Super Bowl XLVIII’s highly anticipated match up did not live up to the hype, nor did the commercials.

The NFL playoffs delivered the best team from the AFC and NFC, the best offense versus the best defense and the biggest audience ever, with 111.5 million viewers watching the final game. Yet, it fell short of expectations. The Seattle Seahawks blew out the Denver Broncos with a 43 to 8 whooping. The game was virtually over from the first snap, a misplay that resulted in the Broncos giving up a safety.

In past lopsided games, large Super Bowl audiences have been able to turn to the expensive TV ads for entertainment. At least, that is what America had grown accustom to. But this year, on average, they were lackluster .

Still, there were some notable ads that rose to the top…

A Hero’s Welcome
Budweiser helped create one soldier’s special welcome home.

Puppy Love
A cute story where an adorable puppy is being adopted (ie. driven away) from a farm, when the Budweiser Clydesdales save the day.

Time Machine
A kid fools a guy out of his Doritos so bad he thinks he ends up in the future.

The Spill
John Stamos and a groaning model were about to take things to inappropriate levels for the family audience when Bob Saget and Dave Coulier stepped in to clean up the spilt Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt.

The Phone Call
The 80s called and they wanted their store back. Celebrities invaded a RadioShack store to help bring its look to something more modern.

The best standout…

Dad's Sixth Sense
It was a car commercial featuring the Hyundai Genesis. It featured a dad always saving his son from physical harm. It resonated with me, an over-protective father of two young kids, and I am sure it did the same with tons of parents all around the country. The comedy built up to the point where the product voiceover said, “Remember when only dad could save the day?  Auto emergency breaking…”

Social Media Is Consistent
It is worth noting that it seems like a vast majority of ads listed a creative hashtag. It is no surprise that those running the $4 million 30-second TV ads would want the conversation to keep going. For example, #salute had a stream of great tweets, one that showed the 5-minute story behind the ad “A Hero’s Welcome.”  Budweiser’s Twitter page had its background image of one of the animals from the “Puppy Love” commercial.  Its icon showed its logo with #BestBuds under it.

Still, there weren’t many good promotions, besides just listing the hashtags in the commercials.

One notable exception was the ability to get a free song to support a good cause from Bank of America. A promoted tweet (which is Twitter’s advertising) showed these details in an @U2 February 2 message:  Download the #NewU2Song "Invisible" FREE NOW http://smarturl.it/Connect4Red  to help @RED fight AIDS (Exp 11:59pm EST 2/3)

U2’s iTunes promotion will be short lived, but videos will be watched on YouTube and other social networks in the coming months and probably for years to come.  So the investment in a 30 or 60-second spot goes long into our culture. 

Will one of these 2014 commercials make the Hall of Fame, like Coca-Cola’s Mean Joe Greene spot or Volkswagen’s little Darth Vader ad ? It is doubtful. Hopefully the best ads will at least help you think about how to make a connection through your own marketing messages in a way that live on long beyond their creation.

Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.