Super Bowl ad winners: Tide, T-Mobile

NEW YORK (AP) — The New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons during a nailbiter Super Bowl 51 — and there were clear winners and losers off the field, too.

Some went for all out escapist humor like T-Mobile and Tide, while others tried to take a more serious tone like the American Petroleum Institute.

[...] when Bradshaw gets a stain on his shirt, he goes on an adventure featuring New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski and actor Jeffrey Tambor to try to find a clean shirt.

Kia managed to touch on social issues without offending people by tapping Melissa McCarthy to take on causes like saving whales, ice caps and trees, each time to disastrous effect.

The first ad , "Inside These Lines," narrated by Forest Whitaker, showed scenes of football games and workers prepping a field.

Another ad showed Super Bowl babies resembling NFL stars like Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to the tune of Chicago's "You're the Inspiration."

The wireless carrier made a big splash during the game by buying up 3 minutes of airtime and stuffing its ads with celebrities.

The American Petroleum Institute says on its website that it represents the oil and natural gas industry, including producers, refiners, suppliers and pipeline operators.

Wendy's sought to emphasize its message of "Always fresh, never frozen" in its ad which showed a meatlocker full of frozen beef and a worker trying to thaw it with a hair dryer to the tune of Foreigner's "Cold as Ice."