Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials of 2020

It’s hard to top Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in “The Shining,” but who better than Bryan Cranston to fill his shoes? With an ax in one hand and a Mountain Dew Zero Sugar bottle in the other, crazy Cranston limps through the Overlook Hotel. He approaches the bathroom door, which has “MTN DEW” spelled backwards instead of “REDRUM.” Chopping through, he offers the bottle to Tracee Ellis Ross, insisting that it’s as good as the original. Defending herself with a shower brush rather than a knife, a hysterical Ross abruptly calms down, realizing she could use a drink. The best visual gags are saved for last as a tidal wave of Dew surges out of an elevator and Cranston turns into the Grady twins.

Whenever we think of an old western gunfighter, actor Sam Elliott is usually the first person who comes to mind. In the late 2010s, Lil Nas X has put a fresh spin on the cowboy archetype with his unique blend of country rap. Tradition meets the new-age in The Cool Ranch – a brilliant pun for a Doritos commercial. The ad starts off in typical spaghetti western fashion as Elliott and Nas face off in a town square with a classic Ennio Morricone score playing. In an unexpected turn, the duel evolves into a dance battle. While Elliott has some surprisingly good moves, he ultimately tips his hat to Nas, who victoriously rides off with his chips. Billy Ray Cyrus’ line dancing days are over, though.

We’re still waiting for the second half of “Rick and Morty” Season 4, but this meta ad more than satisfied our appetite. As Rick and Summer watch a Pringles commercial on television, Morty enters with several different Pringles containers. Rick can tell that something’s amiss because nobody is this excited about chip stacking in real life. Rick quickly unmasks the imposter Morty, confirming that they’re trapped in a Pringles commercial. There’s seemingly no escape as an army of Morty robots enters, promoting more stacking combos. The ad was part of a tie-in for special edition Pickle Rick-flavored Pringles. Now if only we could stack Pickle Rick Pringles with Szechuan sauce and Eyeholes flavors… on second thought, that probably wouldn’t be a very tasty combo.

Rainn Wilson goes from one office job selling paper to selling sliced bread, which has some stiff competition now that Little Caesars delivers. “The best thing since sliced bread” is an idiom that gets tossed around a lot, but this pizza chain’s first Super Bowl ad takes it quite literally. The artist formerly known as Dwight Schrute does everything in his power to keep sliced bread on top, but even his own employees are turning to Little Caesars come lunchtime. Just as the Roman Republic fell following the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Sliced Bread Empire is ultimately taken down by Little Caesars. Defeated, Wilson figures that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Hopefully, he didn’t put any beets on the pizzas.

You’ll never look at Jason Momoa the same way again after watching this Rocket Mortgage ad, which is equal parts funny and disturbing. Things start off routinely enough as Momoa pulls up to his mansion, addressing the audience. Heading into his sanctuary, he makes himself comfortable by taking off his shoes, but he doesn’t stop there. The Aquaman actor then removes his brawny biceps and muscular abs, becoming scrawnier than pre-Captain America Steve Rogers. Most shocking of all, Momoa strips off his luxurious hair to reveal a balding head. The fact that Momoa does all of this with a casual smile on his face just makes the commercial more surreal. Every superhero has a second life and we guess the same applies to action stars. Oh, and the ad is for something about mortgages. Obviously.

Tom Brady has led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, but all good things must come to an end. This black and white commercial begins on a solemn note as the celebrated quarterback enters an empty stadium. Talking about quitting while he’s ahead, it’s strongly implied that the football legend is about to announce his retirement. As the screen fades to black, all the New Englanders watching at home take a collective deep breath and prepare for the worst. Then in a brilliant fakeout, Brady reveals that we’ve been watching a Hulu ad and he’s been talking about quitting cable for streaming. Just to clear up any confusion, Brady guarantees us that he’s not retiring anytime soon. Don’t scare us like that again, Tom!

Hey, did you know that Chris Evans, John Krasinski, and Rachel Dratch were all born in Massachusetts? Well, you’ll never forget that fact after watching this ad, which highlights the Hyundai Sonata’s smart park feature. Or should we say the “smaht pahk” feature?! These actors don’t just lay on thick Boston accents though. They sound like the cast of “Good Will Hunting” if they converged with the cast of “The Departed,” hilariously replacing every “R” with an “H.” Reminiscent of an “SNL” sketch, the commercial delivers no shortage of memorable one-liners, from “ghost cah” to “wicked smaht.” As if there wasn’t already enough Boston pride to go around, it’s topped off with an appearance from Red Sox David “Big Papi” Ortiz. How you like them apples?

You wouldn’t expect a Super Bowl commercial to move you to tears. If this ad doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, though, you just might be a machine. Similar to “Parisian Love,” Google’s first Super Bowl ad, this commercial revolves around an aging man using his Google Assistant to ensure that he doesn’t forget about his late wife, Loretta. What ensues is an emotional rollercoaster down memory lane, touching upon both the cruelty of time and the good times that make life so special. While the commercial itself is beautifully crafted, it’s only made more poignant when you consider that it was inspired by an actual Google employee’s 85-year-old grandfather. And yes, the grandfather provided the voiceover for this ad, giving it a sincere touch.

Leading up to the big game, Planters generated buzz by “killing off” the company’s iconic mascot, Mr. Peanut. Blowing up with the Nutmobile after falling off a cliff, the monocled nut sacrificed himself to save actors Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh. Although this ad campaign was temporarily put on hold following Kobe Bryant’s tragic death a week before the Super Bowl, Planters did ultimately give Mr. Peanut’s fans closure during the big game. At the funeral, Snipes delivers a powerful eulogy with Walsh, Mr. Clean and Kool-Aid Man all in attendance. Thanks to a drop of Kool-Aid’s tears, an adorable baby peanut miraculously grows out of his grave. The dolphin noises seem concerning at first, but Mr. Peanut quickly assures us that he has risen. Hey, love it or hate it, this ad got people talking. Do you think we’ll see a Baby Nut x Baby Yoda crossover any time soon?

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

“Can’t Touch This”
Cheetos

“Jimmy Works It Out”
Michelob ULTRA

“Snickers Fix the World”
Snickers

“Inside Post’s Brain”
Bud Light Seltzer

“Going Away Party” feat. John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
Genesis

Since Groundhog Day lined up with the 2020 edition of the Super Bowl, Jeep couldn’t resist paying homage to the classic 1993 comedy. In this loving recreation, Bill Murray reprises his role as Phil Connors. Just when it looked like Phil had escaped from that time loop for good, he’s awakened by Sonny and Cher yet again. At first, everything seems to be on schedule as Phil encounters Ned Ryerson and the mayor. Instead of an old truck, though, Phil stumbles upon a brand new Jeep Gladiator. Snatching the Jeep and the groundhog become part of Phil’s regular routine, but he switches things up each day by driving to a different destination. It’s just the right balance of something familiar and something new.