The Super Bowl is over! What a blast! But the ads, oh the ads! Even CNN is talking about the Super Bowl ads … and if you’re one of the regular readers, you’d know that in a recent article we wrote about what are, in our opinion, the 5 Best Super Bowl 50 Ads, and why. As part of due diligence, we had to watch all of the ads to pick the best ones, including the terrible ones. Just so that you don’t take life for granted, here are Super Bowl Worst Ads 2016. WARNING: what has been seen can never be unseen.

“Best” and “worsts” are subjective concepts when an ad is just out; ultimately, all that we can share here is nothing but our informed opinions. Ultimately, there is only 1 criteria of how good or bad an advertisement campaign or a commercial is, and that’s how well it converts. That is, if it helps to sell the product it advertises, or hinders it. Some products can sell better before embarking on botched advertising campaigns. It would make sense to revisit these ads in 6 months; for now, everything that follows is pure, subjective speculation.

Nevertheless, our list is not random. I used the following 2 criteria to rank the commercials, both in this article, as well in the previous one:

1. Did I want to buy the product after watching the ad?
2. Did I remember what the product was after the ad was over (bonus points for remembering the brand)?

So, without further ado, let’s get on with the show …

5. Storm’s a-Brewing | Death Wish Coffee

Neither good nor bad, this ad, apparently co-sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks, promotes Death Wish Coffee, a coffee so caffeinated that you’d have to have a death wish to drink it. The reason that we decided to start our list with this one is because while it is a high-production values ad, and I can certainly remember the name of the coffee brand it advertised, I didn’t feel particularly inspired to drink Death Wish Coffee.

The provocative name ties in well to some of what the head Viking is shouting, but the coffee references seem tacked on. To paraphrase, he says something along the lines of, “Wake up! Tonight we drink in Valhalla!” There’s the freshness of the storm, but … wouldn’t people rather drink well-caffeinated coffee NOT to die when they’re feeling like a zombie in the morning? So while it’s not a very bad commercial per se, I felt that it had much more potential than what it turned out to be.

Also, why vikings? Why not samurais?

Watch the ad here or below:

4. Shock Top Super Bowl | Shock Top Beer

Also not the most terrible ad out there, this one is lower (or higher, depending on how you look at it) on the list because it failed on both criteria points at once: after watching it at least thrice with a few hours breaks in-between, I still can not remember what it was advertising. Therefore, I don’t really want to buy the product … because I can’t remember what it is. The ad plays on the famous “X comes into a bar” motif, with the actor exchanging comical barbs to a CGI orange-slice-creature-thing sporting sunglasses.

I did find one of their jokes amusing, but once you’d heard it, there doesn’t seem to be much value in watching this ad again. The joke goes like this: the bar patron tells the orange-slice-creature thing, “So, your mother was an Orange. Was your father medical marijuana?” 🙂

Watch the ad here or below:

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: SPOILER ALERT.

3. Doritos Dogs | Doritos

This one actually ranked as #1 best ad in a different video list of “best ads of the Super Bowl,” but we beg to differ. Now, we understand dogs; dogs are cool. Who doesn’t like dogs? Well, maybe Angela Merkel, but who else? The problem with this ad isn’t so much the dogs as it is that it is neither particularly original, nor does it instill the type of brand awareness advertising money is supposed to buy. Why is it that it’s the Doritos chips that these dogs want, why not Scooby Snacks? That would have certainly been more appropriate. I did not remember the brand the ad advertised 3 days after watching it (I saw it on Friday, before the Super Bowl). And no, I did not feel particularly inspired to go buy a bag of chips after watching it … perhaps because I’m not a dog.

A problem with me, or with the ad?

You decide.

Watch the ad here or below:

2. #AvosInSpace | Avocados From Mexico

Well, this one certainly gets points for originality and for Ben Stiller made look like a red-skinned alien, but while that’s all well and good, how is any of it connected to avocados? Why? And there’s a freaking murder close to the end of the ad. With how much money they must have spent on Ben Stiller alone, one would think the company behind the ad would make something more … appropriate. But again, we’ll only know when the sales numbers are in, so for now, enjoy. If you can.

Watch the ad here or below:

1. Puppy Monkey Baby | Mountain Dew

Some might find this one repulsive, like I had. Others might find it memorable, but I could bet you a fiver that they wouldn’t be able to tell what brand is being advertised here 15 minutes after they’d first seen it — and I’m not just guessing here, I’d actually asked people if they remember what the advertisement was about.

You know what they said?

“PUPPY MONKEY BABY!”

No more comments on this one.

Watch the ad here or below:

And that concludes our list of the Super Bowl Worst Ads of 2016. Which ones do you think should’ve made the list, but didn’t? Do you think some of these ads are actually pretty good and are here undeservedly?

Let us know in the comments below.