Rating the 2018 Super Bowl Beverage Ads

CHICAGO -- I didn’t make it to the big game this year—never have—but I had the best seat in (my) house for the real entertainment: the commercials, which by my count included 13 beverage-specific ads.

During the Super Bowl, I live Tweeted the ads (@CSPbeverages). Here are my observations and a look at some of the best in the order they ran during the game …

Just before kickoff, Coca-Cola featured a spot focused on another major sporting event: the Winter Olympics. The introspective ad featured four Olympians around a campfire discussing their excitement about the games and taking part in the opening ceremony of the Olympics—all while clutching bottles of Coca-Cola in their hands.

In the first of a funny and dramatic two-part promotion, Bud Light brings its popular "Dilly Dilly" campaign to a nexus with an epic battle scene all based around getting more Bud Light.

In conjunction with Peter Dinklage’s Dorito Blaze ad, Missy Elliot raps as Morgan Freeman. Talk about mixing demographics for new Mtn Dew Ice.

In part two of this Bud Light epic, the Dilly Dilly warriors meet the Bud Knight, who knows the best way to get more Bud Light is to visit ye olde medieval convenience store! That’s a message we can get behind.

Michelob Ultra adds some humor to its beer-for-working-out aesthetic with new spokesman Chris Pratt and the simple message: I like beer. Good investment.

Yellowtail launches halftime with an unexpected pitch: Recognizing a segment of the Super Bowl audience that usually gets ignored: the wine drinker.

Throughout the pregame TV coverage and the first half of the game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles (spoiler, the Eagles won), Pepsi made sure we viewers didn’t forget they were the sponsor of the halftime show, which featured Justin Timberlake in a respectable medley of his biggest hits. We didn’t hear much about the Pepsi Cola, however, until halftime. Then, Pepsi looked back—'50s drive-in—and ahead—Back to the Future—to remind thirsty viewers that Pepsi Cola is for every generation.

Modelo Especial expands on its immigration message from the 2017 Super Bowl: It doesn't matter where you come from. It only matters what you're made of. So many possible meanings from Constellation Brands.

Anheuser-Busch shuts down a Budweiser production line to can water for Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and more in the wake of hurricane damage. Strong message: big business, yes, but full of heart.

A second wave of fun and fitness for Michelob Ultra, the fastest-growing light beer on the market.

This new entry in Coca-Cola’s multicultural commercial does a better than usual job of bringing the message back to the product with the added pitch: There’s a different Coke for all of us.

Anheuser-Busch partners with Water.org on a Stella Artois message that’s less a sales pitch than a plea—from Matt Damon, no less—to help bring clean water to those in need around the world by buying Stella Artois chalices. One chalice equals five years clean water.