Fast Company The five best and five worst Super Bowl commercials of 2020

Good morning!

As the aroma of wing sauce and stale beer may or may not still linger amid your olfactory leftovers, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on the other game last night. Yep, the commercials. 

Picking the best and worst Super Bowl ads is obviously a subjective exercise, and my evaluation of these multi-million-dollar attention seekers is no different. My criteria included best (or most unexpected) use of celebrity and best (or most unexpected) use of brand image or product, as well as those that didn’t need a big name—or even a recognizable name—to make a mark, or at least make me laugh. And it’s by no means a complete list.

I hated P&G’s attempt to establish a CPG Cinematic Universe, which came off more like a stockholder cult recruitment video. And please, someone make the thirsty Baby Peanut stop. On the flip side, loved Cheetos’ MC Hammer spot, a flawless piece of advertising rooted in a direct product truth—that damn cheese dust. Microsoft’s miniprofile of 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers was also pitch-perfect. 

But choices had to be made. Here are mine. What’s yours?

—Jeff Beer