Matt McCain and Michael Boychuk were among the estimated 123.7 million Super Bowl viewers Sunday. Like most everyone else, they were also keenly interested in the ads, but for different reasons than you may think.

McCain and Boychuk are co-founders of Seattle ad agency  DNA&STONE. Boychuk, who built and ran Amazon’s first in-house agency and brand design team, has created four Super Bowl ads, including the top-ranked ad from 2018, “Alexa Loses Her Voice.”

“We just watched Super Bowl LIX, with Super Bowl LVII teams KC and Philly. Yawn,” Boychuk says of the ads.

A 30-second Super Bowl ad cost a record $8 million this year. For perspective, the first Super bowl ads in 1967 cost $37,500, though viewership was much smaller.

Here’s a quick recap from Boychuk and McCain on yesterday’s ads.

THE WINNERS

No. 1: Dove | These Legs
“In a year with so much comedy that seemed off the mark, I loved the serious message behind the latest iteration of Dove’s long-running campaign,” McCain says. “It’s a message based on data delivered with a simple piece of film, but it hits you right in the feels.”

No. 2: Novartis | Your Attention Please
“It was a brave choice for a pharmaceutical to put the spotlight on breasts to an audience stuffed with nachos and beer,” Boychuk says. “But it was a smart choice and absolutely drove conversation.”

No. 3: Coffee Mate | Cold Foam
“In one sense, this spot was very formulaic: people use product, product does crazy thing, people are fulfilled, end card,” McCain notes. “But I just loved how weird this one was. Let’s face it: Tongues are freaking bizarre, and watching one dance in front of an audience and play bar chimes was delicious.”

THE LOSERS

No. 1: Homes.com |Not Saying We’re The Best
“In case you missed it (or winced your way through it) there were THREE Homes.com spots,” Boychuk says. “That’s $24 million spent on humor that, I don’t know, just really makes me not like Homes.com. Not funny. And why did they need three spots?”

No. 2: Dunkin’ | Dunk Kings
“There was a funny spot last year with excellent jumpsuits and ridiculous Boston accents,” McCain says. “So, I had high hopes for this. But no. Seemed like the spot was written to be a 90-second ad, but it was just so overstuffed with dialogue that I could not follow it. There were no beats in the edit to give space to the humor. It was just a big ol’ overfilled mess of a donut.”

No. 3: Hellmann’s | When Sally Met Hellmann’s
“Sure, the joke was funny like 35 years ago,” Boychuk says. “I will grant you that. But can we just let it die? Please?? CRINGE FACTOR = 300.”

Relive the good and bad ads from yesterday’s Super Bowl by clicking this link.