Advertisement

Super Bowl ads: 1st quarter features babies, bears and Jeff Goldblum

Share via

While you were checking on the hot wings, here were the best of the big budget ads in the first quarter of Super Bowl 50.

If you had a prop bet that Michelob Ultra would have the first commercial after kickoff, you can call your bookie and collect.

Willem Dafoe’s Snickers-induced transformation into Marilyn Monroe may have pushed the limits of Snickers’ “you’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign, which has become a Super Bowl favorite over the year. But fans of Turner Classic Movies will love it.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>

Watch the 2016 Super Bowl ads

It wouldn’t be a Super Bowl commercial without anthropomorphic bears. Scary, cuddly, funny -- bears are awesome, as evidenced in this one for Hyundai Elantra.

Advertisement

Random celebrity meet-ups are a staple of every Super Bowl. Apartments.com’s contribution to the genre has Jeff Goldblum doing the theme from “The Jeffersons” (“Movin’ on Up”) with a guest appearance by Lil’ Wayne, who’s hanging out with George Washington (George and Weezy - get it?).

Has Doritos inserted itself into America’s debate over a woman’s right to choose with this spot that shows a fetus in an ultrasound chasing after a chip?

Advertisement

Based on the previews of the ads, Super Bowl 50 is going to feel like a classic rock festival by the end of the night. But it’s hard not to feel uplifted by the use of the late David Bowie’s “Starman” from “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” in the Audi commercial about a retired astronaut called Commander. It already has close to 5 million views on YouTube.

Puppymonkeybaby sounds like something out of a brainstorming session that started with: “Why don’t we combine the highest-testing elements of every Super Bowl commercial ever done?” But the result looks more freakish than adorable – probably the right approach for the potential caffeine-addicted young males who would sample Mountain Dew Kickstart.

Follow @SteveBattaglio on Twitter.

MORE:

Super Bowl 2016 commercial challenge: Amy Schumer vs. Helen Mirren, Doritos vs. Mountain Dew

Super Bowl halftime performers through the years

Advertisement

2016 Super Bowl commercials: Christopher Walken, singing sheep could steal the show

Advertisement