As America faces difficult times, Super Bowl advertisers are asking viewers to take care of themselves and others, and maybe even smile.
Ring shows how neighbors can use doorbell cameras to find lost pets. A Budweiser Clydesdale protected a bald eagle chick from the rain. Novartis touts a blood test that can detect prostate cancer. Toyota reminds viewers to buckle up.
Mr. Rogers was called out twice: Lady Gaga sang his classic song “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” for a tear-jerking film by Rocket, and the NFL used “You’re Special” to promote its work with youth sports organizations.
“A common thread running through this year’s Super Bowl ads is the desire for peace, harmony, community and neighborliness,” said Kimberly Whitler, a marketing professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “There’s an overall theme of people coming together to support each other.”
America is uneasy. U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 in January. Last month, federal officers killed two protesters in Minneapolis, sparking widespread outrage. Winter weather can be harsh across much of the country.
“This is a collective trauma. Everyone is under stress. No matter who you are, this affects everyone,” said Vann Graves, executive director of the Brand Center at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He said Super Bowl ads give people a much-needed respite and a rare moment together.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to enjoy ourselves as silly as humans,” Graves said.
Play games for laughs
There’s a lot of stupidity in advertising this year. Sabrina Carpenter tries to create the perfect man out of Pringles. Benson Boone and Ben Stiller perform a flipping performance as a disco duo on Instacart. Andy Samberg plays “Meal Diamond” and squirts Herman’s mayonnaise onto the sandwiches of Elle Fanning and other deli patrons. Liquid IV accompanies a restroom chorus, telling viewers to “look at your pee” to check for dehydration.
Coca-Cola’s traditional mascot, the polar bear, shares Pepsi in an ad spoofing last year’s viral kisscam campaign. Adrien Brody can’t stop overacting in a TurboTax commercial.
Delivery services try to outdo each other. George Clooney appears in a Grubhub ad promoting free shipping on orders over $50. Uber Eats hired Matthew McConaughey to convince Bradley Cooper and Parker Posey that football was a conspiracy to starve people. Rapper 50 Cent spoofs Sean “Diddy” Combs in a DoorDash commercial.
artificial intelligence bowl
The Super Bowl telecast is awash with artificial intelligence.
Oakley Meta is promoting its AI-enabled glasses in two action-packed ads, showing Spike Lee, Marshawn Lynch and others using the glasses to shoot videos and answer questions. Wix has debuted ads for Wix Harmony, which uses artificial intelligence tools for website design.
Svedka Vodka hired artificial intelligence studio Silverside AI to help create its ad, which features robot mascot FemBot dancing with her male counterpart BroBot.
Like AI itself, AI advertising is not without controversy. Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic ran two ads stating that its chatbot Claude is ad-free. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman questioned this in a recent social media post; OpenAI said last month it would begin testing ads to keep ChatGPT free.
Amazon also launched an ad starring Chris Hemsworth that poked fun at people’s fears about artificial intelligence. The ad comes just days after Amazon laid off 16,000 corporate employees, some of whom may be replaced by artificial intelligence.
“I suspect it’s just meant to be funny, but it may exacerbate some people’s real concerns about artificial intelligence,” said Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University.
health craze
Super Bowl ads still promote snacks. Bowen Yang, Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm team up to promote Ritz crackers. In a heartfelt ad from Lay’s, a retired potato farmer passes the farm on to his daughter.
But people are also concerned about health. Octavia Spencer and Sofia Vergara urge people to get tested for kidney disease in a Boehringer Ingelheim ad.
Mike Tyson addressed his sister’s death from obesity in an ad urging people to eat real, unprocessed food. The ad was paid for by MAHA Center Inc., a nonprofit headed by Tony Lyons, a publisher and key ally of U.S. Surgeon General Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
GLP-1 diet pills also crashed the party. Novo Nordisk is promoting its new Wegovy pill in an ad starring Kenan Thompson, DJ Khaled, Danielle Brooks, Ana Gasteyer, John C. Reilly and Danny Trejo. Telemedicine company Ro promotes its GLP-1 in an ad starring Serena Williams.
Hims & Hers recently scrapped plans to launch its own GLP-1 drug, which the company said would give everyone access to the personalized health care enjoyed by the wealthy.
“There were a lot of health ads at the Super Bowl this year,” Calkins said. He said Novartis’ ads about prostate cancer and the one in which Rowe teamed up with Serena Williams were particularly effective.
“Wegovy’s advertising of its new pill form is clear, but a long list of side effects limits its impact,” Calkins said.
nostalgia
One way to make Americans feel better? Evokes warm memories of the past.
State Farm kicked off the contest with a commercial featuring the 1986 Bon Jovi song “Livin’ on a Prayer.” The commercial ends with Jon Bon Jovi pulling up in a red convertible and asking actress Hailee Steinfeld for a ride.
But most of all, the night belonged to the 1990s.
Dunkin’ ran an ad spoofing 1997’s Good Will Hunting, starring Ben Affleck, Tom Brady and other ’90s sitcom stars like Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Jason Alexander and Alfonso Ribeiro. Pokémon was first launched in 1996, with commercials celebrating its 30th anniversary.
T-Mobile featured a version of the 1999 hit “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. The Backstreet Boys are back in a karaoke-style ad for Coinbase, encouraging viewers to sing along to their 1997 hit “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”
Volkswagen’s history goes back to 1992, when the commercial background was House of Pain’s “Jump around”. Xfinity reunited Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum for a tongue-in-cheek reimagining of 1993’s Jurassic Park, showing Xfinity restoring power to the island so nothing goes wrong.
Whitler said nostalgia — in the form of old celebrities, music or images such as the black-and-white Squarespace ad starring Emma Stone — is increasingly common in Super Bowl ads. Her research shows that 28% of ads in 2015 contained nostalgic elements; by 2025, she says, this will increase to 54%.
record breaking price
Advertisers flock to the Super Bowl every year because so many people watch the big game. In 2025, a record 127.7 million U.S. viewers will watch the game on television and streaming platforms.
Jura Liaukonyte, a marketing professor at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business, said companies that typically parse ad dollars across broadcast and streaming platforms will need to pay extra for Super Bowl ads to reach a unified audience.
Peter Lazarus, head of advertising and partnerships at NBC Sports, said this year’s Super Bowl ads averaged $8 million per 30-second spot, but a few sold for more than $10 million, setting a record. He said he calls February a “legendary February” with the Super Bowl, Olympics and NBA All-Star Game.
