• by Tanya Gazdik , February 2, 2015

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ TV spot, in which a little blue pill energizes and enlarges its 500X model, was the belle of the Super Bowl ball, according to a panel of advertising professors.

The Michigan State University Department of Advertising and Public Relations chose their top ads for the 18^th consecutive year Feb. 1.

Taking second place was a BMW spot that brought together former Today Show hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel.

“It was a good game with good commercials,” says MSU advertising instructor Robert Kolt. “The first-half ads were much better. The early-game ads cost the most, but that’s where we saw the best spots.”

Using a five-point grading scale, the 20 voting faculty members rated each commercial based on creativity, production and overall quality.

The third through 10^th places went to:

• Doritos, in which a plane passenger used the snack to attract a pretty woman to the seat next to his.
• Carnival Cruise, which featured the voice of former President John Kennedy.
• Coca-Cola, in which a Coke spilled into a server spread happiness around the world.
• Dove, which featured men being “strong” by playing with their children.
• Snickers, which included Mike and Carol Brady along with “Marcia” and “Jan.”
• Budweiser that brought back the special relationship between a horse and puppy.
• Avocados from Mexico in which God oversees a creation draft day.
• Skittles, in which two over-muscled men arm wrestle for the last piece of candy.

The Budweiser puppy spot, which continues the horse-dog love story from last year, was a sure thing.

“It's cute, the faculty liked it,” Kolt says. “Animated animals like horses, dogs and monkeys always do well.”

One of the “misses” was Bud Light’s “Up for Anything” spot, which unlike the puppy spot “just fell flat,” Kolt tells Marketing Daily.

Nationwide Insurance’s controversial “Make Safe Happen” spot, which shows a little boy talking about all the things he’ll never do because "I couldn't grow up because I died from an accident" was “depressing” and “disappointing,” Kolt says.

Other misses include the spot for a Arnold Schwarenegger’s Terminator Genisys movie and an animated spot for Jublia toenail fungus preventative.

“Foot fungus ads should not be in the Super Bowl,” Kolt says.