Throughout Super Bowl 51 we kept an eye on the high-stakes game of commercials.
Some of the best commercials included spots for "Stranger Things: Season 2," Turbo Tax, Yellow Tail wine, Google Home, T-Mobile, Skittles, Honda and Avocados From Mexico. Among the duds: H&R Block and McDonald's.
Watch the commercials below and scroll through our running recap of the best and worst Super Bowl ads:
7:30 p.m.: You gotta hand it to the New England Patriots. What a comeback! And you've got to hand it to some of the best commercials. Some themes:
- Humor worked: Turbo Tax scored big with its Humpty Dumpty spot, which had the cracked egg recovering in the hospital after his big fall. It injected some much-needed laughs into something no one likes doing -- paying taxes. Other spots that successfully incorporated humor: Mercedes' "Easy Rider" spoof, Mr. Clean's swoon-worthy dance, and Febreze's Halftime Bathroom Break.
- Heartstrings: The nation's political divide provided fodder for three of the most-compelling ads, which tugged at the heartstrings. 84 Lumber weighed in on the immigration debate, as did Budweiser. But Google Home may have been the most-effective, with its tableau of American diversity.
- Hit and miss celebrities: Star-studded commercials are a big part of the Super Bowl, and this year there were plenty of famous faces. T-Mobile had a winner with its Justin Bieber ad, and Squarespace and Pizza Hut scored big laughs with their spots respectively featuring John Malkovich and George Takei. They didn't all work: Kia's Melissa McCarthy ad was funny, but it's unlikely that it connected the humor with the brand. LeBron James' Sprit spot landed with a thud, and the H&R Block ad that featured Jon Hamm for about two seconds was one of the worst commercials of the night.
7:15 p.m.: Overtime! After looking like it was a done deal, the Patriots and the Falcons are all tied up. Which means more commercials. At this point, all of the highly anticipated ads have aired at least once.
Squarespace
Cranky John Malkovich can't believe that someone else owns his domain name for his new line of fancy-pants menswear. Only Squarespace can adjust his attitude.