Throughout the year, we all do what we can to avoid commercials.
Usually, once the paid ads show up, we either hit the mute button, take a bathroom break, or maybe grab something from the kitchen. But one time out of the year, there’s an event where commercials are not only watched but anticipated – Super Bowl Sunday.
The grand finale of the NFL season draws in over 100 million viewers each year, and advertisers make incredible investments to show off their products in front of this huge audience – few bigger than automakers putting the newest vehicle models on display.
While there are quite a few commercials you couldn’t forget any faster, there are those that make us laugh or even strike an emotional cord, and the 2010s have had their fair share of both.
To help prep for this Super Bowl Sunday, we went ahead and took a look back at the best Super Bowl car commercials of that last decade. (Disclaimer: This list does not include PuppyBabyMonkey).
Maserati (Super Bowl XLVIII)
Credit: Dennis Jenders
“The world is full of giants,” says Quvenzhané Wallis, who was fresh off an Oscar nomination for her role in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Her voice carries us through entrancing cinematography from monstrous ocean waves to a ballerina about to take stage. With every image, Wallis describes in detail just how we will take down said giants. Speaking just above a whisper, Wallis has you ready to conquer the world by the commercial’s end. So much so that you’re taken off guard when you realize it’s an ad for Maserati.
Despite the somewhat underwhelming reveal, the surreal lead up to it makes it one of the decade’s best.
Kia (Super Bowl LI)
Credit: Simply Awesome
Saving the planet never looked harder, or more hilarious.
Throughout the ad, Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids,” “Spy”) tries her best to save anything from whales to ice caps, but of course in classic Melissa McCarthy fashion, it does not go well.
Seeing McCarthy flip from her boat as an enormous whale plops down puts this video in the top five alone. The rest is icing on the cake.
Hyundai (Super Bowl L)
Credit: Hyundai USA
A young man knocks on a door ready to take a girl on a date. Pretty harmless, right?
Then it turns out Kevin Hart is the girl’s father.
What follows is Navy Seal-like stealthiness by the comedian to show the young man that he’s messing with the wrong daddy.
Hyundai (Super Bowl LI)
Credit: World Video
In last season’s Super Bowl, three soldiers in the U.S. Army joined their comrades to watch the big game. At halftime, those three were led away by their superiors to come into a dark and secret room, one for each soldier.
As the three sat, their rooms burst into life and it was revealed that they had a complete 360-degree first-person view of the Super Bowl that was still being played. But that was not the best part.
Through these 360-degree cameras, the soldiers got to spend an evening reunited with their spouses and children.
*Cue tears*
Volkswagen (Super Bowl XLV)
Credit: Anthony Network
For those who are “Star Wars” fans, who has not tried at least once to move something using the power of The Force?
During a time when there wasn’t a new movie from the franchise coming out each year, this commercial brought us back to the child-like wonder we all felt when we first visited the galaxy far, far away. A child-sized Darth Vader jumps in shock and awe when his “Force Powers” – after many failed attempts – make the family car come to life.
The child’s fun and innocent surprise and glee at what he just accomplished showed The Force was indeed strong with this commercial.
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