Super Bowl ads please geeks

This year the Super Bowl ads managed to satisfy the needs of geeks worldwide with famous TV show characters and an appearance from a certain Italian gaming duo.

Breaking Bad’s lead actors, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul reunited for the Super Bowl 2023 commercial. The two recreated a well-known scene from the show for a Popcorners advertisement. The scene was fully re-enacted; Walter White and Jesse Pinkman create their chemical “mixtures,” though with a slight twist – in the commercial, the two create Popcorners.

For comic book fans, there was also plenty to enjoy. The Flash trailer appeared as Michael Keaton returns to his role as Batman in the upcoming movie. Thirty years after Keaton’s final appearance as Batman in Batman Returns (1992), he is back again in the hotly anticipated The Flash (in theaters June 2023). The commercial had not one, but two Batmans (Batmen?), the other being Ben Affleck. Comic books have truly gone mainstream in Hollywood.

We’re sure you already know about the upcoming animated film based on Super Mario Bros, which continues the tradition of truly terrible movies based on video games. Mario and Luigi fans saw the duo appearing during the Super Bowl ads in 2023. We were “treated” to that infamous Mario rap to advertise Mario’s equally infamous plumbing business. The rap is here if you have a strong enough stomach.

Tech Companies

Major tech companies like Google landed their own Super Bowl commercials this year. Its ad introduced us to some not-so-new technology, showing a Pixel phone’s ability to erase individuals from pictures. You and your partner split up? Google ensures they have got your back by redacting the ex. The ad featured well-known celebrities like Amy Schumer, Doja Cat, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

However, Google was hardly the only tech business to produce a Super Bowl commercial. In Workday’s commercial, music geeks were treated to rock legends, including Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, and members of KISS, who urged corporate software users to avoid referring to themselves as “rock stars.”

Other commercials were from E*Trade financial corporation, SquareSpace, and UberEats, the latter featuring Puff ribs-to-the-crib Daddy. But, unless you consider yourself a financial geek, these were not the night’s highlights.

Last year’s Super Bowl commercials were no less engaging. In a BMW commercial, we witnessed Zeus and Hera (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek) attempting to navigate modern life. Owning a luxurious villa and a small pet unicorn, trying to fit their superpowers into ordinary life, was bizarre but entertaining enough.

Probably our favorite was last year’s ad when Mike Myers returned as Doctor Evil for a Super Bowl 2022 commercial. He didn’t attempt to destroy the world but, in fact, save it from climate change! Dr. not so Evil.

Video game characters, rock legends, and superheroes. What more could you want from Super Bowl commercials? Perhaps something dystopian, with a hurled sledgehammer smashing through a TV screen? Or did we dream that?