The real winners and losers of the Super Bowl are the movies advertised during the commercial breaks. Football players get a cool ring or not, but the trailers seen by millions watching the big game could make or break their film's release. Or at least have a positive or negative effect on their awareness. The best of the below ads do a great job selling their product to this crowd, and the worst do not. That doesn't necessarily mean the winners will be successes at the box office (see Ted 2's win last year) or bombs (see Minions' loss last year). But it does still indicate which studios spent their money well, and which just wasted a boatload of cash.
THE WINNERS
Jason Bourne
While the actual trailer doesn't offer much content to get too excited about, other than Matt Damon looking super buff (and a reminder of how little he looked in the original), but just dropping the first look of what's apparently just titled Jason Bourne, is all Universal needed to do here. Why did he return now, indeed? Who cares, we've got the real deal Bourne back!
Captain America; Civil War
This TV spot is short but really packs in the intensity of what we have to look forward to in the Avengers halftime show (as in it's between Avengers movies — never mind, I'm bad with Super Bowl analogies). The icing on the cake is that shot of the two sides in the fight. Much more interesting than this clash on the football field. Oh, and so War Machine definitely dies, huh?
Marvel Cinematic Universe – Coke Mini Ad
Hulk is not in Captain America: Civil War, so here's a kind of MCU short film pitting him against Ant-Man. Not to be a Marvel loyalist, but I would be surprised if all of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is any better than this brief commercial.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Turkish Airlines Cross Promotion
We've all seen plenty of footage from this upcoming superhero crossover, so why not do something a little different to promote the comic book movie today? Turkish Airlines seems like an odd choice for Batman v Superman's official airline, but the cross promotion works in their favor because when was the last time you thought of them? Meanwhile, we get two separate spots highlighting the movie's twin cities, Metropolis and Gotham City, and their respective billionaire tycoons, Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne.
10 Cloverfield Lane
We don't still think this is a Cloverfield sequel, right? Or is that one of the monsters' spaceships behind the house at the end? More was shown, more questions are had. We can't wait for this one.
Deadpool
The obligatory big TV event themed Deadpool ad has a nice pro athlete joke and an appropriate shot from the movie of the title merc kicking a guy's head like it's a football. I love the movie, but I'm still growing tired of the marketing.
The Jungle Book
I don't think this offered much we haven't seen, but it's still pretty intense considering Disney's live-action version of their 1967 animated classic looks like a shot-for-shot remake. This is for the grown ups, right? The kids can keep the less scary cartoon.
Kung Fu Panda 3 Wix.com Cross Promotion
This cross promotion with Wix.com has a few neat parodies of classic Super Bowl ads, though they go by too quick. Mostly this wins for being able to sell a movie that's already been out a while.
The Seven Year Itch Snickers Ad
Topping Kung Fu Panda 3 for oldest movie getting promoted this Super Bowl. Also, Williem Dafoe looks great in that dress.
THE LOSERS
Gods of Egypt
This still could be guilty fun at best, but I can't help but wonder if it'll actually make enough money to afford its Super Bowl spot.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Out of the shadows is right. Meaning Krang. Show a little more than that. Or maybe never mind. His man suit looks bad enough. He's probably going to be awful. Still, this is a trailer that doesn't seem to want anyone to really see anything for very long, and not just because it's hiding anything. It's just not a good spot. What a mess.
The Secret Life of Pets
This movie looks really stupid. And why are they showing an animated feature spot so late in the game? Most of the kids it ought to be targeting are surely in bed already.
X-Men: Apocalypse
Because we needed more Coldplay heard during the Super Bowl? Especially with a bad cover of Coldplay? The Psylocke shot is pretty cool, but he rest is far from interesting.
Eddie the Eagle
Some of football's greatest heroes were paid well to say they love this sappy looking sports movie. Just tell us what it's about.
Independence Day: Resurgence
I had to re-watch this one twice to finally understand what Jeff Goldblum says at the end. And get what's happening on screen. It definitely looks like a lot more alien invasion mayhem spectacle, but other than that basic appeal this spot is really poor, save for the attention-grabbing opening.
The Big Short Part 2
The title of the Rocket Mortgage ad that makes us foresee an actual sequel to The Big Short is "What We Were Thinking." More like what were they thinking?
