Super Bowl LIII came and went this Sunday. But while the New England Patriots decisively beat the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta, many watchers may have been paying attention only during the commercial breaks for the latest batch of topical NFL Super Bowl ads.
If viewers tuned in expecting this year’s Super Bowl commercials to be mostly walking pieces of social and political commentary similar to 2017, they would be only half-right. True, ads that spoke up for women’s rights were still there. But for the most part, the subjects for the 2019 commercials were, according to The New York Times, safe and fun.
Bud Light for the Throne
Perhaps the most surprising of the ads that came out during the latest annual NFL championship game was from Budweiser for their Bud Light. It was a sort of collaborative production with HBO’s “Game of Thrones”, in two parts, set in an uncharacteristically humorous Westeros.
The Super Bowl commercials in question, as USA Today tells it, depicts a Westeros knights’ tourney, with Bud Light being drunk everywhere and a “Bud Knight” asking his squires to “hold his beer” while he jousts. Too bad his opponent is apparently the zombie knight Clegane, from the most recent seasons of “Game of Thrones”.
Long story short, the Bud Knight loses and gets his helmeted head crushed by Clegane’s hands.
Everyone in the (in-universe) audience is shocked. And then a dragon shows up and torches the tourney grounds as text reminds Super Bowl viewers that the HBO show returns for a final season April.
That is definitely far from the usual theme Budweiser has been pushing in past Super Bowl commercials. Historically, they featured the pro-immigration history of the Anheuser-Busch company’s German founders in 2017 and the public service bent of its 2018 ad.
Other Super Bowl ads of note
Of course, Bud Light is not the only star of the commercial segments for Super Bowl LIII. Social media app Bumble got major representation via Serena Williams, giving oomph to its women empowerment message.
The world will tell you that you're not strong enough to play. They’ll tell you that your story doesn’t matter. And to wait to be given power. But here's what the world won’t tell you... #InHerCourt @serenawilliams pic.twitter.com/dA9f9NSX1x
— Bumble (@bumble) February 4, 2019
The all-time greatest, most competitive NFL players gathered for the #NFL100 gala. What could possibly go wrong? pic.twitter.com/pvE0fKuSye
— NFL (@NFL) February 4, 2019
Meanwhile, Burger King dug into nostalgia with vintage footage of Andy Warhol eating their burger.
The NFL itself got some face time for its own Super Bowl with an ad for its 100th season, this 2019. On a somber note, The Washington Post memorialized journalists killed in the line of duty as perhaps the most politically-charged commercial among them. And Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” reminds viewers that it also premieres April.
"Some people move on. But not us." Watch the brand new Marvel Studios' #AvengersEndgame spot that aired during the Big Game. See the film in theaters April 26. pic.twitter.com/ruu7A7MnEk
— The Avengers (@Avengers) February 3, 2019
