The most popular Super Bowl commercials of the Brady-Belichick era
Featuring lots of cute dogs and Clydesdales, obviously.
Feb. 3 marks the 15th anniversary of Super Bowl XXXVI, the night Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to an upset victory over the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, and kicked off what’s arguably the most dominant dynasty in NFL history. But when it comes to Super Bowl ads, there’s one organization even more dominant than the Patriots.
According to Ad Meter, a tool created in 1989 by USA Today to gauge public opinion about television’s most expensive commercials, Anheuser-Busch was responsible for the top-rated commercial for 10 straight years, from 1999-2008. The brewery dethroned Pepsi, which reigned supreme from 1994-98 with commercials featuring party-hearty chimps, dancing bears, and caffeinated geese. Throughout the 10-year Anheuser-Busch streak, ads for Budweiser and Bud Light followed the Pepsi playbook of putting animals in unexpected situations, repeatedly winning viewers over with beer-fetching dogs and the company’s trademark football-playing Clydesdales.
With that in mind, here are the commercials that topped Ad Meter’s rankings each year of the Brady-Belichick era, along with each ad’s overall rating on a 1-10 scale.
2002: Bud Light, “Satin Sheets” (9.11)
Seemingly ripped from the script of a Kevin James sitcom, the 30-second “Satin Sheets” spot filled up the Bingo card of stereotypical gender roles. A lingerie-wearing wife trying everything to interest her TV-watching, beer-loving husband? Check. Physical comedy in place of romance? You betcha.
2003: Budweiser, “Instant Replay” (8.99)
One year after the Tuck Rule game, you knew instant replay was going to find its way into the year’s ads. Budweiser didn’t disappoint, bringing in a literal zebra to replace the figurative one underneath the replay hood.
2004: Bud Light, “Fetch” (9.04)
As the old saying goes, anything your beer-fetching dog can do, my beer-fetching dog can do better.
2005: Bud Light, “Skydiving” (8.65)
The joke here is that Bud Light is so good, it’s worth jumping out of a plane with no parachute for. Got it? Good.
2006: Bud Light, “Secret Fridge” (8.39)
This spot is hilarious if you don’t think about it too hard. But because it’s our job to think about it too hard, we have to ask: How did this guy build a high-tech revolving wall that rotates his into his neighbor’s apartment without a single complaint from the building supervisor? And how is he smart enough to build the contraption, but stupid enough to make the wall rotate into an apartment whose occupants worship Bud Light? Ah, the magic of advertising.
2007: Budweiser, “King Crab” (8.56)
This Budweiser spot brings to mind the claw-obsessed aliens from Toy Story, worshipping a shiny overhead object with “oohs” and “aahs.”
2008: Budweiser, “Training Camp” (8.73)
The only way to improve on the winning formula of animals playing football? Adding the Rocky theme song.
2009: Doritos, “Free Doritos” (8.46)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NuuL1FIh1I
It wasn’t until Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 that Anheuser-Busch was finally dethroned by Doritos. The chip brand’s “Crash the Super Bowl” contest let amateurs submit their own commercials. It should also be noted that Doritos said they would give the makers of the commercial a $1 million prize if their ad hit the No. 1 spot on Ad Meter, which demonstrates that the Ad Meter rating is more of an American Idol-type popularity contest than a Pew Research Center double-blind peer-reviewed study.
2010: Snickers, “Betty White” (8.68)
In one of the only years in which celebrities beat out animals for the top spot, Betty White and Abe Vigoda took their licks in a game of pickup football for Snickers. The ad was a hit, and Snickers is still using the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign today, with ads featuring tough guys like Willem Defoe, Joe Pesci, and Danny Trejo.
2011 (tie): Bud Light, “Dog Sitter” (8.35); Doritos, “Pug Attack” (8.35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcN4S0jSYI0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kfLd52jF3Y
Which is funnier: a dog serving beer or a Doritos-obsessed dog hellbent on revenge? America couldn’t decide in 2011, leaving Doritos and Bud Light in a tie for the best ad.
2012: Doritos, “Dog Buries Cat” (8.82)
The idiot husband trope returned in a big way in this 2012 ad, with a man so hopelessly in love with Doritos that he helped a dog that murdered the man’s cat hide the evidence from his wife in exchange for a steady flow of Nacho Cheese-flavored chips. Paul Blart, eat your heart out.
2013: Budweiser, “Brotherhood” (7.76)
Budweiser snatched back its crown from Doritos in 2013, kicking off a trilogy of ads that didn’t so much tug at your heartstrings as physically remove your heartstrings and steamroll them with emotion. The uncommon bond between a man and his horse (2013), a horse and a puppy (2014), and a lost puppy rescued by horses (2015) proved to be a winning formula.
2014: Budweiser, “Puppy Love” (8.29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNO2trC-mk
2015: Budweiser, “Lost Dog” (8.10)
2016: Hyundai, “First Date” (6.90)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R_483zeVF8
The first company advertising a non-edible product in the Brady-Belichick era, Hyundai pitched the benefits of its Car Finder feature to insane dads who refuse to let their daughter go on dates or generally be grown adults. The bug-eyed intensity/hilariousness of comedian Kevin Hart definitely helped this spot rise to the top.
