Having just watched over an hour of this year’s Super Bowl ads, I feel a bit drained. And depressed. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that makes me feel so “meh”. In an attempt to organise my thoughts, I’ve narrowed it down to the following:

1: Celebrity overdose

Using a celebrity doesn’t make your ad great. Especially when you use the same celebrity as another brand. This year, Modern Families’ Sofia Vegara promoted Skechers, Boehringer Ingelheim and Telemundo. The beauty of a celebrity like Emma Stone, Matthew McConaughy, Ben Stiller and the hundred others wheeled out for the big day is that they can act, so at least the ads are watchable. But when every second spot features either a major Hollywood or NFL star, or both, how is your brand memorable? The wow factor is lessened immeasurably, and viewers are no less surprised at seeing A-listers than they would be while watching the Academy Awards.

2: Some were not good enough

So many of the spots were way too ordinary given the money spent on making them. I needed to watch multiple compilation reels before writing this piece, and rarely felt the urge to view anything twice. I get that some spots........

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