This year's Super Bowl commercials have hit screens, with advertisers spending up to $10 million for a 30-second slot. The massive audience, expected to exceed last year's record of 127.7 million viewers, has drawn top talent including director Taika Waititi, who helmed three separate campaigns.
Waititi directed and starred in Pepsi's 'The Choice,' featuring a CGI polar bear preferring Pepsi in a blind taste test. He also created a Jurassic Park-themed ad for Xfinity and a heartwarming follow-up for Lay's about potato farming. The New Zealand-born filmmaker has become the MVP of Super Bowl advertising this year.
Spike Jonze returned to the Super Bowl with an Instacart commercial starring Ben Stiller as Zoolander and pop star Benson Boone. The spot features Boone's signature backflips, with Stiller comically attempting to outdo him from increasing heights. The ad is described as 'bananas just how you like.'
William Shatner, aged 94, appears in a Raisin Bran ad promoting fibre intake for regular digestion. He teleports around the US reminding people to eat fibre-rich cereal, delivering a toilet-humour punchline. The commercial is one of several cheeky spots this year.
Other notable ads include Xfinity's Jurassic Park reboot, which de-ages actors Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, though Neill's CGI face falls into the uncanny valley. Despite this, the ad is fun and includes a reference to Goldblum's famous line about dinosaur dung.
