What the best Super Bowl ads of 2012 tell us about life in 2022

The 2022 Super Bowl is a week away, which means we’re already about a month-deep into the Super Bowl Advertising Hype Cycle. Teasers, tweets, and tidbits of information have all been gradually and strategically released in an effort to build as much momentum as possible for all that cash splashed out into 30-seconds of opportunity. What’s Zendaya doing with sea shells for Squarespace? Why is Arnold Schwarzenegger playing Zeus for BMW? We already know how Flamin’ Hot Doritos is pushing it in the jungle.

Despite the emergence and now general domination of digital and social advertising across an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the Super Bowl has managed to hold onto its advertising clout—and massive TV audience—so brands and advertisers tend to go big. The ad space in this year’s broadcast is sold out, with some 30-second slots selling for about $7 million.

Since 1989, USA Today has been tracking and crowning Super Bowl ad winners the day after the big game with its Super Bowl Ad Meter. But while the day after, even during the game on Twitter, is a great time to debate the merits of all the ads, this year we started thinking about how some of these commercials might age over time. How much do you remember about the 2012 Super Bowl? Let’s cast our eyes back through time for The 2012 Super Bowl Hindsight Ad Meter, where we judge the ads of the past by the standards of the present.

A decade ago, it was the New York Giants versus the New England Patriots, playing in Indianapolis. The halftime show was headlined by Madonna, with LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, and M.I.A. as guest performers. M.I.A. had the most memorable moment when she flipped the middle finger at the camera (and the 167 million viewers), sparking a controversy that led to the NFL suing her for $16 million, and eventually settling privately about three years later.

According to USA Today‘s Ad Meter, the top five commercials of that year’s game were Doritos’ “Man’s Best Friend,” Volkswagen’s “Dog Strikes Back,” Skechers’ “Go Run,” Doritos’ “Sling Baby,” and M&M’s “Ms. Brown.”

Let’s be clear on one thing: 2012 was not a banner year for Super Bowl ads. Barring perhaps our No. 1 pick, there are no timeless classics on this list. Still, as far as predicting the sentiments of an audience of tens of millions, overall it makes sense. Doritos was in the midst of its wildly successful “Crash the Super Bowl” ad contest (which ran from 2006 to 2016), where the brand solicited entries from everyday people and ran with their ideas. The appeal there is obvious, in that most of the spots were funny and ridiculous enough, with the added momentum of weeks of fan voting leading up to the game. Volkswagen, meanwhile, was still a few years away from its epic emissions scandal, and went big with a sequel to the insanely popular Star Wars-themed spot “The Force” from 2011. Skechers? A complete and utter head scratcher. Chalk it up to the timeless appeal of the French bulldog?

Criteria for our Hindsight Ad Meter takes into account first and foremost if the spot feels dated or if, in a pinch, it could seamlessly slot into the rotation next Sunday. Then, in order to account for cultural relevance, we look at how consistent the brand’s creativity has been over the years since 2012. On with the countdown!

5. Volkswagen “Dog Strikes Back”

If you’re looking for someone to blame for the modern Super Bowl advertising industrial complex, look no further than VW’s 2011 Super Bowl hit “The Force.” Created by ad agency Deutsch, the spot starred a little kid dressed as Darth Vader trying to Jedi mind trick various household items. Adorable. It also marked one of the first times that a brand released its full ad before the game in an effort to build momentum. That risk paid off wildly, with the ad becoming one of the most popular Super Bowl ads of all time. So pulling off a repeat 12 months later was a tall order. The spot works in a few ways. First, it stars a cute dog doing human things like working out, all to a party-happy tune, James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing.” Which would’ve probably been enough to get your attention. But then it goes meta, zooming out to everyone’s favorite Mos Eisley dive bar.

Overall, this could’ve been a ranked much higher on the Hindsight Meter if it wasn’t for the small matter of a subsequent global scandal that haunted the brand for years.

4. Honda “Matthew’s Day Off”

Much like VW’s awesome-yet-totally transparent nostalgia play, Honda decided to pick a universally-beloved pop culture classic, and use our fond memories of said classic to pitch us on a car. The teaser released the week before the game went viral, mostly because there were zero clues that it was for a car ad, with fans hoping it was for a Ferris Bueller sequel. In that way, this could totally run today—and likely garner the same response. The ad itself is far from timeless, but John Hughes nostalgia certainly is.

3. Bud Light “Rescue Dog”

Again, with the dogs. Super Bowl ads and cute canines go together like Super Bowl nachos and beer. Bud Light is a perennial Super Bowl advertiser, which comes with a certain level of expectation. It’s light beer, not rocket science, so people typically want goofy fun over the self-serious, over-written manifesto-speak the brand rolled out during the same game for its Bud Light Platinum offshoot. Anyway, here we have an oddly adorable pooch that can fetch beer at the call of a catchphrase. It’s no Game of Thrones x Dilly Dilly collab, but a reliable formula nonetheless. While Bud Light has had it’s share of misses since 2012, it’s still managed to maintain its place of expectation in any Super Bowl ad starting lineup.

2. M&M’s “Ms. Brown”

This is just some wholesome candy advertising. M&M’s commercials exist in a world that puts way too much emotion into its mascots, and this spot is no different. Unplanned, ridiculous nudity is objectively funny, and that absurdity goes up a notch when we’re talking about anthropomorphic candy-coated chocolate. The brand’s ads have consistently landed high post-game rankings, and given last year’s edition starring Dan Levy hit No. 4 on the Ad Meter, and featured a cameo by Ms. Brown herself, this 2012 commercial doesn’t feel dated at all.

1. Old Milwaukee “Cut Off”

On the face of it, it’s a funny beer ad starring a comedy legend. That right there is almost enough to get it on any list. But what makes Will Ferrell’s Old Milwaukee spot so good is not only how he spoofs conventional advertising tropes—the orchestral march through an American [!] farmer’s field—only to get cut off just as he utters his first words. But it’s also how it deliberately fed into and built out from the inherent social-media hype that comes with taking an ad like this and only airing it locally on Nebraska’s KNOP-TV. Most fans didn’t even see it during the game, yet it quickly became a cult classic. Ferrell’s celebrity-based meta-advertising approach here predates Ryan Reynolds ascent to that throne (and the original Deadpool) by almost four years, and could easily run a decade later and still rank among the game’s best.