Around 70 exciting new commercials are generally run each year during the Super Bowl.
Every advertisement may not stand out. But the ones that do are treasures we can enjoy all year long. Did any new commercials catch your eye?
Here are some of my favorite 2023 Super Bowl commercials that are just too good to be forgotten.
Clueless: Rakuten
In the words of Alicia Silverstone, “You have to be butt crazy not to shop at Rakuten.” This commercial is a blast from the past and reenacts a nostalgic moment from the classic 1995 movie Clueless. As we enter a new year and fear of the unknown starts creeping out, sometimes you just want to see something familiar that can provide you with comfort in this new space.
Rakuten created one of the best 2023 Super Bowl commercials by using an effective marketing strategy called nostalgia marketing.
Nostalgia marketing taps into an audience’s fondest memories of classic pop culture moments and evokes those positive emotions to connect them to a brand. Now when Clueless fanatics like myself see this commercial, we’ll think of Rakuten, and we’ll want to go shopping.
The Roast of Mr. Peanut: Planter’s
Who knew there was more than one way to roast a peanut? In this Planter’s Nuts commercial, The Roast of Mr. Peanut, featuring:
Atsuko Okatsuka, David Lucas, Frank Castillo, Jeff Ross, Natasha Leggero, Sarah Tiana, and Yamaneika Saunders, entertained us with a little dry humor to roast Mr. Peanut to smithereens.
What makes it one of the most memorable 2023 Super Bowl commercials is its clever use of wordplay. In promotion of Planter’s Dry Roasted Peanuts, we were able to watch the brand’s dedicated mascot take the heat and practically everything from its fashion sense to its inability to pair well with certain desserts was put on the chopping block.
Saving Sawyer: Amazon
Dogs are just like humans. That’s why when Amazon centered its commercial around the family pet, it tugged at our heartstrings and earned its badge as one of the best 2023 Super Bowl commercials.
Fur babies are no strangers to the world of marketing and advertising. In fact, studies show there are psychological benefits to why several of the world’s favorite advertisements include animals. According to (Lancendorfer et al., 2008) the presence of an animal triggers positive emotions in those who view the advertisement. This is especially true for viewers who have animals or have a love for them.
Sawyer, Amazon’s 2023 Super Bowl commercial’s protagonist, quickly went from being a good boy, to becoming the villain. The whirlwind of emotions you experience as you see life through the eyes of the family pet is what makes this commercial one of this year’s best.
Breaking Bad: PopCorners
In Pocorner’s 2023 Super Bowl commercial, it revived memories of one of America’s favorite television shows, Breaking Bad. Like the Rakuten commercial, Popcorner’s featured memorable characters like Walter White and Jessie Pinkman and used nostalgia marketing in hopes of transferring viewers’ love for Breaking Bad over to their brand.
What are they? They’re called Pocorners. Say their name.
Great Acting or Great Taste: Pepsi
Pepsi’s 2023 Super Bowl commercial posed the question, Great acting, or great taste?
Steve Martin is a well-seasoned actor that people have grown to trust. If he were to assure you that Pepsi’s new Zero Sugar beverage is fantastic, would you trust him? How about if he just finished performing a successful nose job on Ms. Hastings, an adorable dog?
This is one of the best 2023 Super Bowl commercials because it leverages a phenomenal celebrity endorsement to get inside of the viewers’ heads. Does Pepsi Zero Sugar taste as great as Steve is charming, or are we easily persuaded by the smoke and mirrors or marketing and advertising?
Guess you’ll never know until you try it.
GM x Netflix: SPLVII
General Motors announced its ambitious goal to go electric and phase out gas and diesel engines completely by 2035. So when the brand announced in its 2023 Super Bowl commercial that it will be partnering with Netflix in an effort to bring more attention to electric vehicles, it instantly caught my attention.
A brand partnership is a strategic collaboration between two companies that are not competitors, yet there are similarities between their respective target markets. This helps brands break into new markets, increase brand awareness, and overall reap the benefits of associating with a like-minded company.
General Motors x Netflix selected Will Ferrell to give us a taste of what an all-electric future will look like, not yet in the real world, but in Netflix classics like Squid Game, Bridgerton, and The Walking Dead.
Baby Dolphin Skin: e.l.f Cosmetics
When I use a primer, I want my skin to feel soft and supple, like I come from the sea… like a dolphin. Like a baby dolphin.
Who wouldn’t want their skin to feel youthful and smooth?
That’s what makes this Power Grip Primer commercial featuring Jennifer Coolidge one of the most memorable 2023 Super Bowl commercials. Beauty brands are notorious for tapping into the ideal self, or how a consumer would like to view themself, with the goal of increasing sales.
In this case, smooth, supple skin is the mission, and it can’t get any smoother than a baby dolphin… or can it?