If There's Dogs In Your Commercial, I'm Buying Your Product: Favorite Commercials of Super Bowl 50

I was an Advertising major in college and a recurring assignment I had in my courses was to watch the Super Bowl and evaluate the commercials. (Yeah, my homework was usually pretty awesome.) Ever since, I've liked to share my favorite commercials with my friends and family and find out what they thought about the ads from the game. (I talked about a few of the stand out ads from last year's game in a blog post here.) This year's post is going to be much more cheerful than last years and I noticed a definite theme when picking out my favorites - basically if a company uses a dog in any of their ads, I'm going to pay attention to their ads. What can I say. I love dogs.
"Weiner Stampede" - HEINZ Ketchup

I'm pretty sure the only thing cuter than dogs dressed in costumes is when dauchaunds (aka weiner dogs) dress up in hot dog costumes and run in unison toward ketchup and mustard bottles. Like... why didn't HEINZ think of this sooner? IT'S GENIUS. Also, the dauchaund puppy in the little hot dog costume and the little kid in the ketchup packet costume? I'm pretty sure I'm dead from the cuteness. Well done, HEINZ. Well. Done. 
"Subaru Dog Tested: Puppy" - Subaru 


This commercial is also adorable. I don't think it does a good job in selling the car itself, but I'm pretty sure that Subaru was just banking on the cute factor to make this commercial work which I'm definitely not opposed to. I mean, who can say no to a golden retriever? And even more - who can say no to a golden retriever puppy? Correct answer: no one.
"#Pokemon20" - Pokémon


Kind of veering off the dog theme comes another favorite of mine that I did not expect to see during the SuperBowl - a Pokémon 20th Anniversary commercial! Pokémon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and is doing some pretty awesome things to commemorate the milestone including giving out free mythical Pokémon every month and releasing Pokémon GO! this year (rumored to be released at the end of this month!). It's so cool how one of my favorite childhood pastimes is still going strong after such a long time and even making an appearance in the Super Bowl!
"Doritos Dogs" - Doritos


And finally, my absolute favorite commercial of the evening was this Doritos commercial! Not only was this adorable, but it was basically a live-action cartoon and I was laughing through the entire thing. Doritos always kills it in the hilarious commercials department and they did not disappoint this year, and of course whatever company uses humor AND dogs in their ads has my vote. I'm pretty sure this one can speak for itself!
What were your favorite ads from the Super Bowl?

A Few of my Favorite Links {#11}

Happy Tuesday everyone! Several snow days and impromptu days off the past couple of weeks have allowed me to roam around the interwebs and accumulate quite the list of links to share with you all today. From the Patriots to puppies to adopting elephants (you read that right), I'm really excited to show you all my favorite things on the net as of late!

Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX!

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THEY FREAKING PULLED IT OFF! The Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl Sunday night and what a game it was! I don't think I ever went through so many emotions while watching a football game in my entire life. I was happy, I was sad, I was angry, I wanted to hide and turn off the game all together. Seriously, you should have seen the room I was in on that final Seattle drive. We were all SO depressed! I did not think we were going to be able to pull off a win. I thought for sure that we had lost a third Super Bowl in a row. Then BOOM, our undrafted rookie makes the play of the freaking century. WOW. What an ending. We are the champions once again!

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Budweiser "Lost Dog" Super Bow XLIX Commercial


It seemed like this year's Super Bowl commercials erred on the depressing side (check out my thoughts on that here... #COMmajorprobz), but Budweiser stole my heart once again by continuing their #BestBuds legacy and claiming my #1 pick for Best Commercial of Super Bowl XLIX. Their 2014 commercial was also my favorite of last year's Super Bowl, so if you missed and are a puppy lover like myself, I definitely recommend checking it out here!
Here's What Real Healthy People Actually Snack On

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I'm definitely a snacker. I prefer eating many smaller meals throughout the day instead of sticking to the big three (though I'm a huge fan of breakfast), and I'm always at a loss for what to grab when my tummy is rumbling. I know I should snag an apple or banana, but when I'm hungry, having just a piece of fruit or a salad does not fill me up and leaves me a little frustrated. This list gives you extremely healthy options for snacks which also keep you satisfied for a few hours! (I especially love mashed avocado on wheat toast! YUM)

How to Be Productive Every Day

This is a cute little post from one of my favorite blogs, Lemon Freckles, that gives you a few handy tips on how to stay productive. Even though this post is aimed at students or those who are self-employed and tend to work without someone peering over their shoulder, I think these tips can really apply to anyone. Being productive can seem elusive on some days, and we all know what happens when we're not productive - we get stressed. Try out a couple of these tips to help stay on top of your mountains of to-dos!

#CowArt

A friend of mine posted this on her wall and I couldn't stop watching/laughing. A couple of farmers in the Mid-West decided to get a bit creative when feeding their cows and tried to see if they could get the herd to create some aerial designs! Click play to see what they create - so funny! :) 
30 Day Push-Up Calendar

I just completed this 30 Day Push-Up Challenge that I found on Pinterest! My upper body strength is pretty low, so I knew that I wanted to challenge myself to do more with it. I decided to kick off the year with this challenge and I actually got all the way through! The thing I liked most about doing a challenge is that I had an opportunity to exercise each day, even if my day was busy. I also really enjoyed that with this challenge, you're given rest days every 2 days so your muscles can grow and adjust. I really felt a difference in my upper body strength and will very likely be doing this challenge over again!

DoYouYoga

In searching for a February fitness challenge to attempt, I stumbled across DoYouYoga.com. (True Life: I just typed "DoYouToga" and almost didn't catch it...) This website is an awesome community of individuals learning and practicing yoga and features blog posts, a message board, and even video courses! I'm currently participating in a 30 Day Yoga Challenge video course which has been awesome so far! (I will be posting a full review when I am done!) If you're interested in trying out yoga for the first time or learning more about this form of exercise, I highly recommend joining! (You should also add me as a friend here!)

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

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WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS FOUNDATION?! I heard about this organization through a monthly favorites video on YouTube. It is a wonderful organization committed to the rescue and preservation of Wildlife in Africa, especially orphaned elephants and rhinos. The best part? You can donate and foster an elephant or rhino! The program works by receiving donations from foster "parents" or families, and you can then receive updates and photos on how your fostered animal is progressing! SO AMAZING! I know for a fact that when I am more financially stable I am 1,000,000% going to participate. Take a look at their website and read up on the organization. It is wonderful! (P.S. Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick has shot right to the top of my to-read list upon discovery of this organization! #newrolemodel)

What links have you been loving lately?

Regarding Super Bowl XLIX's Depressing Commercials

I try to keep this space on the positive side and I like to treat it as a place to record things that make me happy, but as a former Advertising major and an aspiring Student Affairs Professional, I had to take the time on this snow day to address some of the thoughts I had and the reactions I saw in regard to the line up of the Super Bowl's "depressing" commercials. I definitely wasn't planning on writing this post (I tend to schedule out topics in advance) but there are just some things that I needed to say that I had trouble verbalizing in the moment last night. I'll get back to my regularly scheduled excitement and happiness with my post tomorrow. This is going to be a text-heavy post, so go ahead and click "Read more" if you'd like to continue.

(Trigger warning: domestic violence, death)