Why were this year's Super Bowl ads so forgettable?

Slate

Sunday's ads were largely risk-averse, although they were more memorable than the game itself. "Why did so few brands manage to make something truly hilarious, poignant, or otherwise transcendent?" says Justin Peters. "Perhaps because the stakes are too high to take a leap: Super Bowl ads this year cost a reported $5.2 million per 30 seconds of air time. That price serves to box out smaller, less-established companies that might be eager to raise their profiles by airing a risky ad while encouraging larger companies to stick to familiar terrain: celebrity cameos, treacly sentiments, well-worn catchphrases. The post-Kaepernick P.R. problems of the NFL, too, might have sapped brands’ enthusiasm for making too big a ripple on game day."