fine. Covid-induced facetiousness to one side, it’s really not a bad bunch, especially when you consider the restrictions all these gazillion pound productions surely had to deal with. I could do without the ‘let’s change the world’ sincerity of Robinhood, Indeed, Bass Pro Shops, Guinness and Proctor & Gamble, but hats off to Toyota and Tarsem for a beautifully executed, touching tale that takes full credit for one particular set of goosebumps.

Above: Star power; Super Bowls 2021 spots featuring Dolly Parton, Matthew McConaughey, Dan Levy and Will Ferrell. 

After that, we’re on more familiar wisecracking ground. How the banter froths out the top of the low ABV pilsner bottle. We’ve celebs and sport stars aplenty all wrestling for our attention. And oh, the lengths they’ll go to.

The M&M ad really did make me laugh out loud. Twice. 

We take a trip into the uncanny valley with a two-dimensional performance from Matthew McConaughey. Uber Eats delivers some Generation X bait to the Wayne’s World sofa in the form of Cardi B.

Will Ferrell does that Will Ferrell thing. And all kinds of Paramount stars dial in their best attempts at irony from their nearest green screen. The money does help. They look slick. There are plenty of good one-liners. And the M&M ad really did make me laugh out loud. Twice. 

But forgive the Brit in me as I bemoan the fact that they all seem to be expectedly directed at the testosterone brimming man-dens of America. Exemplified best by the big ol’ meta-mess that is Bud Light bringing back all of their archaic ad stars. Even four Maya Rudolph’s can’t save the Klarna ad from poor man’s Skittle critique. 

There’s so much confidence placed in the script and concept that they never need to go over the top or deploy the Super Bowl ad playbook.

It’s for this reason that the standout ad for me is once again from the wonderful Lucky Generals and the always-on-the-money Wayne McClammy, for Amazon Alexa. It’s so sensitively, soulfully, almost silently played for laughs, with Michael B Jordan absolutely nailing one swoonful and sexy performance. There’s so much confidence placed in the script and concept that they never need to go over the top or deploy the Super Bowl ad playbook. Patrick Mahommes levels of class in a sea of Tom Brady ballyhoo. 

And we’re done. An early night awaits. Let the bearded Cardi B-starring, burrito-world-saving, Wow-No-Cow sound tracked, Spike Lee-directed fever dream commence.