While the memorable Super Bowl commercials have often advertised beer from Budweiser, various car and truck models and Doritos, an advertisement for men's grooming products will become memorable during Sunday's (Feb. 1) Super Bowl broadcast by tugging at the heartstrings of fathers, according to University of North Texas advertising faculty member Bill Ford.

Ford, who teaches in UNT's Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism, has reviewed many of this year's Super Bowl commercials and is available to discuss them and compare them to past advertising. He calls this year's group of ads the best from the past three Super Bowls.

"There is more creativity and quality and the ads are more attention getting," he says. "Some are new takes on old concepts, and they're mostly funny, with a few emotional ads that are pretty powerful. Unfortunately, some of the ads just don't work very well for a Super Bowl placement."

The tearjerker ad from Dove, which is more well-known for its "Real Beauty" campaign and women's grooming products than its men's products shows priceless and fleeting moments of fatherhood to boys and girls at different stages of their lives, including as adults. The commercial has no dialogue except "dad" or "daddy," repeated by sons and daughters.

Another commercial that may stir emotions is Toyota's ad for its 2015 Camry, which features Paralympic athlete Amy Purdy, a double amputee, Ford says. And Budweiser is bringing back its Clydesdale and puppy best friends from its "Puppy Love" commercial, which was among the most popular ads for the 2014 Super Bowl, he says.

The funny commercials for this year often feature celebrities, including actor and former NFL player Terry Crews pitching for Old Spice, actor Danny Trejo for Snickers and former NFL players Brett Favre and Terrell Owens for Wix, a website creation company from Israel that is having its first Super Bowl ad.

"Celebrities are great to use in Super Bowl commercials because of the recogniton factor," Ford says. "If Brett Favre or another popular celebrity is giving a message, you may be more inclined to listen to him than to an unknown person."

Wix isn't the only first-time advertiser for this year's Super Bowl. Ford says others are Loctite, the maker of Super Glue, and Eat24, a food delivery service. In addition, Carnival Cruise Lines is running a first-time ad as part of its rebranding campaign, says Ford. He adds that, through its Super Bowl commercial, McDonald's is launching a repositioning campaign to counter adverse publicity about the health perceptions of its products.

And some this year's ads have already caused controversy, including a racy commercial from Carl's Jr. that will not air on the Super Bowl broadcast. The burger chain's 2014 Super Bowl ad was also banned from the broadcast.

"Some companies will deliberately produce an ad that they know will be banned, because the ad can always be shown just online, and people will want an ad that's too hot for the Super Bowl. So the companies may reach more potential customers that way, without spending millions for placement," Ford says.

Ford has taught advertising and creativity full time at both UNT and Southern Methodist University and was the owner of his own advertising/graphic design agency in Dallas for 15 years. His clients included American Airlines, Frito-Lay, Hilton Hotels, The Container Store and Disney. During this time, Ford served as president of both the Dallas Society of Visual Communications and the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

He may be reached at 214-616-2224 or at billfordaiga@yahoo.com