Super Bowl commercials 2019: The best ads, from Stella Artois to Microsoft

On Sunday 3 February, legions of American football fans watched as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2019 Super Bowl.

For us Brits, the sporting occasion can be a pretty confusing time resulting in endless hours trying to understand the point of the game's yellow flags, Googling the definition of ‘tailgating’, and learning the differences between rugby and American football.

What unites us with our neighbours across the pond, however, is a mutual love (or loathing) of the chance to sit back and indulge in yes, you guessed it, the Super Bowl adverts.

Since its first 30-second advert in 1967, the Super Bowl has become the most talked-about advertising moment in the world, selling everything from beer and cars, to fizzy drinks and sweets.

In 2018, consultancy group Kantar Media estimated the cost of a 30-second advert during the game climbed above £3.7m ($5.05m), with spending on the night soaring 87 per cent over the last decade.

From Cindy Crawford and Tiffany Haddish, to Cardi B and Betty White, some of Hollywood’s most in-demand celebrities have starred in the most famous Super Bowl adverts over the years.

The world has watched the likes of Michael Jordan team up with Bugs Bunny for a game of hoops, pop singer Michael Jackson proclaim Pepsi as the “choice of a new generation”, and actor Rebel Wilson offer up her vocal skills as Amazon’s new personal assistant.

Several of the adverts have have even become talking-points in their own right, from Snickers' homophobic ‘Kissing’ commercial to PETA’s sexist 'Sexy Vegetables' ad.

Pepsi has released it's long-awaited Super Bowl LIII commercial, starring Cardi B, Steve Carell and Lil Jon.

The advert begins in a 1950s-themed diner, with a woman asking a waiter for a Coke.

“Is Pepsi OK?” the waiter replies, to which a shocked Carell turns around, stands up and asks: “Is Pepsi OK? Is Pepsi OK?”

“Are puppies OK? Is a shooting star OK? Is the laughter of a small child OK?” Carell continues asking the waiter.

Before Carell receives a response, he clicks his fingers to role play with the diner employee, before teaching his fellow diners how to says “OK” with conviction.

“OH-KAY!” Lil Jon exclaims from behind the counter, before Cardi B enters the restaurant wearing a sparkling dress and saying her signature "Okurrr".

Weeks after Michael Bublé popped out of the freezer in time for Christmas, the singer has returned to star in PepsiCo’s debut Super Bowl advert.

In the clip, the Grammy-award winning singer can be seen sitting on the floor of a supermarket and changing the name of Pepsi Co’s sparkling water brand Bubly to Bublé in black marker pen.

“Michael, don’t do that,” an employee at the supermarket tells the Canadian singer.

The advert promotes the brand’s four new flavours - blackberrybubly, cranberrybubly, raspberrybubly and peachbubly – and marks Bublé’s first time starring in an American football commercial.

Days after teasing their iconic characters, Carrie Bradshaw and The Dude, were respectively making a "comeback" to the small screen, actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges have teamed star to Stella Artois’ Super Bowl advert.

The advert comes as part of the #PourItForward campaign from Stella Artois, which sees the pilsner company team up with the charity Water.org to provide clean water for those without. The company says £2.37 ($3.13) from every Chalice sold will go to providing clean water from someone.

Bradshaw introduces the advert when she walks into a bar and orders a Stella Artois — rather than her beloved Cosmopolitan cocktail —, much to the surprise of a waiter who drops their tray. Bridges then enters the room and orders the same beer, startling fellow diners.

"Well, changing can do a little good,” says Bridges as he sits down at an adjacent table to Bradshaw.

Google's '100 Billion Words' advert sends a unifying message, illustrating how language can bring people together all over the world, no matter where they're from or what their native tongue may be.

The commercial shows individuals across the globe using Google Translate to translate words about food, friendship and sport and in doing so, forge stronger connections with one another.

"Every day, the most translated words in the world are 'how are you', 'thank you' and 'I love you'," the narrator states.

Microsoft pulled at the heartstrings with this year's Super Bowl commercial, in which it shows how inaccessible video game controllers can be for people with physical disabilities.

In the advert, several young gamers with physical disabilities explain how they sometimes find it difficult to use standard controllers.

"I never thought it was unfair, I just thought, 'Hey, this is the way it is and it's not going to change'," one of the young boys taking part in the campaign says.

All of the children are then filmed trying out Microsoft's new Xbox Adaptive Controller.

"I can hit the buttons just as fast as they can," one girl says when discussing what it's like to play with her friends.

The Microsoft advert has been hailed on social media, with one person describing it as "a true celebration of and respect for those with physical disabilities."

In 2018, Budweiser announced its commitment to eventually brew 100 per cent of its beer using renewable energy from wind power.

The company's promise has finally come to fruition, showcased in an advert titled 'Wind Never Felt Better'.

Set to the 1960s Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind", the commercial features a dalmation sitting on top of a Budweiser cart that's being pulled along by a group of horses, the wind blowing gracefully through the dog's ears.

As the camera zooms out to reveal the wide shot, it's revealed that the cart is surrounded by numerous wind turbines.

"Now brewed with wind power for a better tomorrow," the advert states.

Amazon's 2019 Super Bowl advert took a self-deprecating turn, poking fun at the company's ambitious attempts to test the capabilities of its virtual assistant Alexa.

In one part of the advert, acclaimed actor Forest Whitaker can be seen brushing his teeth with an electric toothbrush equipped with Alexa.

When he tries to brush his teeth while simultaneously listening to a podcast on the toothbrush, the sound is unsurprisingly muffled in his mouth.

Later on, Star Wars and Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford struggles to cope with the demands of his dog, who's wearing a collar equipped with Alexa.

The dog uses the collar to order excessive amounts of dog food, much to Ford's dismay.

"Not everything makes the cut," the tagline of the Amazon campaign reads.

While Backstreet Boys are currently making a musical comeback, recently achieving their first number one album in almost two decades, no one could have anticipated the band's partnership with Chance the Rapper for the 2019 Super Bowl.

Lo and behold, the two musical acts came together for a remixed version of "I Want It That Way" for the Doritos campaign, advertising the crisp company's new Flamin' Hot flavour.

"The remix we didn't know we wanted but now can't live without," one person commented on YouTube.

"The only ad on YouTube that I won't click skip ad for," another person quipped.