5 worst Super Bowl ads of all time
By Stu White
Not all Super Bowl ads can be winners.
Every year at this time the world gathers together to watch a multi-hour extravaganza devoted to commercials. Supposedly there’s also some kind of sports thingy going on, a game of some sort, but that’s just a rumor, a legend nobody can confirm.
As the world watches, enraptured, breaths held in anticipation, the very best of America’s brands trot out their newest commercials. It’s hard not to be moved, to weep with joy; there’s little in this world more emotionally powerful than a well-executed commercial for a product you more than likely do not need. Often the commercials are runaway successes, the sort of ads that, as the kidz say these days, get all viral up in the zeitgeist. But there are other times when the ads crash and burn in spectacular, brutal, oh-god-I-want-to-look-away-but-can’t fashion.
This slideshow is a look at the latter.
There’s nothing quite like a Super Bowl ad that falls short. Millions of dollars and months of effort are put into these commercials, and it’s hard not to laugh at the times when the fruits of all that labor end up being of the embarrassing, cringe-inducing variety.
An ad can fail for many reasons. Tonal problems can be an issue; nobody wants to feel sad during the Super Bowl, for example. There is the always popular foray into offensive stereotypes, because nothing lures in undecided consumers quite like unsubtle bigotry. And some ads, well … some ads fail because they are obnoxious and make you want to gouge out your poor eyes with toothpicks.
Let’s begin our journey into the worst Super Bowl ads of all time by looking at a baffling spot from 2015. I’m sure you all remember this gem.
Next: 5. Nationwide (2015)