Super Bowl commercials, from Adam Driver(s) to M&M candies; the hits and the misses

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/13/ [login to see] /super-bowl-commercials-from-adam-driver-s-to-m-m-candies-the-hits-and-the-misses
Hefty as the fees were for advertising time on this year's Super Bowl — up to $7 million per 30 seconds — there weren't that many commercials whose concepts and execution seemed worthy of the price tag.

Instead, viewers were stuck watching commercials that stranded some big name celebrities in thoughtless concepts (Jon Hamm and Brie Larson inside a giant refrigerator for Hellmann's mayonnaise?) or spots which made the products they were advertising look bad (Jennifer Coolidge getting her face stuck to a glass door by e.l.f. Cosmetics).

And, after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made waves with a QR code embedded in a Super Bowl ad in 2022, it felt like every other advertiser this year found a way to stick them inside their commercials.

Ironically, this year saw almost no crypto ads — perhaps the only good outcome from the spectacular collapse of FTX (seems their Super Bowl ad last year with Larry David expressing a comical level of skepticism about the company was right after all). We also saw lots of nostalgia and more partnerships, including Netflix passing up ads of its own to partner with GM and Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Ultra.