During advertising’s biggest showcase Youth Jerome Baker Jersey , tame humor and messages about social causes ruled the day. Slapstick humor, sexual innuendo and chest thumping patriotic messages were, for the most part, nowhere in sight. After a divisive year, advertisers during the Big Game worked overtime to win over audiences with messages that entertained and strove not to offend.


Here’s a look at the winners and losers during the biggest advertising showcase of the year.

WINNERS

Amazon

An Amazon ad showcased different celebrities including actress Rebel Wilson, actor Anthony Hopkins, singer Cardi B and chef Gordon Ramsay subbing in as the voice of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

Budweiser

Budweiser , as always the largest advertiser during the game, eschewed the usual puppies and Clydesdales to showcase employees that send water to places in need.

NFL

The NFL scored with a charmer that showed New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. performing the choreography from the movie “Dirty Dancing” – complete with their version of Patrick Swayze’s iconic lift of Jennifer Grey.

PepsiCo

Pepsico’s brands Mountain Dew Ice and Doritos Blaze staged an epic rap lip sync battle between actors Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage, who respectively synced to Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes.

Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans

Comedian Keegan Michael-Key cut through complex jargon to put things plainly in a humorous ad for Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. When a restaurant patron is confused by a “beef-protein gluten-free pate,” Michael-Key explains: “It’s a burrito, filled with plants pretending to be meat.”

Tide

Tide took a novel approach with “Stranger Things” actor David Harbor in ads that poked fun at typical Super Bowl commercials. Harbour popped up in familiar-looking ads that appeared to be about different products: a car, an insurance company, jewelry and Old Spice (another P&G product). The twist? They’re really all Tide ads, because there are no stains on anyone’s clothing.

LOSERS

Coca-Cola

Diet Coke attempted to be quirky by showcasing a woman awkwardly dancing to a rap song Youth Brian O'Neill Jersey , but it garnered a lot of negative comments on social media when the approach came off more weird than quirky.

“It has no clear message and it’s not really interesting,” said Kimberly Whitler, a marketing professor at the University of Virginia.

Fiat Chrysler’s Ram Trucks

Ram trucks used a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., to illustrate its motto, “Built to Serve.” The ad, timed to the 50th anniversary of the speech, showed people doing good deeds. But some thought the connection to the civil rights hero was too tenuous.

“Ram is being heavily criticized for its spot,” said Tim Calkins, marketing professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. “The use of MLK to promote Ram trucks strikes many people are crass and inappropriate.”

TurboTax

The tax preparer used a monster under the bed to allude to people’s fears about doing their taxes. But some thought that the ad was too scary during a game that a lot of children were watching.

“The goal may be to introduce a new trade character that can build awareness, as in the Mucinex Man. However, this ad was a complete disaster,” Villanova University marketing professor Charles Taylor said.

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Eds: An earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to the brand Ram trucks, which is no longer affiliated with the Dodge brand.

Pittsburgh’s drama-filled season ended shockingly. A final, forgettable act.


No shot at the Patriots. No seventh Super Bowl trophy. No tomorrow.

And when it ended following a game no one expected Alex Goligoski Jersey , Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and the rest of the dejected Steelers searched to find words to describe all that had gone wrong.

This was a struggle from the start.

”It wasn’t our day,” Roethlisberger said. ”It wasn’t our year.”

Doomed by two first-half turnovers and a pair of head-scratching play calls on fourth down, Pittsburgh was stunned in the AFC playoffs by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who outslugged the Steelers 45-42 on Sunday to earn a trip to New England for next week’s conference championship.

Roethlisberger, who had wondered if he was washed up after throwing five interceptions in a loss to the Jags on Oct. 9, set a franchise postseason record with five touchdown passes but it wasn’t enough as the Steelers (13-4) couldn’t stop a Jacksonville offense that was supposedly weak.

”It’s disheartening,” said Brown, who caught two TD passes and played at his All-Pro level while battling a calf injury. ”I thought we had the right guys. As a player, you live for these moments. Now we start all over.”

As Roethlisberger dressed at one end of Pittsburgh’s locker room, a few of his teammates sat at their stalls in disbelief.

This wasn’t the plan.

Cam Heyward handled wave after wave of questions about the team’s numerous defensive lapses. Bell downplayed that his messy contract situation created an unnecessary distraction in the days leading up to the game, and cornerback Artie Burns sat in his uniform and stared blankly at the floor.

The Steelers never recovered from a 21-0 first-half deficit and are now left to wonder what might have been. Twice they got within seven in the second half only to give up back-breaking plays to the Jaguars, who rushed for 168 yards and seemed to come up with a big play whenever they needed one.

”It’s crazy that we couldn’t get off the field,” Heyward said. ”They played better than us – simple as that.”

The Jaguars had the Steelers out of step early on. After rookie Leonard Fournette’s second TD Christian Dvorak Jersey , the score set up by linebacker Myles Jack’s interception of Roethlisberger, Jacksonville was up 14-0 and Pittsburgh’s rowdy fans were using their Terrible Towels to muffle their disgust.

The Steelers seemed to panic when coach Mike Tomlin elected to go on fourth-and-inches and then inexplicably ran a sweep to Bell that got snuffed. Later, Roethlisberger threw an incompletion on fourth down when a simple sneak might have moved the chains.

”We didn’t execute well enough and they did,” Tomlin said when asked about his decisions.

Roethlisberger went 37 of 58 for 469 yards and the five TDs, the last coming with 1 second left.

It was a sobering moment for the star quarterback who has orchestrated so many comeback wins during a 14-year career. Roethlisberger found some solace in his final throw.

”Nobody quit and that speaks volumes about this team,” he said.

Roethlisberger also dismissed any talk the Steelers were looking past the Jaguars and a rematch with the Patriots, who handed Pittsburgh its only loss in the last 11 games.

”We were dialed in,” he said. ”I know I wasn’t looking forward.”

Bell finished with 155 total yards and afterward sidestepped much talk about his contract. He was franchise tagged by the team for $12 million this season and has made it clear he wants more money.

”I wasn’t thinking about it,” he said. ”All I was thinking about was getting to the Super Bowl.”

As for his own future, Roethlisberger indicated that he intends to return next season. The 35-year-old has hinted at retirement, but that seemed far from his mind as he swallowed a loss few saw coming.

”I don’t know what’s going on with people’s contracts,” he said. ”I don’t know how many years guys have left. I know the guys up front are all under contract and that’s a good feeling. I definitely have a desire to play football. I love this game. I love these guys. It’s tough. It stings.

”You hate losing at home. I feel bad because I feel like I let the fans down and my teammates down. I feel like I let a lot of people down and I’ll take it all myself. I look forward to next year with those guys.”

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