Check out these whacky Super Bowl ads for our favorite tech
While the Kansas City Chiefs got the win on the field at the Super Bowl, lots of companies managed to win with some funny and creative ads during the breaks in the action. Super Bowl advertising is a huge deal, with usually at least 100 million people watching the game, companies spend big money to place their ads in front of your eyeballs every year — tech companies are no different.
With big names like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft promoting themselves, I thought it would be fun to take a nice little look at the best tech-related ads at the 2020 Super Bowl.
Hyundai “Smaht Pahk”
While Hyundai isn’t a tech company, the feature it was highlighting certainly is tech. The company did spend a lot of money getting Chris Evans, John Krasinski, and Rachel Dratch in their Super Bowl commercial and the ad focused on the new “Smart Park” feature which allows the car to park itself in the 2020 Hyundai Sonata. Of course, with Evans, Krasinski, and Dratch all being from the state of Massachusetts, their over-exaggerated Boston accent through the spot provided many chuckles.
Amazon “Before Alexa”
Have you ever wondered what people did before Alexa, that’s the question Ellen DeGeneres asks her wife Portia de Rossi after asking Alexa to turn down the temperature? The commercial then launches into a bunch of little scenes that flashback to the “olden days” where people are asking characters named Alexa, Alexi, Alex, Al, and so on, a bunch of questions you can ask an Amazon Alexa. It’s pretty funny — and it even puts in a Richard Nixon joke for good measure.
Dashlane “Password Paradise”
Forgetting your password sucks and the password manager Dashlane wants to remind you that you don’t need to forget your password ever again! With what appears to be Death carrying a nervous passenger down a river, the passenger is relieved to find out he’s going to paradise, only to realize he forgot his password. Death gives him a chance to answer some security questions, but he’s forgotten those too. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.
Google “Loretta”
Leave it to Google to make you cry as their Super Bowl spot took a much more emotional approach to how people use Google Assistant. The ad is very simple, as the voice of a name commands Google Assistant to help him remember a woman named, Loretta. Google pulls up pictures, remembers to remind the man of certain facts about Loretta, and by the end, it’s pretty easy to be tearing up.
Microsoft “Be The One”
In case you didn’t know, this Super Bowl was historic in a very particular way. Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl, as she is the offensive assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Microsoft used her story, drive, and passion for the game of football to not only celebrate Katie’s achievements, but also to promote the Surface, which can be seen being used by Katie in the ad.
Squarespace “Winona in Winona”
Squarespace is a website creation service that allows you to get a website up and running without having to code at all. The always somewhat zany, Winona Ryder, is perfectly in her element as she lays down on the side of the highway underneath a “Welcome to Winona” sign. The awkward encounter between her and a law enforcement officer checking if she’s okay definitely made me smile!
