Yahoo Finance The Best Super Bowl 50 Commercials
A $5 million ad buy
Sure, Super Bowl 50 was awesome, assuming you like the Broncos, are a fan of Peyton Manning or love good defense. But was anyone really watching the game? For many, Super Bowl Sunday is all about the commercials, as businesses doled out $5 million for a 30-second spot to be seen by the biggest TV audience of the year. Here are some of the largest publicly traded companies that are banking on a Super Bowl sales bump after the big game.
T-Mobile US (TMUS)
The company that famously brought us the pink-sundressed T-Mobile girl a few years ago was strong on Sunday, getting Steve Harvey to play off his infamous Miss Universe blunder -- when he crowned the wrong winner -- to counter Verizon Communications' (VZ) bouncing-ball ad campaign spots. "I'm not taking responsibility on this one," Harvey crowed. "Verizon got it wrong. Yes! Not me!"
12-month performance for TMUS stock: 13.9 percent
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC)
Kraft Heinz may have taken top prize with its weiner dog spot. Honestly, who can resist the sight of a pack of dachshunds dressed as hot dogs joyfully running through a field and into the arms of some folks dressed as ketchup bottles? Having the spot set to the sappy Air Supply tune "I Can't Live (If Living Is Without You)," struck the perfect note.
12-month performance for KHC stock: -0.25 percent
Anheuser Busch (BUD)
The maker of Budweiser and Bud Light always brings it hard during the Super Bowl, and Super Bowl 50 was no exception. Powerhouse comedy team Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer poked fun at politics with their Bud Light Party spot. ("We got the biggest caucus in the country!") But even more powerful was British actress Helen Mirren's message urging people not to drive drunk. "If you drive drunk," says Mirren, seated in a swanky restaurant, "you, simply put, are a short-sighted, utterly useless, oxygen-wasting human form of pollution, a Darwin-award deserving, selfish coward." Well done.
12-month performance for BUD stock: -3.1 percent
Unilever (UL)
The parent company of Axe body spray typically targets its ads to young men, suggesting not so subtly that should they coat themselves with the spray to make women find them irresistible. But in this year's spot, Axe seems to be broadening its appeal the masses by urging men to stay true to themselves and find confidence -- "find your magic" -- in themselves.
12-month performance for UL stock: -0.23 percent
Fitbit (FIT)
If anyone needs a boost from the Super Bowl, it's Fitbit, which has cratered in recent months following a highly successful initial public offering. It's banking on a spot that features a variety of people sporting the Fitbit Blaze, a fitness tracker/sleep monitor/watch that it hopes will not only compete with the Apple (AAPL) watch, but help give FIT stock some positive momentum.
12-month performance for FIT stock: -50 percent
PepsiCo (PEP)
Pepsi has long been a titan of Super Bowl commericals -- remember the 1980s spots featuring Michael Jackson and a young Alfonso Ribeiro? The company was feeling pretty nostalgic this year, having Janelle Monae happily dancing through a series of songs by The Contours and Madonna. And its Frito-Lay division, which owns Doritos, is also making waves with its spot about a Doritos-loving dad causing mayhem by snacking during his wife's ultrasound appointment.
12-month performance for PEP stock: -2.2 percent
Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)
Toyota surely got some smiles with its game day spot that featured a middle-aged guy climbing into his Toyota Prius and belting out a G-rated hard-rock song proclaiming him "heck on wheels" because the only time he feels like a tough guy is when he's driving his car. On the way to work, he impresses an elderly lady, dodges some ducklings and celebrates with co-workers when he makes it to the office. In another spot, Toyota reunited the cast of "The Wire" and had them steal a speedy Prius after a bank robbery.
12-month performance for TM stock: -15.8 percent
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