Super Bowl LI was one that will be remembered by all. What started as what seemed like a game winner for the Falcons quickly turned into a tie game. The Falcons led the Patriots 21 to 3 at the start of the second half. However, the Patriots made a comeback, leading the game to enter over time and establishing the first period of OT ever in Super Bowl history.

Even people who do not watch football tune into this game every year for one reason: to see the infamous multibillion dollar commercials produced for the event.

Nowadays, most successful commercials have some sort of sexual reference. Whether we like it or not, sex sells, and we see this in advertisements and commercials across the industry.

However, most of the commercials I saw on breaks this year had no sexual referents at all, aside from the most obvious Mr. Clean commercial.

This year, I think the most successful and impactful commercials were above sexuality, and focused on important social and cultural issues relevant to our lives today.

My top 3 favorite were as follows:

1. The Audi commercial

This commercial hit home for me being a woman. Seeing a young girl being told what she could possibly be held back from was sad, since I always grew up with notion that I could do anything that I want to do, and I believe that to still be the case for most women. The commercial was also brave to bring up the confusing and important issue of gender pay equality, which is crucial to address to all Americans.

2. The NFL commercial

While sex does sell, I think cuteness sells more. This commercial featured adorable babies posing as football legends. Interestingly enough, S.M. Walsh on Heavy writes, “USA Today reports that all the wigs and mustaches worn by the toddler-versions of the NFL legends were created by hand, and are about 1/10 the size of the real men.” After all, who doesn’t love looking at videos of babies?

3. The Budweiser commercial

Budweiser is always known to produce strong commercials. This year, they used their 60-second slot to spin “an epic tale about Budweiser beer, its origins, and the company’s founder, Adolphus Busch,” as said online on the Super Bowl Commercials site. Their main message was promoting the American Dream, telling the story of how the founder of such an American company came over as an immigrant and pursued the ultimate dream. It has been interpreted by some as a political statement regarding the current issue of immigrant in the states, but the overall plot was impactful to viewers.

Whether you are like me and only watch football when prompted and forced by family and friends, or watch religiously every single Sunday of the season, the Super Bowl is a must watch to be in the know of the important messages our advertising industry is trying to send us.