Best tech-filled Super Bowl commercials
Super Bowl XLIX just became the most-watched in history, and not only because Katy Perry performed the halftime show. It was actually a good game.
However, while NBC decided to live stream the Super Bowl for free, online watchers didn't get to see all of those pricey Super Bowl commercials.
Watching these big-budget ads has become as much a tradition as hot wings and flatscreens, and tech companies are no stranger to spending $4.5 million for the valuable air time .
Here's how Microsoft, Mophie, Coke, BMW and more got creative with technology 30 seconds at a time.
Mophie 'All-Powerless' commercial
Mophie called upon the big guy upstairs for its 30-second Super Bowl commercial in which the entire world is on the fritz... more so than normal.
It featured snow in Africa, fish raining down from a city sky, penguins flying and, yes, even dogs walking people.
The problem? Apparently even God's smartphone runs out of battery, leaving Mophie to ask "When your phone dies, God knows what can happen."
BMW i3 'Newfangled Idea' commercial
Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel have zero clue about BMW's first zero emissions car, and this isn't the first time they've been confused about new tech.
The former Today Show duo was asking similar questions back in 1994 when the Internet was still a fresh concept, including the strange @ symbol.
It's funny to think that just two decades ago, Couric, now Yahoo's Global News Anchor, and her co-host were asking "What is the internet, anyway?"
Coke 'Show Me Love' commercial
Internet trolls beware. Coca-Cola has discovered the antidote to your hateful behavior, and it's simply a splash of its flagship soft drink.
In its Super Bowl commercial, spilled Coke goes out over data lines and infects (or disinfects) bullying commenters that, these days, are all too common.
You'd think that people sitting in their parents basement writing such diatribe already horded a sugar-filled drink like Coke, but maybe they've since switched over to the seriously-evil-inflicting Mountain Dew.
Oh, and you can stop searching for it. The song used in Coke's Super Bowl commercial is called "Show Me Love" by Hundred Waters.
Microsoft 'Braylon O'Neill' prosthetics commercial
Who says that cutting-edge technology can't be touching? Certainly not Braylon O'Neill, who was born missing the tibia and fibula bones in both of his legs.
Now six years old, O'Neill is playing sports with the help of Microsoft technology. His mother says that the company's software analyze his gait mechanics.
It just goes to show you that for every HoloLens idea that Microsoft shows us, it's working on much more useful tech that consumers don't often hear about.
Microsoft 'Estella's Brilliant Bus' ad
Microsoft's second Super Bowl commercial stuck to that common theme of empowerment, this time spotlighting Estella Pyfrom and her Brilliant Bus.
This former teacher for 50 years selflessly spent her money from retirement and sold property to create this technology-filled bus that visits children in low income communities.
Microsoft is doing its part to help power the computers on board so that Estella can reach her goal of educating one million kids on her Brilliant Bus by the end of 2016.
Super Bowl commercials: best of the rest
T-Mobile 'Data Vulture' ad
Like Microsoft, T-Mobile had more than one Super Bowl commercial, but it went with a funny, celebrity-filled approach to its 30-second spots.
The first ad from the self-proclaimed Un-carrier stars former Daily Show correspondent Rob Riegel walking around with a vulture on his shoulder.
He explains it swoops down and steals his data back at the end of the month. The woman he's talking to touts T-Mobile's Data Stash feature that lets her keep the data she pays for.
T-Mobile Kim Kardashian 'Save the Data' ad
Data Stash was also front-and-center in the T-Mobile Super Bowl commercial featuring the selfie-obsessed "celebrity" Kim Kardashian.
The joke here is that you can use this precious rollover data to view even more selfie and wardrobe pics that she takes of herself.
The Rob Riegel commercial is funnier, and yet this one has more views on YouTube. Go figure.
T-Mobile Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler ad
Comedians Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler introduce Wi-Fi calling to millions of Super Bowl viewers who probably don't know about the awesome feature.
T-Mobile is one of the first major networks to employ the use of your router to strengthen the signal of calls, perfect for the sometimes weak reception in peoples' homes.
Sprint 'Super Apology' commercial
Sprint didn't spend much time talking during its 30-second Super Bowl commercial. Instead, it used the screaming goat video meme to get its point across.
Yes, it's the same well-worn screaming goat that, with the help of the internet meme machine, sings Taylor Swift songs more entertainingly than Taylor Swift.
Sprint framed the ad as an apology to Verizon and AT&T for previously comparing the rivals to a goat. But it said it refused to say sorry for halving their customers plans.
Clash of Clans 'Angry Neeson' ad
Liam channels his vengeful Taken character in this funny Super Bowl commercial in which he plays the mobile game Clash of Clans.
He's playing the Supercell-developed real-time strategy addiction while waiting for another one of our favorite obsessions: coffee.
In typical Taken fashion, as he loses one of his defenses, he calls out his opponent - in this case BigBuffetBoy85 - muttering that he'll track him down. Neeson is officially now the new Charles Bronson.
