Mashed Staff Reviews The Best And Worst Of Super Bowl 2023 Food Commercials

Super Bowl 2023 was a furious battle of expectantly epic proportions between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Yet, as with all competitions, one will rise victorious which the Chiefs happened to do this time. And, along with the action on the field, there's always another battle raging between plays: the competition for the best Super Bowl commercial. Some are hilarious, some are bad and some are just plain weird, like the time Naomi Campbell danced to "Thriller" with CGI lizards in the 2008 SoBe ad.

Thankfully for you, the Mashed team kept a keen eye on all of the food ads aired during the game. While these commercials are a slightly different ballgame to the gridiron action there is still a lot at stake for companies as the hallowed advertising spots cost upwards of $6 million. And, for the Fox Corporation alone, the entire game likely generated roughly $600 million in advertising revenue during the broadcast, according to the Wall Street Journal. All that aside though, part of the Super Bowl fun is just sitting on a couch — chip in dip — and judging the ads as they come rolling in. So, that's exactly what we did.

The "Caddyshack" commercial for Michelob Ultra may have been fun for people who are fans of the movie, and it may have gone over with golf aficionados, as well. It wasn't really all that entertaining, however, if the references went right over your head. 

The real problem with this spot, however, was that darn song — you know which one. Not everyone is a big fan of Kenny Loggins, after all, and for those of us who aren't, it was sheer torture to have that unpleasantly earwormy "I'm Alright" stuck in our heads all night. Thanks, but no thanks, Michelob, that's no way to sell us your beer.

Great ads either make you cry, thank you, The Farmer's Dog, or laugh, like Ram's "premature electrification" ad, so Pepsi's Super Bowl ad campaign "Great Acting or Great Taste?" was disappointing since it didn't do either. It had excellent star power with Ben Stiller and Steve Martin but didn't deliver in the end. 

Perhaps people would've liked it more if there were more of a nostalgic connection to the actors' movie characters, like Stiller's Zoolander clip. Martin and Stiller have plenty in their movie catalog to pick from. Maybe next year Pepsi.

The worst ad had to be the Planter's Peanuts roast of Mr. Peanut because it felt like a missed opportunity. Super Bowl ads tend to have a penchant for irreverence and over-the-top comedy but this ad hits none of those highs we're used to. Some very tame digs at the fictional character and it's already over. 

Maybe Planters didn't buy a long enough spot for better jokes but the execution feels half-baked with no recognizable cameos to speak of either. One would normally expect a Bill Burr or Seth McFarlane-type comedian to roast a corporate figurehead with no remorse in a spot like this. The kind of thing that would barely get approved by the head honchos over brand concerns. But, none of that really surfaced here and that's a shame as the concept is a great one.

Coming in as the least favorite Super Bowl LVII commercial is the one from Pringles. When the first 'can on the hand' commercial aired during last year's Super Bowl, it was humorous enough; watching a man live out his entire life quite happily with that Pringles can stuck over his arm. 

But, while the rule of thumb with popular trends on social media is to rehash them to death, with commercials that strategy can get real old, real quick. Even sticking a can on Meghan Trainor's hand wasn't enough to save it. So, while it was admittedly a little funny to see a tiny Pringles can in an ultrasound photo in this 2023 Super Bowl commercial, overall I hope that it marks the end of the 'can on the hand' schtick.

Growing up, Pringles were a lunchbox staple for many '90s kids. The package was colorful and fun, and the flavors seemed endless. Once the chips were gone, the cylinders could be used as a prop for playtime. However, the risk of getting one's arm caught in the can was always a possibility. A badge of honor in many ways.

Last year, a Pringles commercial played on that fact, but crafting a storyline around a man who loves life with one arm as a Pringles can. It was a great ad. So, when Meghan Trainor was teased about being involved in this year's ad, the anticipation was high. Sadly, the ad didn't deliver. It was a cheap callback to last year's ad with disappointing results.

DoorDash featuring celebrity chefs. This ad was just one egregious example of the many ads that felt like less than the sum of their many (and famous) parts. While abounding in culinary and musical talent, the chefs seemed to clutter the storyline and distracted from the ad going in any discernible direction. 

While they were ostensibly there to help a shopper, they weren't much help, other than using their influence to celebrate DoorDash and prop up the brand. DoorDash has a clear and useful mission, which got lost in the shuffle of this cluttered segment.

Even for fans of SNL and Maya Rudolph, M&M's bizarre "Ma&Ya's" commercial was a true head-scratcher. Rudolph's energy combined with the commercial's whimsical color palette made the ad fun to watch, but the introduction of the brand's fictional new Ma&Ya's chocolate-covered clam candies felt like the lead-up to a punchline that never arrived. 

While it was revealed later on that the spot was part of an elaborate setup for M&M's "Their Back For Good" campaign, this could have been made more clear during the original commercial given fans' less-than-impressed reactions during the game.