5 feminist ads from this year's Super Bowl

Image via Complex Original

Featuring a young black mom supporting her son throughout his football career, Campbell's Chunky Soup ad "This One's for Mom" played off the company's previous ads, which paired famous football players with their mothers.

Rather than featuring a famous athlete, however, this year's ad told a story about an anonymous young player's rise from youth football to the Super Bowl.

The takeaway? His success wouldn't have been possible without the support of his mom, who attended games and cheered him on. And Campbell's soup, of course.

Helen Mirren dropped some truth bombs about drunk driving for Budweiser. 

Speaking directly into the camera, the actress addresses those who drink and drive: "You, simply put, are a short sighted, utterly useful, oxygen wasting human form of population."

The ad is a refreshing step forward for beer companies, which have lately been encouraging moderation. That Mirren, a strong-willed and confident woman, delivers this important message makes it all the more powerful.

MINI USA's #DefyLabels campaign is about selling cars, but the company draws on powerful female athletes like tennis ace Serena Williams and soccer star Abby Wambach to show strength and defy stereotypes.

"This is a chick car," Williams says while standing in front of a MINI.

Wambach appears next, saying, "This is a gay car."

Sure, the idea is supposed to push against gendered stereotypes about cars, but the message applies to challenging other labels, too.

Pantene gets points for sending a positive message and doing it adorably.

The hair product ad featured three NFL players—Pittsburgh Steelers' DeAngelo Williams, New Orleans Saints' Benjamin Watson, and Dallas Cowboys' Jason Witten—doing their daughters' hair. 

"Girls who spend quality time with their dads grow up to be stronger women," the ad reads.

There's still a ways to go before ads stop portraying women in stereotypical ways, but the 2016 Super Bowl offered viewers hope that we're getting closer to that goal.