CLOSE In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ram truck owners also believe in a life of serving others. 
 
 A still from a Ram Trucks Super Bowl ad featuring the voice of Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo: Ram Trucks) 
 
 When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon imploring hearers to imitate the servanthood of Jesus, he probably didn't envision them buying Ram trucks to do so. 
 
 And yet there was King's voice Sunday night, booming through millions of TV speakers during Ram's latest Super Bowl ad: 
 
 "If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness." 
 
 The speech, delivered 50 years ago on Feb. 4, 1968, served to inspire a Ram Trucks ad of American workers wiping brows, fishing and riding horses, doing pushups and, of course, driving ram Trucks. 
 
 After King's speech culminates, the ad's tagline appears: Built to serve. 
 
 The use of King's sermon to sell trucks did not sit well with many viewers, who voiced reactions ranging from uneasiness to repulsion. 
 
 More: 
 
 All the Super Bowl 2018 ads from the first half in the order they were released 
 
 All the Super Bowl 2018 ads from the second half in the order they were released 
 
 There was audible painful groaning at the Super Bowl party I’m at as everyone realized Dodge Ram was trying to profit off of an MLK speech — Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 5, 2018 
 
 Not sure MLK’s dream was to drive a Dodge Ram. — ItsTheReal (@itsthereal) February 5, 2018 
 
 mlk died to sell RAM TRUCKS — deaux (@dstfelix) February 5, 2018 
 
 Not everyone seemed to oppose the ad, however: 
 
 It’s fine. I’m not crying after a Dodge Ram commercial. #MLK#SuperBowlCommercial — Melinda Doolittle (@mdoolittle) February 5, 2018 
 
 The King Center, the Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to King's legacy, denied approving the use of King's words in the commercial: 
 
 Neither @TheKingCenter nor @BerniceKing is the entity that approves the use of #MLK’s words or imagery for use in merchandise, entertainment (movies, music, artwork, etc) or advertisement, including tonight’s @Dodge#SuperBowl commercial. — The King Center (@TheKingCenter) February 5, 2018 
 
 A spokesperson for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, responding by email, said: “We worked closely with the representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. estate to receive the necessary approvals and estate representatives were a very important part of the creative process.” 
 
 As reporter Kate Aronoff noted, King himself discourages listeners from overspending for automobiles in the very same sermon Ram sampled. A new Ram 1500 can cost about $27,000. 
 
 Not totally sure the Dodge RAM ad guys read that whole MLK speech.. https://t.co/QPa16BGv3dpic.twitter.com/3eFVZjb3BB — Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) February 5, 2018 
 
 Watch all the Super Bowl ads from this year: 
 
 Contributing: Erik Brady ||||| Peter Dinklage Spits Busta Rhymes, Morgan Freeman Raps Missy Elliott In Fiery Super Bowl Commercial 
 
 The rap battle of the 21st century arrived at Super Bowl LII when Peter Dinklage faced off against Morgan Freeman. Dinklage spit flames delivering Busta Rhymes’ tongue-twisting verse from Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now” (to promote Doritos Blaze) and Freeman was cold as ice rapping Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” (to rep for Mountain Dew Ice). Rhymes and Elliott even popped up on the commercial to bless the proceedings, appearing as moving portraits hanging on the wall. 
 
 “It's an incredible moment and I'm definitely proud of it. I think it's the hottest commercial on the planet,” Busta told Billboard about the spot. “I feel that it's one of the best commercials in Super Bowl history…. Our culture of hip-hop is being properly represented. It's a great bag of energy and vibes. I loved doing it -- the experience on the set was incredible and watching people's energy over it was even more fulfilling for me. I'm basking in the moment.” 
 
 Watch below. ||||| This photo provided by PepsiCo shows Presley Gerber in a scene from the company's Pepsi Super Bowl spot. For the 2018 Super Bowl, marketers are paying more than $5 million per 30-second spot to capture... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo provided by PepsiCo shows Presley Gerber in a scene from the company's Pepsi Super Bowl spot. For the 2018 Super Bowl, marketers are paying more than $5 million per 30-second spot to capture the attention of more than 110 million viewers. (PepsiCo via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — This year's Super Bowl ads ran the gamut from tame humor to ... tame messages about social causes. 
 
 After a divisive year, advertisers during the Big Game worked overtime to win over audiences with messages that entertained and strove not to offend. The slapstick humor and sexual innuendo that used to be commonplace during Super Bowl ad breaks were nowhere in sight. 
 
 Instead, Budweiser , as always the largest advertiser during the game, eschewed the usual puppies and Clydesdales to showcase employees that send water to places in need. Verizon showed people thanking first responders who saved them. And Tide tried to make people laugh (and perhaps forget about its Tide Pod problem ) with a humorous series of ads that starred "Stranger Things'" actor David Harbour. 
 
 "This is a year where people are feeling a little frayed around the edges because the divisive political environment on both sides," said Kelly O'Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's Brandcenter. "They want to feel like there's something still good in the world." 
 
 While the Philadelphia Eagles bested the New England Patriots in a nailbiter on the field, advertisers were fighting a similar battle to win over the hearts and minds of viewers. It's the largest live stage for advertising all year, so advertisers brought their A-game. 
 
 Tide took a novel approach with ads each quarter that poked fun at typical Super Bowl ads. Harbour popped up in familiar-looking ads that appear to be about different products: a car, an insurance company, jewelry and Old Spice (another P&G product). The twist? They're really all Tide ads, because there are no stains on anyone's clothing. 
 
 Tame comedy like the Tide ad was a theme throughout the night. In a year that saw the #MeToo movement shine a spotlight on sexual harassment, the vast majority of ads sill starred men but there weren't any that focused on scantily-clad women or sexual innuendo, save for an awkwardly dancing — and fully dressed — woman in a Diet Coke ad. 
 
 Comedian Keegan Michael-Key cut through complex jargon to put things plainly in a humorous ad for Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. When a restaurant patron is confused by what a "beef-protein gluten-free pate" is, he explains: "It's a burrito, filled with plants pretending to be meat." 
 
 An Amazon ad showcased different celebrities — including actress Rebel Wilson, actor Anthony Hopkins, singer Cardi B and chef Gordon Ramsay — filling in as the voice of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. 
 
 M&M's featured Danny DeVito as a human M&M. And Mountain Dew and Doritos staged an epic hip-hop lip sync battle between actors Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage. The two synced to Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes, respectively. 
 
 "There's a reason so many marketers are using celebrity combined with comedy — because it breaks through the clutter, delivers the message and gets buzz," said Aaron Shapiro, CEO of ad agency Huge. 
 
 An ad for Blacture, rapper Pras' new media platform, was one of the few ads to make an overtly political statement. It showed an African-American man standing alone on stage with tape over his mouth and a blindfold on his eyes. "Blacture. Be celebrated. Not Tolerated," text on the screen read. And T-Mobile's ad showed babies and enlisted Kerry Washington for a voiceover that talked about equality. 
 
 "The (T-Mobile) message is terrific but all the way through, if you asked consumers who the ad is for, nobody would know," said Kimberly Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia. 
 
 That kind of attempt to connect brands to social causes was a big theme of the night. Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University, said a fifth of all Super Bowl ads featured causes, compared with just 6 percent last year. 
 
 Toyota kicked things off by depicting the story of Lauren Woolstencroft, a Paraolympic skier who was born missing her left arm below the elbow as well as both legs below the knees, to promote its Paralympic sponsorship. 
 
 Budweiser showcased employees from its Cartersville, Georgia, brewery as they canned water to send to places in need like Puerto Rico and California. 
 
 Hyundai showcased its donations to fight pediatric cancer by bringing real Hyundai owners into a room during the pre-game Super Bowl festivities and letting them meet cancer survivors. Hyundai donates each time someone buys one of its cars. 
 
 "There's a lot of research that says millennials really like it when brands link themselves to causes," said Taylor. "It's just refreshing for a lot of people to see these unifying types of messages by the advertiser." 
 
 But advertisers can stumble in these efforts when the connection seems tenuous. There was some negative reaction when Fiat Chrysler's Ram trucks ad featured a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. The commercial, timed to the 50th anniversary of the speech, showed people doing good deeds like giving out food to the needy and rescuing a boy from a fire. 
 
 "Everyone was offended," said Zach Mann, who watched the game in Venice, California, with a group of 15 thirtysomethings. "It seems insensitive. We know it's Black History Month, but using an American hero to sell a Dodge was off-putting." (Ram trucks are no longer affiliated with the Dodge brand.) 
 
 Instead, it was the humorous ads like the Tide spots that won that group over. 
 
 "Everyone seems to be moving into more comedy, quirky, unique (ideas), which my friends and I all are enjoying way more" than past years, Mann said. "I think we all need more laughter these days." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Eds: An earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to the brand "Ram trucks," which is no longer affiliated with the Dodge brand. ||||| Because Hyundai knows that the American public is a bunch of suckers for charity, it decided to pull out all the stops this Super Bowl Sunday with a 60-second ad spot showcasing its charity "Hyundai Hope On Wheels" that benefits pediatric cancer research. Yeah, we weren't expecting it either, and it got us right in the feels. 
 
 In the spot, people are shown going through security to an event that was billed as the Super Bowl Experience by Genesis. Each time someone with a set of Hyundai keys went through the metal detector, a heart popped up, and they were directed down a side hall for further security screening. Only, there were no detector wands or rubber gloves waiting for them when they reached the screening room. 
 
 In the screening room, they were greeted by recorded thank you videos from survivors of pediatric cancer and then the survivors came out to hug the unwitting families. This is the first time Hyundai has trotted out its charity in a Super Bowl ad, and we're betting it isn't the last. ||||| Credit: Tide 
 
 So that happened. The 2018 Super Bowl spots were generally either silly or sincere—and all of them played it safe. If there are any major takeaways, it's that brands were largely disinclined to make any kind of statement other than "everyone is a special snowflake." We wish we could say the same in return. 
 
 See how 4,000 marketing pros rated the ads for entertainment but also effectivness in Ad Age's first Super Bowl Ranking with Morning Consult. 
 
 Amazon, "Alexa Loses Her Voice" 
 
 Lucky Generals and D1 
 
 The most surprising thing about this ad full of surprises is that Jeff Bezos has a decently compelling screen presence and can actually sort of act. Pretty funny for a terrifying boss. That's our main takeaway, anyway. Also, it would be excellent to have Cardi B as the voice of Alexa at all times. 
 
 Current mood: laughing 
 
 NFL: "Touchdown Celebration" 
 
 Grey NY 
 
 To celebrate its newer, more lenient rules regarding end-zone celebrations, the NFL put out this spot to combat its "No Fun League" rep. Here we get Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. recreating the iconic climax to "Dirty Dancing" set to its theme song, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." Not since the Super Bowl shuffle have we so enjoyed seeing these big lugs boogie. 
 
 Current mood: laughing 
 
 Tourism Australia, "Dundee" 
 
 Droga5 
 
 Imagine being tasked to make an ad for Australia: You're instantly battling icons, from Paul Hogan as Crocodile Dundee to, uh, Paul Hogan slipping "an extra shrimp on the barbie" to, er, Yahoo Serious. It speaks volumes about the state of moviemaking that the spot's head-fake premise is so plausible. You call yours an ad? Now, this is an ad. 
 
 Current mood: laughing 
 
 Sprint, "Evelyn" 
 
 Droga5 
 
 This genuinely amusing ad suggests that when our robots gain sentience they may not be as vengeance-bent as the droids on "Westworld." But they will tease us without mercy (albeit without much skill either). If it's in the interest of ostensibly saving us money, we'll take it. 
 
 Current mood: laughing 
 
 Febreze, "The Only Man Whose Bleep Don't Stink" 
 
 Grey New York 
 
 Brands invite trouble when they create their own hashtags, but Febreze no doubt gamed every possible way #BleepDontStink could go awry—and stuck with it anyway. For taking a common expression and making us think of it in new ways, Febreze comes off just as fresh as we all wish, well, our bleeps did. 
 
 Current mood: laughing 
 
 Tide, "It's a Tide Ad" 
 
 Saatchi & Saatchi 
 
 Tide gets uber-meta in this suite of four increasingly funny spots. Banking off his "Stranger Things" lovable everyman Hopper, David Harbour riffs on commercial clichés, hangs out with Isaiah Mustafa (we missed you, buddy!), marvels at a majestic Clydesdale and grinds like Mr Clean. One thing he definitely never does is eat a Tide pod. Mmmm, Tide pods. 
 
 Current mood: between smiling and laughing 
 
 Doritos and Mtn Dew, "Doritos Blaze vs. Mtn Dew Ice" 
 
 Goodby, Silverstein & Partners 
 
 Some things about 2018 are actually good. We may have to wait till 2125 for the final season of "Game of Thrones," but at least we can see the Dink lip-sync ferociously to Busta Rhymes' verse in (ugh) Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now." Then we get Morgan Freeman, the coolest man alive, slaying Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On." Bonus: Both rappers get cameos here. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Toyota: "One Team" 
 
 Saatchi & Saatchi 
 
 A priest, a rabbi, an imam and a Buddhist monk all go to a football game. It sounds like the setup to a joke. Instead it's the set-piece for this delightful spot that deftly delivers the message of togetherness—without beating anyone over the head with it. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Blacture: "Be Celebrated" 
 
 McKinney 
 
 Rapper Pras is using the Super Bowl to launch Blacture, a new media platform for black culture that celebrates, in his words, "black excellence." In this ad, the Grammy-winning founding Fugee attempts to pique curiosity with some startling imagery: He appears onstage in an empty ballroom, wearing black tie, blindfolded, with duct tape over his mouth. He removes them to the tagline "Be celebrated. Not tolerated." It got our attention. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Quicken Loans: "Translator" 
 
 Huge 
 
 Keegan-Michael Key's anger translator was so beloved that he made an appearance at President Obama's final White House Correspondents Dinner. Here he's back, but without the anger (or the edge), to deftly de-jargon pretentious waiters, deliberately obfuscating Tinder profiles and, of course, the mortgage process. Frankly, we wish we could take him everywhere. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Lexus, "Long Live the King" 
 
 Walton Isaacson 
 
 Lexus injects a healthy dose of badass into an ad slate that otherwise leans either silly or sincere. "Black Panther" fans have to wait until Feb. 16 for the film to come out, but this spot—complete with actual film footage and a snip from Run the Jewels' soundtrack—should tide them over 'til their king descends from Wakanda. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Bud Light, "Ye Olde Pep Talk" and "Bud Knight" 
 
 Wieden & Kennedy 
 
 Sure, the "Dilly Dilly" stuff is silly silly, but it's so pliable it's taken quick root in the vernacular. Now we finally get some kind of logical connection between the knights, their Dillies and Bud Light. OK, maybe "logical" is a stretch, but here we meet Bud Knight in an execution that is consistently on point. Now Bud just needs to turn the slogan into sales. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Jeep: 'Jeep Jurassic' 
 
 DDB Chicago 
 
 In making so many different ads for one game, Jeep is betting that something will stick with everyone. We're never not happy to see Jeff Goldblum at any age—and this spot will appeal to all generations of "Jurassic Park" fans even at the risk of reminding us how old we're getting. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Avocados From Mexico, "#GuacWorld" 
 
 GSD&M; 
 
 Avocados From Mexico returns for its fourth consecutive year with yet another smart-funny bit of lighthearted fun. The brand plays up the versatility of avocados here, with a nod to that millennial darling, avocado toast. As Gen X-ers, we love Chris Elliott just for showing up—and perhaps even more for not really ever having a reason for being there. Pass the guac. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Wendy's, "Iceberg" 
 
 VML 
 
 This commercial throws so much shade, we need a glass of iced tea. Wendy's pulls no punches here and we love it for it. After telling us that McDonald's publicly claims its burgers are flash-frozen, the ad reminds us that "the iceberg that sank the Titanic was frozen, too." Oooh. Need some aloe for that flame-broiled burn, McD's? 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 E-Trade, "This Is Getting Old" 
 
 MullenLowe 
 
 Some things in life will always be true: Saving money is boring. And old people doing young people stuff is hi-lar-i-ous. To the tune of "Banana Boat Song (Day O)," these oldsters sing about the misery of still having to punch a clock: "I'm 85 and I want to go home." It's a nice spoonful of sugar for some tough medicine: More than a third of Americans have no retirement savings. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Intuit, "Giant Skip Ad" 
 
 Phenomenon/Passion Animation Studio 
 
 Finally a Super Bowl ad that admits no one actually likes ads. 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Kia, "Feel Something Again" 
 
 David & Goliath 
 
 Steven Tyler returns to the Super Bowl (last seen there in a Skittles ad), this time to reclaim the glories of youth. While Aerosmith continues to exist, against all odds, Tyler has emerged as something of a national pervy-great-uncle/magician. Also, he looks more and more like my mom every year. This is getting weird. But the ad works. 
 
 Current mood: smiling and a bit confused 
 
 Ram Trucks: 'Icelandic Vikings' 
 
 Goodby, Silverstein & Partners 
 
 The Vikings may not be in the Super Bowl, but that's not stopping them from trying to get to their home stadium—-by truck and by boat. The highlight here is the resurfacing of a rare amped-up BBC performance of Queen's "We Will Rock You." The punchline takes a bit of deciphering, but it turns out these warriors are forlorn about not getting to do battle. Because, get it?, the Vikings aren't in the Super Bowl. 
 
 Current mood: smiling and confused. 
 
 Squarespace: "Make it Happen" 
 
 In-house 
 
 Delightfully weird and mildly confusing, this spot trots out the millennial sentiment that "there has never been anyone just like you," only in a creepy tone and with Keanu Reeves inexplicably standing on a rolling motorcycle. Like last year's John Malkovich spot, this manages to be both compelling (the music helps) and slightly unsettling. It's unclear what it all has to do with Squarespace, though we're not sure we care. 
 
 Current mood: smiling, but confused 
 
 TurboTax, "Thing Under the Bed" and "Noise in the Attic" 
 
 Wieden & Kennedy 
 
 By anthropomorphizing well-known bogeymen, this spot charmingly works to dispel the fear of taxes. The monsters are endearing, it turns out! Nothing to be scared of here. Now if only TurboTax would put out a similar spot to quell our crippling fear of inexorable decline and death. Hey, pass the guac! 
 
 Current mood: between meh and smiling 
 
 Michelob Ultra, "I Like Beer" 
 
 FCB Chicago 
 
 Move over, Pratt. The real star of this ad is the song. If there's any justice in the world, Tom T. Hall, who wrote the 1975 waltz featured in this spot will soar to the top of the charts this week. Heck, make him next year's halftime act—he'll only be 82, roughly the average age of the American TV viewer. Also the auteur of "Harper Valley P.T.A.," Hall's as American as they come. Bottoms up! 
 
 Current mood: smiling 
 
 Michelob Ultra, "The Perfect Fit" 
 
 FCB Chicago 
 
 Who doesn't love Chris Pratt? (Other than Anna Faris, maybe.) Handsome, funny, handsome, fit and handsome, the "Jurassic World" star should be able to parlay this high-profile beer spot—his first—into some real success. We kid, but it's testament to Pratt's likability that he outshines the ad's mediocre premise and downright lame punchline. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 YouTube 
 
 Hook 
 
 YouTube has a message for cord cutters: For just $35 you can stream more than 40 channels of live entertainment over your set top box. Will anyone actually pay $35 for YouTube TV? The ad ran between the coin toss and kickoff and by the time the game started we had forgotten it aired. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 Jeep: 'The Road' 
 
 FCB Chicago 
 
 "The road is someone else's idea," this ad reminds us. "The road always ends." A stirring call to adventure, this spot urges us outdoors and off the beaten path. We're in. Who's driving? 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 Universal Parks and Resorts, "Peyton Manning: Vacation Quarterback" 
 
 In-house 
 
 Note to self: Next time Peyton Manning invites us to a Universal theme park, tell him we're holding out for an invite from pervy uncle/magician Steven Tyler. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 Persil ProClean, "The Professional" 
 
 DDB New York 
 
 This spot would have been way more fun if the titular professional emerged from the TV more like the girl in "The Ring." Here, this old visual trick offers nothing new aside from the straight-man reactions of the game watchers: "What was in those brownies?" Maybe the creative team actually should have spiked them. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 Wix.com, "Rhett & Link" 
 
 In-house 
 
 We first learned about Rhett and Link when our kids showed us clips from their YouTube show "Good Mythical Morning," so we feel slightly ahead of the curve. Mostly, we're trying really hard not to type the word "influencers." Ach. Damn. Anyway, these dudes are charming enough and the ad actually shows us what Wix.com does. Utilitarian, if not especially riveting, fare. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 Coca-Cola, "The Wonder of Us" 
 
 Wieden & Kennedy 
 
 A diversity play, but less bold than 2014's multilingual "It's Beautiful" spot: Everyone is a special, unique snowflake! Except when it comes to Coke: We all drink the same thing! To be sure, Coke wants to evoke that one time it taught the world to sing in perfect harmony. And the subtle nod to the transgendered community with "them" was a nice touch. But this is a millennial pander. Also the tagline, "Taste the feeling," could really alienate the synesthesia community. 
 
 Current mood: meh 
 
 T-Mobile, "Little Ones" 
 
 in-house and Laundry Service 
 
 We wonder what Kurt Cobain would make of this. Set to a lullaby version of "All Apologies," the spot reminds us that babies aren't judgmental. Maybe he'd take a line from his own song: "I wish I was like you/ Easily amused." Maybe he'd switch to Sprint. We love the full-throated embrace of tolerance and equality here. We're just not sure what it has to do with T-Mobile. 
 
 Current mood: meh, but also confused 
 
 Pepsi, "This Is the Pepsi" 
 
 In-house 
 
 Why make a new commercial when you can just do a greatest-hits mashup of all your golden oldies? Pepsi leans into the nostalgia angle with this quick-moving trip down memory lane. Hey, remember that Pepsi spot with Cindy Crawford? With Britney? With Michael (wait, didn't they accidentally set him on fire)? Well, the gang's all here. Everyone, that is, except Kendall. 
 
 Current mood: mildly confused 
 
 Budweiser, "Stand by You" 
 
 David 
 
 AB InBev goes for the do-gooder vibe in this disaster-relief spot for Budweis—uh, America. Emotionally much more manipulative than the Stella Artois spot, here we have a soupy cover of "Stand by Me" to convey that in times of trouble, the beer brand—and the everyday Joes who work there—are there for you. For this we sacrificed Clydesdales? 
 
 Current mood: confused 
 
 Turkish Airlines: 'Five Senses' 
 
 This beautifully shot ad makes us suddenly desperate to visit Turkey. It also makes us desperate to never see Dr. Oz again. 
 
 Current mood: confused 
 
 Diet Coke: "Groove" 
 
 Anomaly Los Angeles 
 
 Just because "I can" doesn't mean "I should." This spot, starring Australian actress Hayley Magnus, was originally shot as a quick social media video. It's possible it should have stayed that way. The no-doubt adorkable Magnus dances in mismatched rainbow socks in front of a mango-hued wall as a way to explain the "why" of Diet Coke Mango. The goofy-sexy shimmy is more awkward than compelling, though, and does little to entice us to try the new flavor. 
 
 Current mood: confused 
 
 WeatherTech, "American Factory" 
 
 Pinnacle Advertising 
 
 If we didn't know what WeatherTech did before this ad, we certainly still don't know now. We do, however, know that they have—again—chosen to lead with a lily-white manly #MAGA jingoism, which will no doubt resonate in the red states. So, good for them? 
 
 Current mood: mostly confused 
 
 Toyota, "Mobility for All" and "Good Odds" 
 
 Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu 
 
 We're not crying, you're crying. Toyota looks beyond cars and into mobility of all kinds. "When we're free to move," the tagline concludes, "anything is possible." Case in point: the inspirational story of eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Lauren Woolstencroft. Toyota, an Olympic and Paralympic sponsor, does the everyone's-a-special-unicorn messaging better than the rest. 
 
 Current mood: sobbing (but in a good way?) 
 
 Hyundai: "Hope Detector" 
 
 Innocean 
 
 This wasn't the ad Hyundai had planned to make, but due to security concerns about filming in real time at the game itself, this is where it landed. It works. In this moving ad, real-life Hyundai owners are pulled aside as they arrive at the "Super Bowl Experience" at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and are greeted with real cancer patients. The purchase of their car, these game-goers learn, helped to fund pediatric cancer research. Tears and hugs follow. 
 
 Current mood: sobbing 
 
 Verizon, "Answering the Call" 
 
 McCann New York 
 
 Verizon doesn't just tug at your heartstrings here, it practically reaches down your throat and rips them out. This touching homage to America's first responders is a message that absolutely anyone can get behind, and Verizon works in its reason for being there in a mostly seamless and organic way. 
 
 Current mood: sobbing 
 
 M&M;'s, "Human" 
 
 BBDO New York 
 
 If you didn't see the garbage truck coming a mile away, then this is the commercial you deserve. M&M;'s is going the KFC Colonel route of late, first with David Cross voicing the new caramel-filled iteration of the candy, and now with Danny DeVito as the human incarnation of the red M&M.; It's a time-honored tactic: Tap a celebrity with good will to carry your flaccid ad into the end zone. 
 
 Current mood: mad 
 
 Ram Trucks: 'Built to Serve' 
 
 Highdive 
 
 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech played here 50 years ago tonight. The words alone—a rousing call to service for all citizens—are blazingly powerful. Layered over images of everyday heroes (and Ram trucks) the message feels co-opted. We're grateful to hear his voice tonight. It's just too bad it's being used to sell pickup trucks. 
 
 Current mood: mad 
 
 Jeep: "Anti-Manifesto' 
 
 Arnold Worldwide 
 
 Commercials that brag about being un-commercials are somewhat tedious. The meta execution on the Tide spots tonight was spot on (pun not intended but we'll keep it). This just feels overly smug and pleased with its anti-commercialism (which, of course, set the automaker back $5 million). 
 
 Current mood: mad 
 
 Pringles, "Wow" 
 
 Grey New York 
 
 The wacky-for-the-sake-of-wacky ad is a worn-out trope, and this one breaks no new ground. The ad's stagehand yokels are slack-jawed wacky types. Bill Hader is tediously bug-eyed and wacky. Together they stack Pringles to create new flavor combinations, which isn't going to make Pringles themselves taste any less like a cereal box. 
 
 Current mood: mad 
 
 Stella Artois, "Taps" 
 
 Mother 
 
 Stella is to be lauded for teaming with Matt Damon's water.org to bring a global crisis to our attention. But just because a spot highlights a worthy cause doesn't mean it has to be so anodyne. The solution? Buy beer mugs! Sorry, "chalices." Stella's word, and it's distracting. (It did remind us to rewatch Danny Kaye in "The Court Jester": It's the chalice from the palace, after all, with the brew that is true.) 
 
 Current mood: confused and a little mad 
 
 Groupon, "Who Wouldn't" 
 
 O'Keefe, Reinhard & Paul 
 
 Tiffany Haddish landed this spokesgig when she effused about Groupon during her "Girls Trip" press tour. This spot feels like two commercials in one. First we get Haddish, who is funny and super-watchable. Then we get...a cheap hit-in-the-nuts gag. Groupon blew $5 million to gain the attention of 100 million people to show them an "America's Funniest Home Videos" outtake? 
 
 Current mood: mad ||||| “I was just thinking that one thing I haven’t seen are those ads that objectify women, which is refreshing,” Ms. Johnson said. “And guess what? There’s still funny stuff on the air. We’re making progress.” 
 
 Still, some wished that there was more humor. 
 
 “It’s really a pretty lame year,” said Marianne Malina, president of the agency GSD&M in Austin, Tex. “When the TV promos for the Olympics and ‘The Voice’ and the N.F.L. and Justin Timberlake overshadow a lot, that says everything.” 
 
 Ms. Malina pointed out that that was a shift from the political tone of last year. 
 
 “It’s an interesting insight into just the level of risk that people are comfortable with right now,” Ms. Malina said. “Last year, people had a very strong response, and now, a year later, people are confused. Everyone’s trying to get their head around all the things that are going on, so you can see how maybe the risk dial goes down.” 
 
 “But in reality,” she added, “the risk dial maybe needs to go up.” 
 
 Verizon was among the brands that took a somber route. Its ad showed images of rescue situations and carried the voices of people thanking emergency workers, ending with the words: “They answer the call. Our job is to make sure they can get it.” 
 
 “In a culture and a climate where it’s hard to find any kind of positive news out there at the moment, it felt like something we wanted to really lean into and take on a very different message,” said Andrew McKechnie, Verizon’s chief creative officer. 
 
 Ram ad using Martin Luther King Jr. sermon draws criticism. 
 
 The blowback was swift for Ram after the carmaker used a sermon given by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the voice-over for one of its ads. 
 
 The general sentiment: Did it really just use Dr. King’s words about the value of service to sell trucks? 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 “MLK wanted equal rights and for me to buy a Dodge Ram,” one Twitter user wrote. Another wrote: “Black people cant kneel and play football but MLK should be used to sell trucks during the super bowl. Unbelievable.” 
 
 “It’s the wrong mistake to make given everything that’s going on in the U.S. right now,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “There’s so much emotion right now around race in this country that this was a high-risk move, and clearly it’s not going over very well. 
 
 “I think it was well intentioned, but they’re going to have a lot of explaining to do,” Mr. Calkins added. “They did not release this ahead of time, so they went for the surprise. They got that, but at the same time, they now have a big problem with feedback and people being upset.” 
 
 Adding to the disconnect, the sermon in question, delivered exactly 50 years ago, touched on the danger of overspending on items like cars and discussed why people “are so often taken by advertisers.” 
 
 Ram approached Dr. King’s estate about using his voice in the commercial, said Eric D. Tidwell, the managing director of Intellectual Properties Management, the licenser of the estate. 
 
 “Once the final creative was presented for approval, it was reviewed to ensure it met our standard integrity clearances,” Mr. Tidwell said in a statement on Sunday night. “We found that the overall message of the ad embodied Dr. King’s philosophy that true greatness is achieved by serving others.” 
 
 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles U.S. said in a statement: “We worked closely with the representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. estate to receive the necessary approvals, and estate representatives were a very important part of the creative process every step of the way.” 
 
 That’s not a movie. It’s just an ad. 
 
 The Super Bowl regularly draws elaborate schemes from advertisers, and this year is no exception. Tourism Australia — the Australian government agency responsible for attracting international visitors to the country — decided last April that it would buy a Super Bowl spot as part of a broader campaign geared toward drawing more visitors from North America. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 The form it took: a big movie campaign for “Dundee,” a sequel to the movie “Crocodile Dundee,” starring the actors Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth. 
 
 The catch: “Dundee” isn’t actually being made, despite the entertaining trailers that have been released for the film, its movie website and IMDB page, and a cast introduction video that includes appearances from a host of famous Australians, including Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie, Isla Fisher and Russell Crowe. 
 
 “We did a scan around things like the Grammys and the Academy Awards and other sporting events like the N.B.A. Finals and the World Series, but the event that really stops this country is the Super Bowl,” said John O’Sullivan, the managing director of Tourism Australia. “It’s such a spectacle, right? If you look at it from a foreigner’s point of view, it’s this massive event which I think surpasses things like the Grand Slams in tennis and the Champions League final.” 
 
 North America is the second-most-valuable market for Australian tourism after mainland China, and one that the agency has decided to focus on in the last six months, Mr. O’Sullivan said. While many people want to visit Australia, he said, the trick for the country is moving up from a “bucket list” destination to a place that people will go in the near future. 
 
 The concept for the campaign was created by the ad agency Droga5, whose founder, David Droga, is Australian. Content tied to the pretend movie will morph after the Super Bowl ad and will continue to use Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth, Mr. Droga said. 
 
 “The beauty is there’s also a lot of content that moves with Chris and Danny that’s sort of them exploring the country as friends — as an Aussie showing around a mate,” he said. 
 
 Mr. Droga also noted that the campaign for “Dundee” benefited from the support of “Aussiewood” stars like Mr. Jackman and Ms. Robbie, who worked on it for “nothing.” 
 
 “If we had to pay commercial rights for those people,” then it “would be the most expensive ad in the Super Bowl maybe ever,” he said. 
 
 Video 
 
 One final Super Bowl connection: Mr. O’Sullivan noted that he spent a year of high school in Lebanon, Pa., making him a Philadelphia Eagles fan. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 Slow start for ads, though some bring smiles. 
 
 “Typically, you see the great work is front-loaded, and I guess my hope is that the better work is coming,” Wendy Clark, the chief executive of DDB North America and a former marketing executive at Coca-Cola, said at the start of the game’s second quarter. “At the end of the day, a Super Bowl ad is about epic, over-the-top production value,” and the first quarter “was a little quiet in the end.” 
 
 Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. 
 
 Still, Ms. Clark was a fan of the Tide ad and the Doritos-Mountain Dew ad featuring Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman lip-syncing to Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. 
 
 “The complete flip to Morgan Freeman, it’s just so good,” she said. “There’s a surprise aspect there, and it’s really enjoyable watching those two characters rap — the complete 180 is fantastic.” 
 
 She added, “Functionally, you’re also thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I would eat those together.” 
 
 Tide drew the laughs heading into the second quarter with a meta commercial starring David Harbour (“Stranger Things”) that showed a slew of setups for other ads before interrupting itself with, “No, it’s a Tide ad.” 
 
 “I want to see how they bring it to life and on social,” Ms. Clark said. “I assume they’re going to comment on every single ad now from their handle.” (That’s @Tide on Twitter.) 
 
 Beer makers push philanthropy. 
 
 Stella Artois ran a commercial featuring Matt Damon urging people to buy limited-edition chalices in order to give years of clean water to people in developing countries through a partnership with Water.org, which works for safe water and sanitation. That was joined by a somber commercial from Budweiser, set to the song “Stand by Me,” focused on the company’s efforts to deliver cans of water to people affected by natural disasters. 
 
 “Millennials like brands that link themselves to a social cause,” Charles R. Taylor, a professor of marketing at the Villanova University School of Business, said. “What Stella Artois is doing with Water.org, I think, is really smart.” 
 
 Still, Stella Artois’s effort spurred some skepticism, with news outlets fact-checking the ad’s claims and some viewers asking why Stella Artois didn’t simply donate the cost of the commercial to Water.org. The company, through a public relations firm, declined to say whether it had paid Mr. Damon for the appearance. 
 
 Pringles tries to encourage ‘stacking.’ 
 
 Pringles is running its first Super Bowl ad, starring the comedian Bill Hader, as it tries to popularize the notion of “stacking” chips with different flavors to arrive at a new, artificially flavored snack. (And, presumably, to encourage people to buy more than one pack of the chips at a time.) 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 Yuvraj Arora, a senior vice president of marketing at Kellogg, explained how to use the process to approximate the taste of chicken wings. “You take barbecue Pringles, buffalo ranch Pringles and ranch Pringles and you get a chicken-wing-like experience without the mess,” he said. 
 
 Mr. Arora noted that the way the millennial generation interacts with food, especially on social media, was an inspiration for the idea. 
 
 “Food is so central to millennials’ lifestyle,” he said. “All around, you see there’s mashups, new flavor experiences and a number of unique flavors.” 
 
 A huge audience with a big price tag. 
 
 In an era of cord-cutting and ad-skipping, the Super Bowl is a sweet salve for the nation’s marketers. There’s no bigger stage for advertisers — last year’s game drew more than 111 million viewers — and that’s why they’re willing to shell out millions of dollars to be on it for 30 seconds. 
 
 Last year, commercials with social and political messages stole the show, but this year’s crop of advertisers seemed to steer clear of such commentary and aimed for laughs and nostalgia. 
 
 Of course, they’re paying the same high-ticket prices: The average cost of a 30-second ad in the Super Bowl is more than $5 million this year, according to ad buyers, roughly in line with last year. And that doesn’t count all the expenses tied to making and promoting an ad, like the star power. Cindy Crawford, Peter Dinklage and Danny DeVito are among the famous faces who will make commercial appearances this year. 
 
 While some ads focused on philanthropy, the tone seemed to have shifted from last year, when Airbnb and 84 Lumber ran spots that were viewed as responses to President Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and Audi broadcast a commercial advocating equal pay for women. Some industry experts had expected at least one major ad focused on women this year, perhaps tied to the #MeToo movement. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 “I’m a little bit surprised,” Charles R. Taylor, a professor of marketing at the Villanova University School of Business, said. “Some of the best ads over the last 10 years have focused on female empowerment, like the Audi daughter ad.” 
 
 Women are generally much less visible in Super Bowl ads than men, even as Nielsen data shows that women were 47 percent of the audience for last year’s game. Mr. Taylor, who recently studied Super Bowl ads from 2008 to 2017, found that 76 percent of the commercials showed a man as a principal character, while 43 percent featured a woman as a principal character. 
 
 Susan Credle, the global chief creative officer at the agency FCB, said Super Bowl advertisers may be “concerned about looking opportunistic versus supportive.” And humor, she noted, was particularly appealing given the social and political climate. 
 
 “Sometimes when the world is troubled or America is feeling a little — well, I wouldn’t say it was an up 2017 for everybody — I think there is a tendency to want to balance out the energy,” Ms. Credle said. “Lightheartedness and a little fun and joy is probably a good antidote to the reality that we’re sitting in.” 
 
 A ‘Game of Thrones’ reference and a Jeff Bezos cameo. 
 
 Fans of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” have been buzzing about a commercial for Doritos and Mountain Dew that stars the actors Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman, as well as the musicians Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. The brands, owned by Pepsi, cast Mr. Dinklage to represent fire, for a new spicy Doritos flavor, while Mr. Morgan plays ice for a new kind of Mountain Dew. 
 
 Greg Lyons, the chief marketing officer of Pepsi’s North American beverage unit, said the casting was not a reference to Mr. Dinklage’s “Game of Thrones” character, who advises a queen who owns dragons. The actor, he said, is “fiery on his own.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons said, “He was in ‘Elf’ — he was pretty fiery in that as well.” 
 
 In another kind of pop-culture moment, Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, who has become far more visible in recent months at Hollywood and charity events, will appear in his first ad for the company, which promotes its Echo device. 
 
 Half a billion dollars in commercial time. 
 
 While it has never been easier for advertisers to reach vast numbers of people around the world, thanks to the internet, the lure of the Super Bowl is the one huge audience it provides. Advertisers spent a combined $534 million on ads before, during and after the game last year, according to the research firm Kantar. The company said that the roughly $5 million a 30-second commercial cost last year compared to $2.5 million for 30 seconds in the National Football Conference championship game and $1.9 million for the same time in the Academy Awards. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 “It’s a finite amount of inventory,” Gibbs Haljun, managing director of media investment at GroupM, the media buying arm of WPP. “There’s only one game, it’s only on once a year, the ratings are relatively stable and it is what it is.” 
 
 Still, it appeared that NBC was selling at least some spots down to the wire, as illustrated by a last-minute buy from Wix.com that the company announced on Friday. In January, Wix.com was promoting its decision to sit out of this year’s game and arranging press interviews with its chief marketing officer about alternative plans for the money. 
 
 NBC said in an email late Friday that it had sold all of its ads for the game. 
 
 The network, which is owned by Comcast, has had the dual challenge this year of selling ads for both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, which will begin on Friday. 
 
 “I can’t remember the last time that occurred,” Mr. Haljun said, “so this is kind of an odd challenge for them and continues to make the negotiations a little more interesting and robust.” ||||| It’s an early evening in January, and David Harbour is already in his pajamas, lying on a mattress without sheets in a country club just outside of Los Angeles. Moments before, he had been jumping on the bed like a giddy teenager at a slumber party. He turns to his side, looks over his shoulder and, with a dreamy-creepy smile, takes a deep breath before earnestly exhaling, “Tide.” 
 
 This is the task that Harbour, the actor best-known for playing Jim Hopper on Stranger Things, has been given by Tide and Saatchi & Saatchi New York. It’s the second day of a four-day shoot for Tide’s Super Bowl campaign, and Harbour has already performed many scenes that are arguably just as surreal. (After the jumping, Harbour grabs a white rose from a vase, mugs for the camera and eats the entire flower—chewing it slowly, as if it’s a large wad of rose-flavored bubble gum.) 
 
 The point isn’t so much to get weird with Tide—though that’s certainly happening—but to give each moment some semblance of truth so that Saatchi & Saatchi’s punchline lands. 
 
 Tide’s wildly ambitious plan is much more involved than your average Super Bowl spot. The detergent brand’s goal is to take over the Super Bowl with a campaign that positions Harbour as an omniscient narrator of sorts, asking Super Bowl viewers to question every ad they see—because if you’re seeing clean clothes, you could be watching a Tide ad. 
 
 To accomplish this, the company bought an ad in every quarter—a 45-second establishing spot in the first quarter, along with 15-second ads for each of the following three quarters. Tide then filmed each scene as a separate short spot in the genre of whatever product it’s pretending to pitch. There’s a car ad, a beer ad, a deodorant ad and a half-dozen others, all of which, through various twists, turn out to be pitching the same laundry detergent. 
 
 “It’s wildly self-aware,” Harbour tells Adweek in between scenes on set. “The fact that you have this character who’s sort of this Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone of advertising, sort of coming in and being like, ‘Wow, maybe every ad is like a Tide ad,’ and then he pops up in all of these different ads to kind of reveal to you that what you think you’re watching is not actually what you’re watching.” 
 
 Taking over the Super Bowl 
 
 The idea stemmed from Tide’s position as the leader seller of detergent in the U.S. After all, the brand had more than a quarter of the market share in 2017, according to Statista. If people use Tide at home, why wouldn’t the styling teams for every ad in the Super Bowl also use it on set? (When asked, Tide’s parent company Procter & Gamble said every piece of clothing used in its Super Bowl spots was indeed washed with Tide.) 
 
 “The idea itself was really informed by the brand Tide being such an icon, that so many people use it,” said Paul Bichler, Saatchi & Saatchi’s executive creative director. “So it lends itself to this idea—of the people you surround yourself with, half of them are essentially Tide ads.” 
 
 Tide has been a regular contender in many Super Bowls over the past decade. Last year, it surprised the audience by doing a stunt with Terry Bradshaw; the football-commentator-turned-Tide-spokesman played along with a fake stain on his shirt during what appeared to be a live broadcast, which was actually shot by Saatchi weeks earlier. 
 
 This year, the detergent brand is looking to pull off another stunt—this time, writ large with a massive price tag. With 30 seconds of airtime in the Big Game costing more than $5 million, P&G’s four spots (a total of 90 seconds) add up to around $15 million, without factoring in production, talent and agency fees. What could be worth that much? 
 
 Continue Reading
– During this year's Super Bowl, advertisers mostly played it safe—apart from Fiat Chrysler, which faced a major backlash after using a Martin Luther King Jr. speech in an ad for Dodge Ram trucks. "Recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness," the civil rights leader said in the Feb. 4, 1968 speech. The company said it had obtained permission from King's estate, though the King Center nonprofit said it hadn't approved the ad, USA Today reports. Critics noted that MLK's dream "probably wasn't to drive a Ram"—and that in the same speech used in the commercial, he said families shouldn't spend too much of their income on automobiles. Some other standout ads, which can be seen in the gallery: NFL. The "Touchdown Celebration" NFL spot featuring Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. in a Dirty Dancing spoof got some laughs at AdAge, which writes: "Not since the Super Bowl shuffle have we so enjoyed seeing these big lugs boogie." Amazon. The company's "Alexa Loses Her Voice" ad featured an appearance from CEO Jeff Bezos, as well as celebrities including Gordon Ramsey, Cardi B, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Doritos/Mountain Dew. Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman trade rhymes in an ad for Doritos Blaze versus Mountain Dew Ice that Billboard describes as "the rap battle of the 21st century." Tide. David Harbour stars in what he tells AdWeek was a "wildly self-aware" series of ads mimicking ads for other products designed to make viewers wonder, "Wow, maybe every ad is like a Tide ad." Pringles. Pringles brought out Bill Hader and what AdAge calls a collection of "slack-jawed wacky types" to introduce the concept of "stacking" Pringles for new flavor combinations. Budweiser. In one of several socially conscious beer ads, Budweiser, the game's largest advertiser, highlighted its efforts to send water to places in need. Toyota. Toyota promoted its Paralympics sponsorship by telling the story of skiier Lauren Woolstencroft, reports the AP, which notes that a fifth of this year's ads involved social causes, up from 6% last year. Hyundai. The automaker tugged at heart strings with an ad focusing on its pediatric cancer research charity. "This is the first time Hyundai has trotted out its charity in a Super Bowl ad, and we're betting it isn't the last," CNET predicts. Tourism Australia. The Dundee ad came as part of an elaborate Australian marketing campaign featuring a nonexistent sequel to Crocodile Dundee, reports the New York Times.