With an expected audience of around 100 million, the Super Bowl is prime time for advertisers, with brands shelling out as much as $5 million for just 30 seconds of air-time.

In a sign of the times, many big brands used their slots this year to spotlight some trailblazing women and feminist causes.

Here are the best feminist commercials from this year’s Super Bowl:

Olay – Make Space For Women

Olay’s Make Space For Women features Lilly Singh and Busy Phillips with retired astronaut Nicole Stott in a nod to last year’s first all-female space walk. “When we make space for women, we make space for everyone,” Taraji P Henson says on the clip, which raises money for Girls Who Code – $1 for every tweet to @olayskin #MakeSpaceForWomen.

Microsoft – Be The One

San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers made history at this year’s Super Bowl when she became the first woman and openly gay person to coach in a Super Bowl. Sowers is celebrated in Microsoft’s Be the One ad, which tells her story.

Amazon Alexa – #BeforeAlexa

Starring Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Amazon Alexa’s ad #BeforeAlexa explores how people previously lived without voice-activated personal assistants. When DeGeneres asks this question aloud, the ad travels back in time to see how people fared without their Amazon Alexas.

Pepsi – Paint It Black

In Pepsi’s Paint It Black ad, H.E.R arrives in a world that’s painted all-black (the colour of the new Pepsi Zero Sugar can) where she finds Missy Elliott. 

Genesis – Going Away Party

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend – aka mom and dad – star in Genesis’ Going Away Party ad as they bid farewell to old luxury in favour of new. The best part? When John won’t let Chrissy in the car until she says the magic word – ‘sexiest man alive’, obviously.

Audi – Let It Go

Audi’s Let It Go sees Game Of Thrones actor Maisie Williams letting go of the past – fossil fuels and road rage, for example – as she drives towards “a more sustainable future”.

Squarespace – Welcome To Winona

Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, Winona Ryder returns to Winona, Minnesota (the town where she was born and is named after). The Stranger Things actor spends a week in the city to photograph people and places for a book that will be sold on Squarespace’s website with all proceeds going to charity.

Image: Olay