“It was kind of a weak year. I feel like the ads were better seven, eight years ago,” digital storytelling junior Ryan Kato said.

Nostalgia wasn't the only factor impacting students' opinions of the advertisements, however. Several told The State News that production quality seemed to slip, and commercials' reliance on artificial intelligence was tiring.

“There was a lot of AI, which I’m always kind of eye rolling, because it makes me feel less like I want to support them,” international relations and communications junior Leah Willingham said.

This year there were eight ads for AI, including: OpenAI, Amazon Alexa, Anthropic, Genspark AI, Claude AI, Ai.com, Svedka, and AI travel. Many ads utilized AI including Dunkin' Donuts, Instacart, and Xfinity.

Some students, on the other hand, didn't mind the use of artificial intelligence. Actuarial science sophomore Ashley Beeskow said that her favorite commercial was the minute-long Dunkin' Donuts spot featuring popular actors from the 90s de-aged to look like their younger selves.

"Even though it had AI in it, it was cool, because I really love ‘Friends’," said Beeskow. 

One ad that sparked a lot of conversation — and disappointment among some — was the Coinbase Cryptocurrency karaoke that tricked many across the country. Some watch party attendees recalled groups of people joyfully singing along to “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys, until the Coinbase logo appeared.

"The entire restaurant started singing karaoke and then we were like 'oh'," Beeskow said.

Robert Kolt, an advertising and public relations professor and CEO of Kolt Communications, has hosted watch parties with faculty and diligently ranked Super Bowl commercials for 28 years. This year, Kolt decided to switch things up and hosted a watch party on campus with students.

Despite mixed opinions, Kolt maintained that this was a pretty good year for the Super Bowl ads.

“Everybody has an opinion, and the great thing is that here we are days after the game, and we’re still talking about the ads,” said Kolt.

His top-ranked ad was Budweiser’s, which reveled in pure Americana in its featuring of a horse and bald eagle. Kolt says there is a formula to a good Super Bowl commercial: A celebrity, an animal of some kind doing an animation, and a story. Budweiser's commercial hit each element of the trifecta.

“Budweiser, they never talk about the taste of the beer, and that’s probably pretty good,” said Kolt.

The crypto commercial was ranked the worst by Kolt, at the bottom of his “Worst five ad fumbles” along with ads for “Wicked For Good", Red Bull, the Minion Monsters movie and the Make America Healthy Again Center's anti-processed food spot.

“I can’t think of anyone who would be a worse spokesperson for a campaign than Mike Tyson, a convicted felon and rapist,” said Kolt.

Some students noted how that commercial came on just as they were eating their fourth or fifth slice of pizza.

"I was literally eating pizza and my mom had just ordered Domino's. We were like, what is that?," pre-nursing freshman Nia Gourouza said.