I woke up this morning with the feeling like the whole Super Bowl affair was a little ho-hum. Good, but not amazing. There weren’t any compelling villainous story lines or tales of redemption.There was Matthew Stafford and Arron Donald deservedly winning a Super Bowl after long, successful careers. There was enough scoring and a game winning drive, but not an all time great game. I also remembered the commercials kinda felt the same way. Stuff we had all seen before. Good, but not amazing. And a little bit like the game, there were some missed opportunities. And at $6.5 million per 30-second commercial you would think the brands and creative teams would have invested a little more in the execution. I was ready to come out and talk shit about how poorly everyone did…Well, doing my research and rewatching a lot of the ads this morning, I found myself enjoying them a good bit more than I originally thought.And in a lot of cases, I couldn’t find a way to necessarily make them better so I choose to go with an unranked list. It felt like this was a more enjoyable way to subjectively critique someone else’s hard work.

Ready to hear it. Here it go…

Amazon Alexa: Mind Reader

By a mile this was my favorite commercial. It played more like an SNL skit than a commercial…Writing really does matter. (I feel like there is a joke on me in there somewhere.)

Rocket Mortgage: Barbie Dream House

This was a really well done ad. It focused on an adult problem with a kid as the voice of reason. And if you noticed there was an ad within the ad for Spotx.

FTX: Larry David is Never Wrong

He really isn’t wrong is he? And he always delivers.

Planters: One vs Mixed

I think my favorite part is when someone accuses their friend of being a “one nutter”.

Greenlight: I’ll Take It

Ty Burell is perfect in this ad. It’s like watching Lloyd Christmas spend ransom money. I also liked the product tie-in, just wish the end was a little bit better.

Lay’s: Golden Memories

This was one of the ads that got better the second time I watched it. Love these two guys and loved when they asked the kidnapper for a different flavor of lays.

Chevrolet: Sopranos Reunion

This is a really good example of keeping it simple.

Toyota: Keeping up with the Jonses

Most of the car ads kinda sucked, but this one was a really good idea.

Planet Fitnes: What’s Gotten into Lindsay

I love it when you can get B- listers to do funny commercials. Plus there is Shattner. What’s not to like.

Booking.com: Idris Elba Says Things

Idris Elba could make anything cool, but my favorite bit here is the brand is having a go at itself.

Squarespace: Sally’s Seashells

All respect goes to Andre 3000.

eTrade: Baby Off The Grid

Nice comeback…Love this character.

Sam’s Club: VIP

Kevin Hart’s stunt doubles are the best. “You know what’s made for you? The line!”

Hyundai: Evolution w/ Jason Bateman

This is another one that got better when I rewatched it. Bateman is hilarious, and I wish Hyundai would have let him get a little more snarky or even have a go at one of their older models.

Disney Goats

It’s clever and subtle, but I was left waiting for the “big finish”.

Michelob ULTRA: Welcome to Superior Bowl

This is another that you thought was going to have a big finish and it just didn’t quite deliver. Not necessarily bad, just left wanting more.

Uber Don’t Eats

This was way better the second time around. It was so good, I’m not exactly sure what I was watching the first time..

GM: Dr. EV-il

I was probably most disappointed in this one…It had so much potential. I like everyone in the cast so much, I can only blame GM.

Hellmann’s: Mayo Tackles Food Waste

If you’re going to try and copy the legendary Terry Tate commercials, you have got to do better than this. A great idea, just not as good as the one you stole the idea from…Even if Pete Davidson does get hit.

Bud Light Seltzer: Land of Loud Flavors

This one kinda felt like they were going for a Bill and Ted type future, but didn’t pull it off.

Irish Spring: Welcome to Irish Spring

I wanted this one to be funnier.

DraftKings: Fortune – Life’s a Gamble

This was a pretty good payoff with Joe. I hope they keep using this theme and do more spots. It’s a good idea.

Nissan: Thrill Driver

Entertaining until the end.