Super Bowl LIX ads: Seals, donkeys and donuts

The Philadelphia Eagles steamrolled the Kansas City Chiefs for a decisive victory in Sunday’s Super Bowl, but the battle for audience attention through ads was in many ways an even tougher fight.

With around 50 brands buying time during the broadcast, advertisers leaned on celebrities and familiarity to compete for eyeballs. Thirty-second spots cost as much as $8 million each – but also offered the potential to be seen by an expected 120 million people turning in.

Here were some of the spots that stood out in a crowded field.

Issa Rae crosses one off her bucket list

“(Shooting a Super Bowl commercial) has always been on my bucket list,” Actress, writer and producer Issa Rae told CNN in a recent interview. “So it was exciting to be able to do.”

Rae starred in a new spot for Turbo Tax. She said she was familiar with TurboTax, having used it to prepare her taxes in the past, and demurred when asked about a favorite Super Bowl ad of the past — saying the commercial she just shot is now her favorite. Fair enough!

Eugene Levy’s eyebrows take flight

Comedic actor Eugene Levy’s eyebrows flew off his head and out into the world in an ad for Little Caesar’s crazy puffs.

His signature eyebrows slid off his face in amazement at (one hopes) the tastiness of the puffs, going for a little trip everyone from a neighboring baby’s face (masquerading as a mustache) to a visit with awe-stricken caterpillars chanting “we’re not worthy.”

The brows returned – only to begin fluttering again when Levy learned “there are bacon ones?”

Seal as a seal? Sure, why not?

There’s always at least truly weird Super Bowl and, and this year’s entry was a Mountain Dew Baja Blast and featuring Seal… as a seal.

Seal, the British singer, was singing his 1994 hit “Kiss from a rose” while appearing as a seal with a human face while lying on a rock.

Why? No idea.

About that Barry Keoghan commercial with the donkey…

Barry Keoghan just made his Super Bowl commercial debut, and while he was stepping into unfamiliar territory in one respect for the SquareSpace spot, he did so alongside a familiar co-star.

In a new ad from Squarespace, the actor appears with a donkey, just as he did in his critically acclaimed turn in the 2022 film “The Banshees of Inisherin.” The commercial was filmed in his native Ireland, as was “Banshees.”

So what is it about him and donkeys?

“You know what, I don’t know, but we have great chemistry in it,” the “Saltburn” actor told CNN last week, laughing.

In the ad, Keoghan travels the countryside on the donkey to let people know about the design-driven platform that helps people build websites.

Elon Musk makes his presence felt during the Super Bowl ads

Elon Musk is inescapable these days, and though he wasn’t at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, one of his companies made a prominent appearance in an ad.

T-Mobile announced that its customers would be able to access Starlink, Musk’s network of low-orbit satellites that provide internet connectivity around the world. The service is free for any customer through July, and T-Mobile said it was inviting customers of rival Verizon and AT&T to try it for free, too.

Starlink will provide T-Mobile customers internet access where its towers don’t reach. That’s Starlink’s business model: United recently announced an expansion of its Starlink service to provide ultra-high-speed service on airplanes. And Musk often makes news by offering Starlink service for free in disaster-struck zones.

Dunkin’ ad — complete with track suits — pokes fun at complicated coffee

Dunkin’ Donuts crammed a lot into their Super Bowl spot: a “Java Jam Battle of the Coffee Brand Bands,” featuring Ben and Casey Affleck and Bill Belichick, and a coffee vat-immersed Jeremy Strong “trying to find the character.”

Clad, naturally, in DunKings track suits, the team dunks (sorry!) on an anonymous green blazer-wearing team from, ahem, another coffee shop, remarking acerbically about having to wait a half-hour to “get my name spelled wrong on the cup.”

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Starbucks has recently announced a return to its baristas writing customer names on cups again, in a bid by new CEO Brian Niccol.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal revisit “When Harry Met Sally” after 35 years

More than three decades after the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” first hit theaters, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan finally got back together. Coinciding with the 35th anniversary of their beloved movie, Crystal and Ryan returned to the famed Katz’s Deli in New York City to recreate one of the film’s most famous scenes.

Seated together at the exact same table where they originally filmed that infamous 1989 meal, Crystal and Ryan have recreated the iconic moment from rom-com cinema for a Hellmann’s mayonnaise commercial

Speaking to CNN, the duo revealed that they never thought they’d have a “When Harry Met Sally” reunion. But then the perfect project came along.

In the commercial, titled “When Sally Met Hellmann’s,” Ryan, in character as Sally, is overcome with excitement, to say the least, when she takes a bite of her turkey sandwich with Hellmann’s mayonnaise.

Nike shines a spotlight on female athletes

Nike’s 60-second spot this year showcased female athletes – and the contradictions of being a woman in sports.

Featuring basketball player Caitlin Clark, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, track champion Sha’Carri Richardson and others, a voiceover announced: “You can’t be demanding. You can’t be relentless. You can’t put yourself first.
So… put yourself first.”

The ad goes on to flash moments of triumph and achievement from the women.

“Whatever you do, you can’t win. So win,” the voiceover concludes.

The ad ends on an image of Chiles holding a one-handed upside down pose, an image of the athleticism that’s made her a household name.

In an ad for Meta, a banana worth millions

The star-packed ad may have been about Meta’s smart glasses (created in collaboration with Ray-Ban), but the focus was arguably a banana.

In a spot about the wearable tech, actor Chris Pratt watches in horror as Chris Hemsworth eats a banana previously duct-taped to a wall. The banana, Chris informs Chris, is actually a piece of art called “Comedian” – and it’s worth $6.2 million. (Yes, a banana duct taped to a wall is the whole thing.)

The eye-popping banana price tag came at auction late last year. The art previously sold at auction for $120,000 in 2019. Thankfully, inflation for produce at the grocery store – and not the art gallery – remains far more modest.

Harrison Ford’s Jeep ad tries to unite Americans … over EVs

In a moment when literally everything has become political, electric vehicles have divided America. President Donald Trump has criticized what he calls an “EV mandate,” which doesn’t actually exist. He signed an executive action to cancel electric vehicle subsidies and tax breaks.

But car companies had staked enormous investments in EVs, and they have an incentive to get Americans to buy them. That’s why Jeep hired Harrison Ford to convince people it was just as okay to buy EVs as it is to buy traditional gas guzzlers.

The patriotic ad, which promoted freedom of choice, proclaimed that you don’t need to be friends or agree with other drivers to wave to them. And it said people have a right to make their own choices in what kind of car they buy.

Catherine O’Hara breaks out her pickleball paddle for beer commercial

Yes, Catherine O’Hara can play pickleball. The actress and comedian also enjoys an occasional beer. That helps explain why she looked so natural in that Michelob Ultra commercial.

In the spot, the Emmy winner co-starred with Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe as they take on pickleball players — professional and otherwise — in a quest for Michelob beer.

“It was really fun to play this with Willem,” the “Schitt’s Creek” star said. “He was very collaborative. Willem is loose and funny. He’s played so many amazing serious roles, but doesn’t take himself seriously.”

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