The Best Super Bowl Ads of 2018

From Cardi B and Tiffany Haddish to Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman, Hollywood was represented in full force in this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

Our highlights include Freeman’s lip sync rap battle with “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage, David Harbour in a giant clam shell, Reeves howling with wolves, David Schwimmer feeding Skittles to a talking sandwich, and Eli Manning and O’Dell Beckham Jr. “Dirty Dancing.”

Watch the day’s best ads below:

Amazon Alexa:

When Alexa is out sick, Hollywood stars step in to take her place.

At least, that’s the case in Amazon’s Super Bowl commercial, with Gordon Ramsay, Cardi B, Rebel Wilson and Anthony Hopkins taking over Amazon’s personal assistant when Alexa loses her voice.

Doritos Blaze and Mountain Dew Ice:

If a rap battle between Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman was what America had been waiting for, then Doritos and Mountain Dew delivered with their joint Super Bowl commercial.

In the ad, which promotes new Doritos flavor “Blaze” and encourages customers to “Spit Fire,” the “Game of Thrones” star saunters through a room filled with fire while rapping “Look At Me Now,” the 2011 hit from Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. In response, Freeman drinks from Mountain Dew’s Ice and sings Missy Elliot’s “Get Your Freak On” while walking through a room of ice.

At the end of the minute-long commercial, Dinklage and Freeman meet in the middle of the fire and ice, each with their product in hand, while Freeman breaths steam onto the actor and Dinklage puts out a flame that has started on his shoulder. Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes are also featured for short cameos in the commercial, backing up the actors as they perform their hits.

Tide:

“Stranger Things” star David Harbour does it all in this year’s Tide ad, appearing in commercials seemingly for cars, beer, jewelry, fitness programs and more, only to reveal they are actually all ads for the detergent.

“Does this make every Super Bowl ad a Tide ad?,” the actor questions, since all commercials feature clean clothes, with the line “If it’s clean, it’s got to be Tide,” as he continues to pop up in ads on the beach, rolling around in a bed and standing in a giant clam shell.

Australia:

While a “Crocodile Dundee” sequel may not be coming out of Hollywood anytime soon, Australia took the film into it’s own hands, fooling viewers with what appeared to be a trailer for an upcoming movie.

Starring Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth, the ad started as what appeared to be a buddy comedy sneak peak, before McBride realizes, “Wait, hold up. This isn’t a movie. It’s a tourism ad for Australia” as Hemsworth consoles him, saying he is “the best Crocodile Dundee since Crocodile Dundee.” The commercial was so popular that it launched a petition online for a real film to be made based on the ad’s premise.

Jeep:

On a night celebrating the new Jurassic Park franchise with the release of the “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” trailer, Jeep’s commercial brought it back to the original.

In the Super Bowl spot, Jeff Goldblum escapes from dinosaurs in the vehicle in a clip from the original “Jurassic Park” movie, only to quickly transition to a current-day Goldblum and a current-day Jeep still being chased by the same T-Rex. He outwits the dinosaur, only for it then to be revealed he’s sitting in a car dealership rather than plowing through the forest.

NFL:

The NFL has become known for its players’ elaborate touchdown celebrations, but the organization’s Super Bowl commercial took it to the next level with a performance between Giants quarterback Eli Manning and receiver O’Dell Beckham Jr.

In what quickly became one of the fan favorite ads online, the two perfectly executed the iconic Patrick Swayze – Jennifer Grey lift from “Dirty Dancing” following a scoring pass in practice. Even the team’s offensive line got in on the action, helping out as backup dancers as “Time of my Life” played.

Michelob Ultra:

Chris Pratt is the new face of Michelob Ultra, and he’s very excited about it.

In the company’s Super Bowl commercial, Pratt gets the call that he’s going to be in the ad and immediately goes to work, hitting the gym, creating his character and telling anyone who will listen about his new gig.

He also tries to create a persona for the new spokesman, practicing in front of a mirror and questioning, “Who’s the character? Michelob Picklestein, Michelob, my name is Tommy Ultra, Tommy Ultra?” He even gets into a competition with a convenience store employee while buying a case of the beer and telling him he’s the new spokesman, to which the employee responds he’s employee of the month.

At the end the ad, Pratt rolls up in a limo to the commercial shoot, telling the driver, “You gotta be fit, you’ve got to love Michelob Ultra. It’s not like anyone else could do this,” and upon arrival, is directed to the line of extras who will be featured in the background of the video.

Winter Olympics:

In a series of ads dubbed “Best of U.S.,” NBC promoted the upcoming Winter Olympics by spotlighting how some of America’s top athletes made it to the world stage.

Aired throughout the Super Bowl, the commercials tell the short stories of four athletes’ upbringings and their pursuit for the gold. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who won a gold medal in 2010 and couldn’t compete in 2014 due to injury, is featured in one of the spots, accompanied by Alicia Keys’ hit “Girl on Fire.” The clip starts with home videos of Vonn learning to ski and continues through her 2013 crash, where she had to be airlifted out of the race after injuring her knee.

Other versions of the ad show stories of 18-year-old figure skater Nathan Chen, 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim and 22-year-old skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in 2014 for slalom, the youngest winner of the event in Olympic history. NBC will begin airing the 2018 Olympics, held in PyeongChang, South Korea, on Feb. 8, with the opening ceremony on Feb. 9.

Squarespace:

Keanu Reeves is now on the Internet.

In a series of Super Bowl commercials for Squarespace, the actor goes through the process of building a website through the service for his motorcycle company Arch. But is he working on his site at a desk or in office? No, he’s in the middle of the desert, working on his laptop by a fire.

In one of the ads, Reeves walks the audience step by step step through creating a website while roasting marshmallows, saying “It may be hard, it may be easy, but either way you are capable.” Once he is done with his motorcycle site, a tear runs down his cheek, exclaiming “it’s beautiful” as wolf howls in the distance. He howls back.

“Once you’re done and you’re happy, the world will welcome your creation with open arms,” “The Matrix” star promises, proceeding to then dump his laptop in the fire and take off on his bike into the night.

Skittles:

Skittles went an unconventional route for its Super Bowl ad this year, promoting what it’s calling the “most exclusive commercial ever made.” According to it’s fake news cast, it will be airing it’s ad to one person, a teenager named “Marcos Menendez.”

A series of follow-up ads featuring David Schwimmer teased what could possibly be in that commercial, since no one will ever see it but that one person.

“You’d probably like to know if this is a scene from the upcoming Skittles Super Bowl ad, but I can’t tell you, since we’re only showing it to one single person,” says Schwimmer, as he feeds Skittles to a talking sandwich. In other versions, he floats through space, shoots laser beams out of his eyes, and is fed the candy by a large puppet.

Febreze:

Febreze used their Super Bowl ad space to introduce the audience to Dave, “the only man whose bleep don’t stink.” Dave’s parents, doctor, former wrestling coach, ex-girlfriend all weigh in on the phenomenon during the commercial, with his dad remembering, “He got teased a little bit in the locker room you know, but the janitor liked him.”

After his ex questions how she is supposed to be with any man whose bleep does stink after being with Dave, his mom says, “My friend, her son’s a lawyer, but my son, his bleep don’t stink, so.” “That’s better than being a lawyer,” his dad adds.

Febreze ends the spot with the line “Dave isn’t at your Super Bowl party, but everyone else is. Is your bathroom ready?”

Groupon:

Tiffany Haddish, the breakout comedy star of 2017, is leading Groupon’s Super Bowl ads this year, after having been very vocal about her love of the service (i.e. a memorable story on Jimmy Kimmel detailing a Groupon swamp tour she took with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith).

In the commercial, Haddish shuts down haters who ask her “you’re a celebrity now, why do you still use Groupon? Aren’t you worried that people will think you’re cheap?” While relaxing in a spa she exclaims “look at all of this! My skin is like ‘what?’ My nails are like ‘yes, ma’am.’ And my face is like ‘hello, stranger,'” before claiming another deal for a mud wrap.

Jack in the Box:

There’s another celebrity feud brewing in 2018, this one between Martha Stewart and Jack in the Box’s Jack.

In the fast food chain’s Super Bowl commercial, the two throw down over who can make the better fried chicken sandwich, with Jack crashing the set of Stewart’s cooking show to take her on.

“You want to go to war with me Jack?,” Stewart asks, taking off her earrings to prepare for the fight. “What are you going to do? Tuck me into bed, read me a cookbook?” Jack responds, and the star homemaker proceeds to rip his nose off his face. After she reconnects it, he is pulled away by security, telling her to “get ready for a Twitter war” with the hashtag #JACKvsMARTHA.

Super Bowl 52 was broadcast Sunday on NBC, live from Minneapolis, Minn., with Justin Timberlake performing at halftime.

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