Featuring: MC Hammer.
Game: Super Bowl LIV.
Celebrity Paycheck: Unknown.
Total Price Tag: Unknown.
MC Hammer, in his classic style, sits down at his piano with a retro bag of Cheetos. His dust-covered fingers give him a brainstorm when he realizes he can’t touch the piano.
The ad is quick and effective, and even gives us a shot of Hammer dancing his way into the frame, grabbing a bag of Cheetos, and dancing back out. Hammer has had financial issues in the past, so we’re sure he was happy with the paycheck, which is undisclosed at this time.
Bud Light: “Shopping Spree” (1998)
Featuring: Sean Hayes.
Game: Super Bowl XXXII.
Celebrity Paycheck: Unknown.
Total Price Tag: Unknown.
Sean Hayes is well-known now thanks to his role as Jack on "Will & Grace", which he is reprising in the show's revival. However, when he shot this Bud Light ad he was unknown.
During the ad, he waits for his wife to finish shopping but is quickly brought into the fold of a small society of guys who have carved out a hidey-hole with drinks, snacks, and football. This ad helped Hayes catch the public's eye, leading to his famous sitcom spot.
American Express: “Jerry and Superman” (1998)
Featuring: Jerry Seinfeld.
Game: Super Bowl XXXII.
Celebrity Paycheck: Unknown.
Total Price Tag: Unknown.
Jerry Seinfeld meets up with his hero Superman – voiced by Patrick Warburton – and it's Seinfeld who ends up saving the day with the help of his American Express card.
The ad got a reprise years later in 2014, which had Seinfeld complaining to Jason Alexander as George Costanza, which had him complain about not being invited to a Super Bowl party, and also had him plug his new series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee".
Doritos's: “The Cool Ranch” (2020)
Featuring: Lil Nas X, Sam Elliott, Billy Ray Cyrus.
Game: Super Bowl LIV.
Celebrity Paycheck: Unknown.
Total Price Tag: Unknown.
This ad has so little to do with Doritos it's almost silly. But you can't deny how slick it looks when classic western actor and classic mustache-haver Sam Elliot and rapper Lil Nas X get into a dance battle for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.
Lil Nas wins the chips, and at the end country music star Cyrus shows up with his guitar, shaking his head at the proceedings. Doritos has a history of odd ads, and this one might be odd, but it also captured a wide swath of viewers.
Mountain Dew Zero Sugar: “As Good as the Original” (2020)
Featuring: Bryan Cranston, Tracee Ellis Ross.
Game: Super Bowl LIV.
Celebrity Paycheck: Unknown.
Total Price Tag: Unknown.
In a pastiche to the classic horror film "The Shining", Bryan Cranston limps through a hotel tracking down Ross, spouting the benefits of the new Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. When he bursts through the bathroom door Ross is startled but accepts the new drink.
In the end, a wave of the soft drink comes cascading out of the elevator, and if you've seen the movie you know what these references. It's a weird ad, but weird is sometimes good.