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Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Advertisement Close Super Bowl 2024Usher halftime show Patrick Mahomes Commercials Taylor and Travis Super Bowl 2024Usher halftime show Patrick Mahomes Commercials Taylor and Travis Super Bowl LVIII 2024 SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UNSETTLING CELEBRITY CAMEOS ABOUND ON TV’S BIGGEST NIGHT: BEYONCÉ DROPS SONGS FROM SPACE. BEN AFFLECK, MATT DAMON AND TOM BRADY GO EXTREME DUNKIN’. JENNIFER ANISTON ‘FORGETS’ DAVID SCHWIMMER. AND RFK JR. BEATS OUT JESUS FOR BIGGEST NEPO BABY. Perspective by Sonia Rao and Maura Judkis February 11, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST From left, Ben Affleck, Tom Brady and Matt Damon appear as the “DunKings” in the Dunkin’ Super Bowl commercial. (Dunkin') Skip to main content 1. Best commercial for football: NFL Sunday Ticket 2. Most controversial: He Gets Us 3. Most Boston energy: Dunkin’ 4. Best celebrity cameo: CeraVe 5. Most annoying jingle: Temu 6. Best parody: PlutoTV 7. Most heartwarming: Google Pixel SB 8. Biggest nepo baby: American Values 2024 9. Best album promo: Verizon 10. Biggest letdown: Uber Eats 11. Most unsettling mascot: Starry Listen 10 min Share Comment on this storyComment Add to your saved stories Save There are people who watch the Super Bowl for the actual game, and then there are those of us who watch for the clever commercial breaks. (Numerous Taylor Swift fans also tuned in this year to catch a glimpse of the pop icon cheering on her boyfriend, the triumphant Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, about which we have already written tons.) WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRight Star power always figures into the night — Super Bowl LVIII halftime show performer Usher got the memo, bringing out Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri, Will.i.am, Ludacris and H.E.R. — but the ad spots seemed to rely on celebrity cameos more than ever. Some appearances made sense, such as the Dunkin’ commercial featuring superfan Ben Affleck and his wife Jennifer Lopez, bestie Matt Damon and a bonus Tom Brady. Others were more random, including the T-Mobile ad recruiting a group of whoever was available to “audition” for a phone plan. (Bradley Cooper? Jennifer Hudson? Why?) One cameo felt like traveling through time: Why is Beyoncé still doing Verizon commercials in 2024? Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Here are the best, worst and strangest commercials that played during Sunday night’s big game. BEST COMMERCIAL FOR FOOTBALL: NFL SUNDAY TICKET Return to menu NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured NFL players as birds flying around. (Video: NFL Sunday Ticket + YouTube TV) The NFL advertises for itself every year during the big game, but football commercials tend to be a little too earnest. So it felt refreshing to see this silly spot about birdwatching — for the Eagles, Ravens and Seahawks. “Each year they must follow the path of migration, marking the season’s end,” says a naturalist observing the football players flapping their arms, squawking and congregating around a bird feeder full of seed. Like migratory birds, they’ll be back next season. — Maura Judkis MOST CONTROVERSIAL: HE GETS US Return to menu “He Gets Us” aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured people washing each others’ feet. (Video: He Gets Us) A group called “He Gets Us” bought two splashy ads to promote the teachings of Jesus and unite different groups of people. But perhaps unsurprisingly, all they’ve done is foment hostility. In the first spot, just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, a protester at a family planning clinic washes the feet of a woman who is presumably there to get an abortion. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Other foot-washing pairings include an environmental protester and an oil worker, a White woman and a migrant boarding a bus, a white-picket-fence couple and a woman in a hijab, and a gay man and a priest. The second spot encourages people to get to know their neighbors, while showing images of neighbors that appear to be unhoused, transgender or of Middle Eastern descent. One set of critics has pointed out that the group behind the ads has ties to Hobby Lobby, which has promoted antiabortion and LGBTQ policies — and that, for the price of a Super Bowl ad, a group that promotes the teachings of Jesus could feed a lot of poor people. And another set of conservative critics has complained that the ads show a “woke” Jesus. The first commercial concludes: “Jesus didn’t teach hate.” — M.J. MOST BOSTON ENERGY: DUNKIN’ Return to menu Dunkin' aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured celebrities starting a rap group called "DunKings" (Video: Dunkin’) At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Dunkin’ iced coffee courses through Ben Affleck’s veins. The actor is constantly photographed with his favorite drink and has previously appeared in commercials for the coffee shop chain. In this one, he forms a boy band called “DunKings” with fellow Boston celebrities Matt Damon and Tom Brady. They embarrass themselves in front of Affleck’s wife, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez. Damon references his and Affleck’s Oscar-winning film “Good Will Hunting” by asking Lopez: “How do you like them … doughnuts? I’m so sorry.” It turns out she doesn’t like them at all. But we’re suckers for a silly Bennifer moment. — Sonia Rao BEST CELEBRITY CAMEO: CERAVE Return to menu CeraVe aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured actor Michael Cera endorsing Cerave. (Video: CeraVe) There isn’t a situation Michael Cera can’t make more awkward: In this case, a boardroom pitch for a partnership with CeraVe skin products, which he claims to have helped develop. “Let my cream hydrate you,” he tells the skeptical board members, noting that his name is part of the brand’s. They raise their eyebrows at him. The tension lingers. Unlike commercials that just toss a celebrity on screen and hope for the best, CeraVe recognized how to best utilize Cera’s comedic timing. They won out in the end — against him, too, as the commercial makes sure to state that the products were developed by dermatologists, and not the actor. Better luck next time, buddy. — S.R. MOST ANNOYING JINGLE: TEMU Return to menu Temu aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured catchy music and animation. (Video: Temu) “Oooh Oooh Temuuuuu.” Stop it! “Shop like a billionaaaaiiiiiiiire.” Enough! We were forced to endure not only one, but three commercials for Temu, the Chinese e-commerce retailer, all with animation that looks like one of those scammy mobile game apps. They weren’t even different ads! Just the same lame ad, over and over. Get this earworm out of our heads! — M.J. BEST PARODY: PLUTOTV Return to menu Farmers tend to rows of TV-obsessed “couch potatoes” in this 2024 Super Bowl ad. (Video: Pluto TV) For every silly Super Bowl commercial, there is an exceedingly earnest one extolling the virtues of being American. They are often domestic car commercials, or maybe military recruitment ads. They feature farmers, soldiers, first responders. The real, all-American heroes. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement While we of course appreciate the contributions of such Americans, these ads can feel out of place on a night celebrating men who run around a field in tight pants (Usher included). And so we give our kudos to PlutoTV, the television service that parodied the Serious Commercials by depicting a farm that grows couch potatoes. “This here, this is PlutoTV country,” says a man driving a truck. Patriotic music plays in the background. A bunch of people in potato suits describe why they love the land of PlutoTV, which offers them everything from “SpongeBob SquarePants” to a 24/7 cat-video channel. “This country was raised on TV,” one man says. Another, overcome with emotion, begins to tear up. Are we crying, too? — S.R. Share this articleShare MOST HEARTWARMING: GOOGLE PIXEL SB Return to menu The guided frame feature on the Google Pixel 8 helps people with blindness or low vision to capture photos. (Video: Google) This commercial gives viewers an idea of what it would be like to be visually impaired, and tells a beautiful story in the process. A man who has vision loss uses the Google Pixel SB to take pictures — a blurry picture shows us what he sees, but his camera has an audio cue that lets him know how many faces are in frame. First the picture is of himself, and then a beautiful woman starts showing up in his photos, too. The man narrates their relationship milestones: “First day in the new place,” as the snapshots roll by, with Google’s accessibility narration saying, “Two faces in frame.” Eventually, we get to a blurry hospital room. “Three faces in frame.” One of them is tiny, and brand new. — M.J. BIGGEST NEPO BABY: AMERICAN VALUES 2024 Return to menu “American Values 2024” aired a commercial during Sunday night's Super Bowl supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent presidential candidacy. (Video: RFK) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent campaign for the presidency has long traded in on his father’s and uncle’s famous legacies, but never before as blatantly as in this Super Bowl ad. It’s basically a remake of President John F. Kennedy’s 1960 campaign — and it’s probably not going to go over well among his family, which has accused him of tarnishing the Kennedy name because of his controversial views on vaccines and foreign policy. The catchy song — which is basically unchanged from the original — takes a swipe at his competitors, President Biden and Donald Trump, with the lyrics, “A man who’s old enough to know, and young enough to do.” Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Kennedy released a statement late Sunday night on social media, apologizing for any pain the ad may have caused his family members and noting that the commercial was funded by a pro-Kennedy super-PAC, which he said his campaign did not get to approve before it aired. Nevertheless, the ad was also pinned to the top of Kennedy’s X account. — M.J. BEST ALBUM PROMO: VERIZON Return to menu “Verizon” aired a commercial during Super Bowl 2024 that featured Beyoncé trying to break the internet. (Video: Verizon) Is that … BEYONCÉ?! It is, in fact. One of the biggest stars on the planet appears in a Verizon commercial alongside actor Tony Hale, who helps test whether she can break the internet. She runs for office (specifically, “BOTUS,” which stands for Beyoncé of the United States), dresses like Barbie (“BarBey”), and even performs in space. The internet goes nuts. What can’t she do? “The network is crazy powerful, I bet you can’t break that,” Hale says, a reminder that this is technically an ad for an internet service provider. “Bet I can,” the singer replies. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement What? Why? How? It all made more sense within minutes, when Beyoncé dropped two new singles and announced she would be dropping her new album, “Act II,” on March 29. Sorry to Verizon, who probably won’t be converting too many customers tonight. But congrats to the BeyHive, who had as good a night as the Chiefs-supporting Swifties. — S.R. BIGGEST LETDOWN: UBER EATS Return to menu In this 2024 Super Bowl ad, Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Usher and more show what happens to your brain when you remember to use Uber Eats. (Video: Uber Eats) Uber Eats released a teaser for its commercial in which Victoria Beckham announces, “David and I are going to be in a little commercial,” while wearing a T-shirt that reads, “My dad had a Rolls-Royce.” The shirt references the viral moment in the couple’s Netflix miniseries, “Beckham,” when David calls Victoria out for trying to undersell her family’s level of wealth. He similarly tells her to “be honest” in the teaser, and she admits, “Okay, it’s a big commercial.” Advertisement Story continues below advertisement The cheeky teaser turned out to be more clever than the actual commercial, which posits that to remember what Uber Eats can do for you, you must forget something else. One guy shows up to work without pants. In another celebrity cameo, Jennifer Aniston forgets she worked with David Schwimmer on the sitcom “Friends.” What does this have to do with a food delivery app? Nothing, really. We might forget this commercial to remember its teaser. — S.R. MOST UNSETTLING MASCOT: STARRY Return to menu Ice Spice chooses Starry over her old lemon-lime soda in this Super Bowl 2024 ad. (Video: Starry) Ice Spice’s complicated romantic triangle in a commercial for Starry, a newish lemon-lime soda from Pepsi, has left us with more questions than answers. She’s broken up with another, unnamed lemon-lime soda, who approaches her in a club, where she’s sitting cozily with a lemon and a lime, her new … boyfriends? “This Starry is mad good,” she says, and Lemon kisses her and says, “Thanks, boo.” Lime kisses her, too. Are they … poly? After Ice Spice’s ex has a little breakdown, Lemon and Lime look on sympathetically. Lime licks his lips and says: “Huh. I do prefer Starry.” Did he just … drink himself? — M.J. EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT SUPER BOWL LVIII The Chiefs won the Super Bowl, 25-22, over the 49ers as time expired in overtime. Get the details by signing up for our newsletter. The win: Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl in his six seasons as a starter. While tight end Travis Kelce has commanded much of the spotlight dating Taylor Swift, it was a three-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman in overtime that delivered the Chiefs their third championship in five seasons. Usher’s halftime show: Usher worked hard at the halftime show to cram more than a dozen songs into just as many minutes. If you were keeping a tally, the message was clear: Usher has hits. Also: Usher has friends. Super Bowl commercials: Here are the best, worst and strangest commercials that played during Sunday night’s big game. Taylor Swift: Taylor Swift made it to the Super Bowl to support Travis Kelce and the Chiefs from the VIP suite. From conspiracy theories to her jet, Swift seemingly couldn’t avoid the spotlight. Beyoncé: Beyoncé's ad got the BeyHive buzzing as she released two new songs and announced a new album. Show more ChevronDown Share 1522 Comments Pop culture at the Super Bowl HAND CURATED * Chiefs score game-winning touchdown to beat 49ers in overtime, 25-22 Earlier today Chiefs score game-winning touchdown to beat 49ers in overtime, 25-22 Earlier today * Swifties, are you watching the Super Bowl? Play our bingo card! February 10, 2024 Swifties, are you watching the Super Bowl? Play our bingo card! February 10, 2024 * In a sparkling suit, Taylor Swift by his side, Travis Kelce goes full ‘Elvis’ Earlier today In a sparkling suit, Taylor Swift by his side, Travis Kelce goes full ‘Elvis’ Earlier today View 3 more stories Loading... Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. 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