It was a big, broad, bro-y comedy year in Super Bowl commercials, and if you were prescient enough to have “so many white people” on your casting bingo card, you would have cleaned up.
Manifesting pre-game predictions of a “superficial” bowl, brands mostly steered clear of making statements or getting political. They went silly and safe, trotting out mascots (classic and current), leaning into nostalgia (or “nowstalgia,” with a mix of vintage and modern), and tapping into celebrity (recruiting from the over-50 demo like never before).
In keeping with previous years, many ads fell in the middle of the pack, even though we’re relatively sure that no one ever tries to make a forgettable Super Bowl ad. It just turns out that way.
But we pick the cream of the crop for this list, and what we gravitated to this year ran the gamut from a fractured fairy tale and a poignant dad’s journey to an absurd pop remix and a double dose of fempowerment.
Read on for more of our favorites:
Michelob Ultra “The Ultra Hustle” by Wieden+Kennedy New York
ICYMI, this is the year of the modern elder in Super Bowl ads—it’s the Silver Bowl, in fact, as coined by ADWEEK. And “Ultra Hustle” may be one of the best examples of the current trend of mixing mature talent with young blood, resulting in commercial gold. Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe are cool-as-cucumber pickleball hustlers, sorely underestimated, wiping the court with NFL legend Randy Moss, Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser, and WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu. They crush, they gloat, they drink. And we all toast them.
Disney+ “What If?” by Ultrabland
The streaming world is a dogfight, and its players are generally on point with their creative game. Last year, Paramount+ scored one of ADWEEK’s favorite Super Bowl ads, and now it’s Disney+’s turn. Could it be the over-earnest Josh Gad narration that tipped the scales to “What If?” Or the mashup of beloved characters from Frozen, The Bear, Inside Out, Star Wars, Only Murders in the Building, and more? Or maybe they had us at Seymour Butts, because a classic Bart Simpson prank call should definitely get a showcase on media’s largest stage? All these things.
Dove “Keep Her Confident” by Ogilvy U.K.
It’s both fascinating and frightening that Dove still has so much fodder for its ongoing “Campaign for Real Beauty,” which launched in 2004. The brand has been challenging society’s unrealistic beauty standards in its marketing – and via educational initiatives – ever since. The newest chapter is a gut-punching 30 seconds centered on a carefree 3-year-old girl whose perception of her body will do a 180 by the time she’s 14. Set to a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ by the artist H.E.R., there’s no dialogue, but the spot speaks volumes and serves as a worthy follow-up to 2024’s “It’s a Hard-Knock Life.”
Ram “Drive Your Own Story” by GSD&M
Once a major showcase for automakers, the Super Bowl’s car marketer lineup has dwindled to two sibling brands in the Stellantis stable. Lucky for viewers, Ram is one of them, and the brand showcased its ongoing relationship with Glen Powell in a muscular 60-second spot with a heady mix of action, charm, and heart. “Drive Your Own Story” is a fractured fairy tale starring “a rugged woodsy dude” in lieu of Goldilocks, giving us The Three Bears like we’ve never seen them before. Plus, Powell’s real-life niece and nephew and another must-see performance from the A-lister. Imminently re-watchable.
Mountain Dew “Kiss From a Lime” by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
This might be the most divisive pick on the list. Mountain Dew, the brand that brought us 2016’s “Puppy Monkey Baby,” delivers the absurdity again. The premise: it’s (the singer) Seal as (the animal) seal, who for some reason is serenading Becky G and The Mountain Dude with a lime-themed twist on his hit song “Kiss From a Rose.” Just weird enough to stay in our memories for a long time to come, and isn’t that a measure of advertising success?
