As usual, one of the most talked-about aspects of the Super Bowl this year were the ads – the Brand bowl, as it’s become known.

There were some great commercials, ranging from the funny – like the NFL’s Dirty Dancing reenactment – to the ones that pulled on heartstrings – like Toyota’s “Good Odds” commercial about Paralympian Lauren Woolstencroft. And, still others received largely negative responses, like the misguided Ram spot that used one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches as the narration.

We rounded up some thoughts from the March team on other Super Bowl commercials we liked – and didn’t!

What We Liked…

“Budweiser and Stella Artois, with their ads centered on efforts to bring clean water to communities in need. Budweiser’s was very different from their previous Super Bowl efforts, and Stella Artois’ ad stirred me to act.” – Martin Jones, CEO

“The company that deserves true brand marketing praise this year is Tide, for their infinite ‘It’s a Tide Ad’ spot. Not only did this ad have its own spot, but Tide managed to capture mindshare in every other ad that aired as well. For the rest of the night, everyone kept wondering if each ad would turn into a Tide commercial… and some did. Talk about ROI! And, perhaps, money well spent in the effort to try to divert the brand conversation away from kids eating Tide pods.” – Meredith L. Eaton, Vice President

“Verizon’s first responder ad. I like that they were able to pull at my heartstrings with a relevant and timely ad. It wasn’t forced, which can sometimes be the case for the more poignant ads. It reminds us to thank those who risk their lives daily for others and underscores the importance of a reliable network that allows us to get in touch.” – Erica Frank, Vice President

“Tide’s ads were the most effective, in part because they caused me to second-guess every ad that followed and wonder if they were also Tide ads. It struck me when I was watching NBC’s long ad for “The Voice” – I was convinced that David Harbour was going to pop up and tell me it was a Tide ad, and was actually slightly disappointed when he didn’t. You know your advertising is good when people think of your brand while they’re watching other commercials.” – Manny Veiga, Content Strategist

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“Toyota’s ‘Good Odds’ ad with Lauren Woolstencroft. It’s one thing to evoke a feel-good factor by empowering a disabled sporting icon like Woolstencroft, but what struck me about Toyota’s spot was that it had a clear link with their innovations in personal mobility technology. It was a quick, subtle but effective reminder that Toyota is more than an automaker, and it genuinely left me teary-eyed.” – Alex Jafarzadeh, Senior Account Executive

What We Didn’t…

“Bud Lite’s Dilly Dilly ads are tired at this point. We’ve seen it already, and this one didn’t feel very fresh. The Super Bowl is supposed to be about a brand’s A game, and this felt like a C at best.” – Erica Frank

“I had a lot of least favorite ads, but the one that stood out was Dodge. They hooked me with the Martin Luther King Jr. quotes at the start, but once I realized it was all about selling trucks, it felt immediately exploitative and even profane. There were others that bothered me too – Budweiser spending a lot of money on a Super Bowl ad that essentially pats themselves on the back for donating water for disaster relief (itself a very generous and commendable act) also felt really off.” – Manny Veiga

“Using Martin Luther King to sell trucks – can’t really see the relationship there so it’s shameless, basically. And then ‘Built to Serve’, is disrespectful to those that actually serve really, isn’t it? It’s a pickup truck that has a massive engine, needlessly large in most cases (although it makes a nice manly noise) and it belches fumes into the atmosphere, equally unnecessarily. Neither inspirational nor heroic.” – Martin Jones

“Turkish Airlines’ ‘Five Senses’ ad with Dr. Oz confused me. I couldn’t understand why a TV doctor – and a controversial one at that – was pitching me the wonders of travelling the world from an expensive business class seat while delivering a lecture about the five senses. But, worse still, it lacked impact, so much so that I only remembered seeing it after looking back at a list of commercials that aired during the game. In my opinion, airing a forgettable ad is unforgiveable in a spot that costs as much as $5 million.” – Alex Jafarzadeh

What was your favorite ad this year?