The average cost of a 30-second commercial spot for the 2014 Super Bowl? $3.8 Million... That's just for the time on the air, not including the budget for the commercial itself.Anheuser-Busch alone spent a total of $248.6 Million for the Super Bowl airwaves this year. That's a lot of dough. Remember when they made good commercials? Yeah, I miss those.There were a lot of good commercials this year, but who knocked it out of the park? Here are my favorite commercials from the 2014 Super Bowl and why I think they are the best:6) PistachiosThis one is actually a two-parter, Part 1:And one commercial later, Part 2:This commercial is great for a couple reason. First off, it has Stephen Colbert. He's funny and very recognizable. The first commercial is ok, but the second one... man. This ad made me laugh the hardest out of all the Super Bowl Commercials. I also love the story that the two commercials tell and how they strategically planned this out even though both are 15 seconds.5) JaguarCool Car, Cool Actor's, Cool Commercial. This commercial is like watching a minute long James Bond film. It's beautifully shot and well edited. It's just cool, which is what they are trying to portray about the car. I'd say they did their job.4) MicrosoftRight in the Feels.I love technology and I love this commercial. The reason I love this commercial is because it pushes past the fanboy wars of Apple vs Microsoft and reminds us of the good that technology does. It's also just a really well-done commercial.Also, I think Microsoft is going to make a comeback. Their Surface line is awesome.3) T-MobileT-Mobile is doing some pretty unconditional things in the wireless industry, no more contracts. The fact that they hired Tim Tebow for this, and that he agreed to it, is cool enough. But this entire commercial is just fun and makes you laugh throughout. It's also very well shot and edited. 2) Duracell"So I didn't listen."Chills. Technically this aired before the Super Bowl, but it's just way too good to keep out of this list. Extremely well shot and edited and just an extremely inspiring story. 1) MaseratiThis commercial is so different from everything else out there and holy crap it is beautiful. When this commercial came on, the room went silent and paid attention. It's kind of weird that Maserati is marketing themselves as the little underdog/up-and-comer, but I all I know is now I want one.Honorable Mention:This commercial wasn't in the Super Bowl, but it was in contention to be one. One of the funniest commercials I've seen in a long time, I wished this one.Classic Doritos.I can't wait to see what next year's Super Bowl brings. Hopefully a better game... poor Peyton. I'm happy for the Seahawks though! Ever since the Rams started to stink they've been my favorite team.The Title of this post is "The Art of the Super Bowl Commercial," because it truly is an art. Telling a coherent story in under 30-60 seconds is an extremely difficult thing to do. Working for Bruton Stroube this summer really opened my eyes up to that. Watch the commercials again, pay attention to the edits, and be impressed.Do you disagree? What were your favorite commercials?
