This weekend, the biggest sporting event on the Stateside calendar, the Super Bowl, went down between the San Francisco 49ers and the Taylor Swiftie… Sorry (checks notes), Kansas City Chiefs. And with a massive guaranteed TV audience, that naturally meant companies shelling out not just $7 million for 30 seconds of precious airtime, but millions more to secure celebrity faces and guarantee viewers/clicks. As is usual these days, most of the ads went up days before the event itself, or the spots linked to longer versions online. Here is a roundup of our favourites…
State Farm: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnie's spot for the insurance company is, like so many of these short clips, really only a two-joke piece: 1. Arnie is in it 2. He pronounces "neighbour" "neighbah". Oh, and the extended version also has his old pal Danny DeVito in it. For a second.
Booking.com: Tina Fey
Wither Idris and (more recently) Melissa McCarthy? Tina Fey takes over the duties for the Big Game spot, roping in some of her 30 Rock cast (and Glenn Close) for the travel site.
Uber Eats: Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and more
Also using some telly nostalgia to make us think of its product, Uber's Eats delivery service had Jennifer Aniston forgetting she ever worked with David Schwimmer. The ad also pivots to show us the likes of Post Malone and the Beckhams forgetting slightly important things.
Mountain Dew Big Blast: Aubrey Plaza
Yes, TV reunions are clearly the flavor of the year for the game ads, though Mountain Dew's Aubrey Plaza take is a sneakier one, ending with Plaza and her Parks & Recreation cohort Nick Offerman in a Game Of Thrones reference.
T-Mobile: Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper and Suits
Ditching current commercial leads Zach Braff and Donald Faison (though they do pop up at the end), the phone service company has even bigger names including Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper (with mum Gloria) and Suits duo Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht among those auditioning for the spot.
As a bonus, there was an extra spot days before the event, which added Jason Momoa, and a Flashdance spoof (with added Jennifer Beals) to the usual Braff/Faison schtick.
Dunkin': Ben Affleck
The coffee and donut chain has smartly been working with its most famous customer for a while now, and here Affleck attempts to muscle in on his wife's musical territory. J.Lo? More like J.No thanks! But bonus points to Matt Damon for being a good sport.
Doritos: Jenna Ortega
Though the star of Wednesday and Scream is certainly present, the focus is on abuelitas Dina and Mita, who will go to any length to nab the last bag of Doritos Dinamita.
Pringles: Chris Pratt
As if Pratt hadn't earned enough as one mustachioed character in The Super Mario Brothers Movie, here, his new bushy 'stache lands him the role of Mr. P. the Pringles mascot.
BetMGM: Vince Vaughn
MGM, the company that runs many Las Vegas casinos has a big interest in sports betting. So it has Vince Vaughn fronting an ad, which is fitting given that the Super Bowl was held in Vegas this year. And it also roped in Tom Brady, who is slightly well known for American Football.
BMW: Christopher Walken
Everyone has a Walken impression, and he's tired of hearing them. You can understand his viewpoint. Oh, and this ad for the ad channels how we feel about teasers for trailers.
Silk: Jeremy Renner
The plant-based milk company has Jeremy Renner playing on the fact that he's recovering from last year's snowplow accident and even manages a nod to Hawkeye.
Squarespace: Martin Scorsese
The website builder company goes the irony route as aliens arrive, but everyone is too consumed by their phones to notice. Martin Scorsese directs and cameos.
There's also a longer version featuring Marty exploring creating a site with daughter Francesca.
Oikos Yogurt: Martin Lawrence
Ahead of the next Bad Boys film, Lawrence here shows off the muscles that eating Oikos have given him, with former player Shannon Sharpe in on the fun.
Popeyes: Ken Jeong
The Stateside chicken chain has Jeong as a defrosted man from the 1970s confronted with all the "advances," including the fact that Popeyes now sells wings.
STōK Coffee Cold Brew: Anthony Hopkins
Even Welsh teams get in on the action – at least ones co-owned by Ryan Reynolds, whose Maximum Effort company helped make this ad revealing that Hopkins is actually the person playing Wrexham AFC's mascot, Wrex.
Hellman's Mayonnaise: Kate McKinnon
Hellman's enlists McKinnon (and a cat) for a funny spot that also dunks on Pete Davidson.
CeraVe: Michael Cera
The skin cream company reveals that the Arrested Development and Barbie has been behind their product all along. A funny parody of over-stylised beauty ads.
Verizon: Beyoncé
If the game itself has the superstar power of Taylor Swift (at least by association), then why not roll out Beyoncé? That's Verizon plan in this new ad, which also features Tony Hale effectively recreating his Gary role from Veep. Oh, and the announcement of a new album from Queen B.
Paramount Plus: Patrick Stewart, Drew Barrymore
"Shut your face, Barrymore!" Patrick Stewart is seemingly always ready to send up his patrician status, and that outburst, plus singing along to Creed, make this spot worth a watch.