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.
- The countdown to Super Bowl 52 has begun. See how you can stream Super Bowl 2018 online for free.
