There are some Super Bowl ads out there that people just love but we don’t. So here’s our list of overrated and hated super bowl commercials.
First, let’s just address the ones that we merely “like” but didn’t like enough to make the top 15 list.
Overrated
Coke – Mean Joe Greene (1979)
Mean Joe trades his jersey for a coke. Awwwwww. But greatest Super Bowl commercial ever? outpost guy, release the wolves.
Budweiser – Wazzap (2000)
Look, we don’t hate it. We liked it when it first came out, but then most people did, because everybody went around for an entire frickin’ year shouting “Wazzzap!” to each other. Then there were the endless parodies involving old ladies, aliens, yuppies, and wasabi.
The rest of the world loved the ads too. Bill was in Switzerland in 2001 and they wouldn’t shut up about it over there. But in retrospect, the ads are kinda dumb. Certainly annoying. Maybe that’s what makes for an effective ad campaign.
McDonalds – Bird vs Jordan (1993)
Yaaawwwwwwwwwn.
Budweiser – Spuds Mackenzie (1987)
Yes, overrated. But after seeing all the horrible CGI animal commercials since, we rather miss the real thing.
Tragic
This one’s pretty horrible but it’s hard to hate, given the amount of people who were probably fired over it.
Burger King – Herb (1986)
“Herb” was revealed as the only guy in America who hadn’t tried a Whopper. During Super Bowl XX, he made his appearance. Folks, it was a $40 million dollar failure. Perhaps this 1986 ad can explain it better:
Yeah, Really. If it’s good enough for Gary Sirotzke, it’s good enough for us!! This was the culmination of the whole campaign – Herb the Nerd, with special guest star Gary Sirotzke. Talk about forgettable icons. And with that, Burker King committed one of the gravest sins of marketing – encouraging apathy in your target audience.
With those out of the way, here’s a few we totally hate:
Next Up: Super Bowl Commercials We Hate