Chris Crucial: Super Bowl edition!

Ranking the ads.

I’ve spent much of the last 30 years (I am old!) watching TV ads. Lots of them.

Yes, most of them have been political commercials. But, I think I have a pretty good sense of what works in terms of getting peoples’ attention, which, in this attention economy, is the coin of the realm.

Which brings me to Sunday night and a little event called the Super Bowl. (Ever heard of it?)

I watched the whole show game and came up with my 5 favorite ads. Agree? Disagree? The comments section awaits!

• “DunKings”: Ben Affleck. JLo. Tom Brady. Matt Damon. Jack Harlow. Weird dance moves. Awesome costumes (that you can buy!). This was my favorite ad of the night — and a super memorable one for Dunkin. (Also, this ad is only the second best Dunkin related content on You Tube. The first? This, of course.)

• “Talkin’ like Walken”: I will admit I did not totally know this was a BMW ad — but I liked it enough that I went back and rewatched it a few times and got it. Which is what advertisers want! Walken is totally watchable and magnetic — and people doing impersonations of him is good TV. Only miss? No mention of how Walken puts his pants on (one leg at a time).

• “Javier in Frame”: A Google commercial with blurry pictures? Seems odd but was TERRIFIC. The story of Javier, a person with vision issues, and how Google’s phone technology allows him to take great pictures was incredibly powerful to me.

• “Can’t B Broken”: I am not crazy in love — ahem — with Beyonce but I thought this ad was super creative (She runs for president! She goes to space! She’s Bar-bey!). And, as a MAJOR plus, Tony Hale (aka Buster Bluth) was prominently featured. This was a Verizon ad, I think.

• “Kennedy”: This was, without question, the most controversial ad of the night. It was run by American Values, a super PAC supporting the independent presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and was a clear attempt to traffic in his famous last name to get attention. Yes, I know some members of his family took umbrage (and RFK Jr. apologized) but here’s the thing: It was THE ad the political world was talking about today. So….

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“He apparently had some sort of foot reason that he says he couldn't do that, but the reality is, the closest he's come to harm's way is a golf ball hitting him on a golf cart.” — Nikki Haley on Donald Trump’s military service (or lack thereof)

ONE GOOD CHART

Our budget deficit — which no politician, Democrat or Republican, seriously talks about any more — is set to continue spiraling out of control. (Hat tip to fellow Georgetown Hoya Chris Klejdys for highlighting this chart for me.) Seems like the kind of thing our politicians should start paying attention to, no?

SONG OF THE DAY

The simplicity of Iron & Wine’s music — usually just a guitar and his voice — has always appealed to me. His new one — “You Never Know” — is just so beautiful. (And his new album is out in April.)