By Emilie Weinbeck, Features Assignment Editor
On Sunday, Americans watched the most decorated quarterback in National Football League history, Tom Brady, and the most exciting young quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, play in the 2021 Super Bowl. Whether a person paid attention to the game or not, viewers can all agree that every year the Super Bowl commercials are what really catch the audience’s eye and steal the show.
While the typical big-ticket commercials from companies like Coke, Pepsi and Budweiser sat out this year because of the pandemic, it does not mean that the Super Bowl commercials did not become viral or stir up emotions. Here are some of the best 2021 Super Bowl commercials.
Starting off is the Frito-Lay’s commercial. The commercial features superstar football brothers Peyton and Eli Manning. They both take part in a story narrated by retired Super Bowl champion, Marshawn Lynch, called “‘Twas the Night Before Super Bowl.”
Throughout the commercial, other Super Bowl champions are seen snacking on Frito-Lay’s’ most popular chips such as Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. The commercial ends showing clips of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Kansas City Chiefs and Lynch saying to not forget the chips for the Super Bowl celebration.
The next commercial by Ford pulls at viewer’s heartstrings as the commercial shows images of healthcare workers embracing people in masks and people leaving the hospital after battling COVID-19. The messaging of the ad shows how society must finish strong as vaccines are rolling out and being administered, so people can get back to the way life once was.
Towards the end of the commercial, there are images of concerts, weddings and people hugging to remind viewers that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and all of the mask wearing, quarantine and isolation will one day pay off.
Going along with the theme of carmaker ads, Toyota’s commercial is all about a story of overcoming obstacles. The commercial follows Paralympian Jessica Long, whose legs were amputated when she was 18 months old.
The advertisement shows Long swimming through the depicted scenes of her life starting when she was in an orphanage in Siberia. As she swims along, viewers get to see how she became a decorated Paralympic athlete with the help of her family and coaches.
The commercial concludes with her adoptive mother telling the adoption agency that they would love to have Long be a part of their family, and whatever she does in life will be amazing despite her condition.
McDonald’s decided to go with the lighthearted approach when it came to their advertisement. Throughout the commercial, people are seen singing in their cars as they head to a McDonald’s drive-thru to get their food since most of the fast food chain’s indoor dining is closed.
The commercial touches on the fact that food and music brings people together, even if it means eating in their car while singing along to music. This ad goes to show that it can be the little things in life that bring people the most joy, creating the best memories with the people loved one’s care about the most.
This year’s Super Bowl commercials reflected on the turbulence that was 2020, made people realize that there has been good to come from everything and the end is in sight.
