For Philadelphia Eagles fans, New York Giants fans, and everyone that dislikes the New England Patriots, Super Bowl LII was quite the treat.

The game itself was terrific – high-scoring, intense, and the underdog came out on top. Off the field, we saw a social-media-hit entrance from Tom Brady, the “Selfie kid” that didn’t seem to know or care much about Justin Timberlake, and a resurrected hometown hero.

Even Minnesotans, despite just barely missing the extremely unprompted chance of a hometown Super Bowl, would have to admit that this was an entertaining game.

In the midst of the madness, of course, there were plenty of noteworthy, funny, star-studded, and heartfelt advertisements from some of the world’s largest and most creative brands.

Because, as we know, during the Super Bowl, the entertaining doesn’t end when the game is at a break.

With that, let’s take a look our favorite ads from Super Bowl LII:

Dorito Blaze vs. Mountain Dew Ice

This one had a bit of funny, and a bit of star-studded-ness. Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman come in as the voices of competing products – or at least, lip-syncing voices of those products.

The commercial presents a showdown between Doritos Blaze and Mountain Dew Ice. The two brands, both owned by PepsiCo, are, not actually rivals. In the setting of this commercial, they’re simply rivals in temperature – one hot, and one ice cold.

Backed by the voices of Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott, Dinklage and Freeman make their way through separate climates.

Dinklage, lip-syncing Busta Rhymes, walks through a blazing, fiery-hot room. Freeman, lip-syncing Missy Elliott, fills the air with his steamy breathe, in a frozen, icicle-ridden room.

This ad certainly brings the heat… And the cold… And, well, a bunch more.

Amazon – “Alexa Loses Her Voice”

Perhaps one of the greatest perks of Amazon’s “Alexa,” is that she does not have literal, physical vocal chords. Through thick and thin, as long as the technology exists, her voice will be there.

This ad presents what could potentially happen in the event that Alexa loses her voice. The results are not disappointing at all for ad viewers, but are very disappointing for those in the ad.

In the ad, Amazon presents Gordon Ramsey, Rebel Wilson, Cardi B, and Anthony Hopkins as Alexa’s replacement.

They all interact with Amazon users in different, funny, and even semi-creepy manners (ahem, Anthony Hopkins). But all in all, this ad gives viewers a good laugh and a unique viewpoint on Amazon technology.

Avocados From Mexico – “#GuacWorld”

This Avocados From Mexico ad spot presents the idea of a perfect world.

A woman talks to the people of “GuacWorld,” which is more or less a bubble that has “sealed the bad out, and the good in.” She’s says that they have everything they could ever want or need, that they’ll “want for nothing.”

Among the “good” sealed in with them, is a bounty of big, ripe avocados, to which another woman asks, “we have all these beautiful Avocados From Mexico, but where are all the chips?”

At that point, the people notice that the chips are outside of GuacWorld, to which complete and utter madness ensues. That is, until everyone realizes that avocados are good on a lot of things, not just chips.

This ad makes a bit of a humorous mockery of some of the “problems” we have in our lives today, from not having the right flour-based products to eat with our avocado, to the loss of Wi-Fi.

It’s certainly a strong message to consider, delivered in a very funny way.

Tide – “It’s a Tide Ad”

Tide was playing hardball for this year’s Super Bowl.

They ran a series of ads disguised as other ads. From longer pieces like the one above, to integrated ads within the game, to direct references to other brands like Old Spice and Mr. Clean – made possible by the fact that all three are P&G brands.

Prior to seeing this, it would have been hard to imagine that “It’s a Tide ad” would be such an effective tagline.

That was their campaign story of the entire night, however.

The idea: viewers will always be looking out for Tide, regardless of what brand an ad is actually for. The campaign was to show, “Somewhat irrefutable proof that every Super Bowl ad is a Tide ad.”

During the Super Bowl’s commercial breaks, you may have found yourself asking, “is this a Tide ad, too?” If so, then their campaign was effective.

CURE Auto Insurance – “Civil Society”

Woof… Shots fired!

As almost any sports fan knows, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots live in NFL infamy for years of alleged scandals, and even more years of un-alleged dominance (mostly the second part).

CURE, a company providing auto insurance to New Jersey and Pennsylvania drivers, took a few jabs at the negative side of Tom Brady’s legacy with their two Super Bowl ads.

The ad above references the fact that everyone should follow the rules, taking a direct shot at the Patriots, only to end with, “Go Birds!” A very direct, unapologetic pull for the Eagles to win.

NFL – “Touchdown Celebrations to Come”

While the New York Giants were not actually in the Super Bowl, many are considering this ad to be amongst the night’s winners.

This NFL ad combines a long-time all-star with a rising superstar, a classic movie, and a running story line of this past season.

The ad starts with Eli Manning asking Odell Beckham, Jr., “You wanna work on that thing?”

And, well, long-story short, they do, in fact, work on that “thing.” That “thing,” however, is not a touchdown pass, but instead a very famous dance scene from the movie “Dirty Dancing.”

This was a way for the NFL to welcome Manning and Beckham back in an extraordinary and very funny way. Manning and Beckham showed, perhaps, their most impressive skills of all.

All in all, the Super Bowl, for some, is as much about the commercials as it is about the football. This year did not disappoint, whatsoever.

For more sports advertising insights, be sure to read our recent blog on integrated advertising in hockey!