At a time when every news alert seems to deliver a seismic jolt about the world, these ads mostly touch on safe subjects we expect in Big Game commercials: Nostalgia. Comedy. Celebrities. Patriotism.

That’s Becky’s BBQ in Middletown, Rhode Island. Welcome to BBQ paradise! Becky’s rustic exterior might not scream “gourmet,” ...

U.S. Steel mines iron ore in Minnesota and sends it across Lake Superior on freighters a thousand feet long. At Sault Ste.