One of the biggest investments in Creative that major brands make each year is an ad spot during the Super Bowl. These million-dollar investments can pay off big time, or be a total flop for the brand. It’s an excellent example of how high-quality creative content can make significant contributions to a company’s goals. Here are some of the ads from this year’s Super Bowl that we thought were the most effective.

DoorDash – “The Neighborhood”

The combination of Daveed Diggs and Sesame Street characters made for a sweet ad that managed to both inspire nostalgia with Big Bird and also inspire you to explore your own neighborhood’s food options.

State Farm – “Drake from State Farm”

This quick ad makes good use of celebrity talent, and sticks in your head with the Drake/Jake from State Farm swap. It’s just funny enough to get your attention and stay in your head, and State Farm strengthens their brand recognition by using consistent messaging that we all know and love.

Toyota – “Jessica Long’s Story”

Every year there is at least one ad that aims right for the heart. Toyota highlighted the story of Jessica Long, 13-time Paralymic gold medalist by showing her swimming through her life. This creative storytelling grabbed our attention, tugged on our heartstrings, and aligned the Toyota brand with a message of hope and strength.

M&M – “Come Together”

Perhaps the most charming commercial from the Big Game – M&M made us all chuckle and showcased their product line as people made hilarious apologies like “I’m sorry for kicking your seat on purpose” on an airplane. They rounded the ad out with a little dark humor from Dan Levy. Engaging and effective, this ad makes me want some M&M’s.

Amazon – “Alexa’s Body”

Amazon has a track record of strong Alexa ads. This year might take the cake as Amazon hilariously reimagines Alexa’s body. This ad has something for everyone, it’s funny, sharable, and enjoyable to watch more than once.

Cadillac – “ScissorHandsFree”

This one we should have seen coming. It draws us in with a retelling of a classic film, with a very modern resolution. Of course Edgar Scissorhands would benefit from hands-free driving technology. Not sure if I’m ready to go buy a Cadillac, but I’m going to think of this ad every time hands-free driving technology is mentioned.

Oatly – “Wow No Cow”

Perhaps the most controversial ad of the night, Oatly has people split on whether or not it’s cringe or genius. Either way, we can all agree on two things: It was impossible not to watch, and the lyrics “wow no cow” will be in our heads for days.

Cheetos – “It Wasn’t Me”

Cheetos classic ads featuring orange fingers and orange dust as a dead-giveaway are always fun. This time they’ve leveraged a lot of star power and some clever new lyrics to Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” to continue the orange-fingered gambit. While Ashton’s signing is on par with the Oatly CEO, this is a fun ad that works.

Rocket Mortgage – “Certain Is Better”

One of the most popular ads of the night, according to the USA Today Ad Meter, Rocket Mortgage featuring Tracy Morgan is funny and gets the point across. With plenty of vignettes of situations where it’s better to be certain, we can be certain that this ad will be a popular reference for a while.

If you want to take your creative to the next level and drive better content outcomes like these brands, schedule a demo of inMotion ignite today.

Elise Hauser is a product and content marketer with a passion for telling brand stories. She has produced inMotionNow’s annual Creative Management Report for 4 years, webinars, content sessions for major industry events reaching audiences of 11,000+, and of course, countless blog posts. When Elise isn’t writing about the marketing and creative industry at inMotionNow she is teaching economics and hanging out with her cat, Tucker, at her home in Raleigh, NC.