Football? Who said anything about football? The commercials are a vital, arguably equal part of the Super Bowl viewing experience. Half the people at your Super Bowl 50 party care more about the ads than the game anyway. And after the lackluster game played by the Panthers and Broncos, what are more people going to be talking about?

Defense may win championships, but Christopher Walken, Marvel superheroes and singing animals win Super Bowl commercials. This wasn’t a great crop of ads, but here are the 10 best we saw Sunday night.

Budweiser: Love the message about not driving drunk, but even more so when given by Helen Mirren. What are the chances she actually ate that hamburger?

https://youtu.be/Rb2VXVmUga4

Snickers: America probably wasn’t ready to see Willem Dafoe in a dress with his skirt getting blown up. But it’s a great new take on the “Need a Snickers” gag, invoking a classic movie moment with Marilyn Monroe.

https://youtu.be/WhfntLl6xx0

Apartments.com: An ad can’t go wrong with invoking the theme to The Jeffersons, right? And having Jeff Goldblum peek in on various apartments on his way up to the top trades on his inherent weirdness. The Weezy gag at the end was worth the wait.

Marmot: Man loves marmot, marmot doesn’t quite feel the same way. Let’s just be friends. This prompted quite the exchange among Comeback staffers. Did you have the same conversation?

marmot_chat

Coca-Cola: It’s Hulk vs. Ant-Man, two Marvel superheroes battling over a Coke Mini. It’s already the best superhero film of 2016. (Can Deadpool dethrone it this coming weekend?)

Toyota Prius: This stoked a bit of controversy online, depicting four white guys getting away with a crime unscathed. But for fans of The Wire, it was fun to see the Sobotkas together again. Who knew a Prius could be cool?

https://youtu.be/MYeM-8hO3hM

Kia Optima: Christopher Walken can make any ad good. But talking about socks truly makes something memorable. “It’s like the world’s most exciting pair of socks, but it’s a mid-size sedan.”

https://youtu.be/9r0FrXXKeiA

Honda Ridgeline: Sheep singing Queen. There really is nothing wrong about this. Unless maybe “Somebody to Love” isn’t your favorite Queen song. But truck bed audio could make anyone want to sing.

Audi: Has it already been a month since David Bowie left this planet and mortal coil? Obviously, the Starman is going to live forever in our memory. Having Bowie be a part of our Super Bowl experience felt magical.

Amazon Echo: This looked like an iffy product to advertise during the Super Bowl, but Alec Baldwin, Jason Schwartzman, Missy Elliott and Dan Marino hit the sweet spot. Football connections are always good in Super Bowl ads. Schwartzman couldn’t contest Marino physically, right? Watch out for Elliott, though.

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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