Below is a list of the best ads from the 2014 Super Bowl – as chosen by the staff here at Mascola Group, in no particular order:

RACHAEL:  Budweiser, “Puppy Love”
I’ll admit it. I’m a sap. And this Budweiser spot tugged at my heartstrings like no other. But the main reason why I look forward to these ads every year is that despite having one theme to work with, Budweiser always comes up with a new way to feature their signature Clydesdales and it hits me every time I see the logo.

LAUREN:  Maserati, “Strike”
While this year’s Super Bowl had great spots from Volkswagen, Toyota, and Hyundai, one auto spot really stuck out was the ad for Maserati. First, it is unexpected to see such a predominantly European brand, that most of the Super Bowl audience cannot afford, in the largest-reaching American program, but the delivery was excellent. Complacent luxury car brands are metaphoric lumbering giants and Maserati comes in under the radar to introduce their new Ghibli while all of America is watching.

MICHELLE:  Newcastle “Mega Huge Game Ad”
When I put up a blog post a few days ago about Newcastle’s non-Super Bowl spot starring a hilarious Anna Kendrick, I wondered if any of the ads that would actually be in the Super Bowl could top it. And the answer is “no.” While there were many amazing ads (Radio Shack and Maserati were among my favorites), they were not more creative or more effective than Anna Kendrick’s fake rant against Newcastle. It’s brilliant. Slightly more brilliant than their Yogurt Bear re-do. And they didn’t pay $4 million to air it either of them. Big win for Newcastle.

CHUCK:  Radio Shack, “The Phone Call”
Strongest brand message since the ad-infamous 1984 commercial to introduce Apple Computers.

JP:  Radio Shack, “The Phone Call”
I loved how they owned their perception among anyone who’s 30 or older. They just better follow-through. Not like K-Mart who got a ton of attention with “Ship My Pants”, but made no actual improvements in their stores.

VIN:  Radio Shack, “The Phone Call”
As a child of the 1980’s, this ad hit a home run for me with the nostalgia factor, featuring several notable pop culture icons from my childhood (ALF, Hulk Hogan, Mary Lou Retton, etc.)  From a marketing standpoint, Radio Shack did well by poking fun at their dated brand perception and using this as a nice jumping-off point for their current re-positioning efforts.

NICK:  Bud Light, “Up for Whatever”
In my opinion the Bud Light “Up for Whatever” was the clear winner in terms of Super Bowl Advertising. They treated the spots like the larger than life spectacle Super Bowl ads are.

GREG:  Chevrolet (Silverado), “Romance”
Big win for GM, as the brand actually sat out from last year’s big game based on a decision from their former CMO due to the high cost of running the ads. A perfect spin-off of an already existing campaign running.