I did enjoy the Hyundai and Amazon ads in particular, but overall found the commercials (and halftime show) about on par with the game itself. (In other words, can I have four hours of my life back?) The prevalence of robots in this year’s ads reminded me of the “voice activation” gags last year — not much originality on display.

And even though Budweiser products are “superfoods” (brewed with wind power and without corn syrup), I’m still not buying them … or Pepsi products either.

As a lifelong Pats fan, I’m glad they won but I’m not even getting the t-shirt over this one. Bad game and mediocre commercials. If this year’s batch had been aired in previous years, none of them might even have been mentioned. I did like the 100 years of NFL and Alexa Fails, but neither were great.

I’m going to vote for the Washington Post’s “Democracy Dies in Darkness” ad. We are in an era where truth-tellers are vilified; it’s important to stand up for facts.

I agree with Dick. The Amazon commercial was good, but overall we had a boring game, a boring halftime show and boring commercials. Bummer — since I am a (gasp) Patriots fan. We won, but we won ugly.

In my opinion I thought first place went to the Bud Light/Game of Thrones spot. The slogan “Dilly Dilly” and Game of Thrones own so much mindshare with fans that this spot got them involved and paying attention.

Second was Bud Light’s brilliant repositioning strategy of Miller Lite and Coors Light. This was the old genuine red salmon, guaranteed to not turn pink repositioning strategy.

I first saw Hyundai’s “The Elevator” earlier in the day on Facebook on mute (with subtitles), and it still made me laugh out loud. So kudos for a simple concept with clever copy and the ability to be spread through social channels.

The NFL commercial certainly was entertaining for those who know the players, the HBO + GOT mashup was as close to last years “Tide Twist” commercials that we got this year, and honestly I was super underwhelmed with the Amazon spots. The concept itself is great, but “Not Everything Makes the Cut” is a pretty ironic name for a campaign that was just so-so.

While it’s always fun to talk about Super Bowl commercials, you know it says something when ALL you want to talk about the next day are the commercials instead of the game itself. My vote goes to the Washington Post ad and the Verizon ad with LA’s head coach. Both ads carried a powerful message that frankly, were more motivating than any of the ads touting products this year, although Amazon’s Alexa ad gets an honorable mention for Harrison Ford’s dog. I’m with Dick Seesel on this point — didn’t motivate me to buy Pepsi or Bud Light!

For the football sentimentalists, the National Football League’s “The 100 Year Game” commercial had the right mix of nostalgia and humor. It really served as a self-deprecating vehicle for a league that continues to pull in record profits year after year, but also has a fair amount of damage control with the Colin Kaepernick controversies, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) deflections, and record player contracts. The Super Bowl remains the number one media play for the NFL and is essentially a national holiday in the U.S.

For those who watch and enjoy the NFL, it was nice to connect the stars of the present, Tom Brady, Odell Beckham Jr, along with showcasing Terry Bradshaw, Jim Brown, Franco Harris, and others. It was just the right amount of magic that makes commercials memorable even when the game, other commercials and even the halftime show was underwhelming. In my humble opinion, none of the other commercials stood out.

Two winners this year:

Microsoft for a sensitive representation of meeting diverse needs – that delivered the only purposeful ad that matched the product.

Washington Post for so many reasons. Certainly, the critical nature of journalism to society. But also, for the face that Jeff Bezos once again endorses the value of traditional media while too many retail execs are letting marketing departments run wild with far less effective online gimmicks.

And one big ironic match: Burger King. Only an art school trained creative would convince themselves they were doing something “big” when they matched the insipid art of Andy Warhol with the insipid food at Burger King. Was it that the collective subconscious among the advertising team told the truth despite themselves?

My top three are:

1. Walmart’s Famous Cars. Somebody deserves a medal for getting permission from all those competing movie studios for use of their cars.
2. Microsoft’s We All Win. Great feels, and I love Owen, the little boy who stars in this and the Microsoft holiday commercial, “He’s gonna do it! You gotta see this!” It’s an important message.
3. NFL’s 100 Year Game. Watching this commercial was more fun than watching the actual game.

Although it scored high, I was not a fan of Hyundai’s The Elevator. It rambled and the punchline didn’t deliver. At the end we all said, “That was a car commercial?!” I also didn’t like the Burger King Andy Warhol spot. I’m not a fan of using historical footage of deceased people to hawk product – they can’t give consent. And it could have just as easily been a ketchup commercial.

Like many I have become accustomed to football games where the action came from the team moving down field and scoring rather than three plays and out. The Super Bowl made a great case for the defensive side of the game but it lacked the excitement we have all become accustomed to. The same could be said for the commercials.

I am not sure if we have raised our expectations to a level such that what used to wow us no longer does. Most of the commercials on the game might have been viewed as good to great if they had run any other time. All that being said my vote would be a tie for the NFL 100 Year Game and the Hyundai ads.

The Super Bowl ads were boring, too complicated and were in misalignment with the target market of the halftime show. What happened to fun ads that sparked an interest to actually buy the product? While my two teenage sons were very excited with the halftime show, I found myself explaining half of the commercials to them. If I had to vote, I would pick the Amazon Alexa spiff, at least it made me laugh. Sadly, there are zero products I am searching out today as a results of yesterday’s commercials. I missed Masterlock and Doritos (did I miss these during my nap?).

Most disappointing Super Bowl, both game and commercials. Seems to be the year of little creativity. I understand not all commercials have me as a target, but it was very hard to determine who some of these commercials were targeting.

The NFL’s “the 100 Year Game,” Verizon’s “the Coach Who Wouldn’t be Here,” and the Washington Post’s “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Three ads that engaged the viewers, made you think and weren’t simply touting product benefits.

The Bud Light medieval is starting to grow on me, but the HBO combo, which humorously is kind of close to what Bud is showing, made me laugh out loud. Love it when great brands like HBO can be self-deprecating in such a fun way. They took the prize for me.

The ad that was the most creative and appealing to me was the ad for the Audi GT concept car. The ad sucked you in to this beautiful electric car with all the bells and whistles and then the driver lurches forward and the ad cuts to the driver choking on a cashew in his office getting the Heimlich from a co-worker. It was a good combination of intriguing, cool car and humor and I remembered it more than the other commercials. And now I want that car!

Two commercials stood out for me because of their strong call to action.

The NFL spot. Football participation is decreasing in High Schools due to the the legitimate concern on brain injuries. However, the moment the football hits the floor in the commercial, it reminds us why we played the sport, the fraternity of the sport and perhaps encourage parents not to deprive young ones from the experience. This has been done before for other sports — think World Cup, but no other sport has “Fumble!” as an immediate call to action.

Pepsi. Coke has become the soda category description in restaurants that customers ask for it instead of asking for a Cola. It’s a real life situation, and next time the viewer is asked “is Pepsi ok?” he will remember the commercial, perhaps become an ambassador for the Pepsi Brand and answer like Little John. I hope this is a campaign and is introduced as a merchandising element in restaurants and even grocery stores.