What were the best ads from SuperBowl LIX (2025)?
Before getting to the videos:
THE BEST ADS ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE THE MOST MONEY.
Remember, marketing isn’t about making us laugh, marketing needs to get results. However, it’s waaaaaay too fun to choose favorites and overanalyze the advertisements, so scroll below. Besides, it’s research! Superbowl commercials set the tone for the following year of advertising.
Upcoming sections:
Three Themes: Comedy, Celebrity, AI
What makes a good Superbowl Ad?
Four Faves
Two Misses
The REAL Winner… Hint: it went solo.
Three Themes:
Comedy, Comedy, Comedy
The ads served to make us laugh, and after the California fires, DC plane crash, wars and violence across the world, it was wholly enjoyable reprieve.
Use of Celebrity
Although very fun in some cases (Eugene Levy’s eyebrows, a personal favorite) celebrity cameos can be a cheat code, because you don’t have to rely on a good story or hook to make a memorable ad.
And, it’s a high risk, because if your celebrity isn’t as famous as you thought, your ad could be a flop if the story can’t stand on its own.
AI Wackiness
Ads showcased the use of AI with purposefully bizarre and unbelievable content, to much amusement at all ages. An 80-year-old Martha Stewart breakdanced in her Sketchers, famous mustaches raced to bring fresh Pringle’s to Adam Brody, A tongue danced for Cold Foam, and of course, Seal, as a Seal, sang to Seal. And to mention, Chat GPT had it’s own commercial as did SalesForce’s AI, AgentForce.
What makes a good SuperBowl ad?
I adore the SuperBowl. I don’t care much for football, but the peak athleticism, passionate fandom, and national togetherness hits me in the feels. And, as a marketer, I evaluate the Superbowl Commercials to understand which are the brands to watch. After years of experience, here’s my rubrik:
It’s memorable
You remember who the ad was for
It breaks through the noise: Your living room might have dogs, kids, and football diehards who need to discuss that last play, so the ad better K.I.S.S.
Bonus… did you enjoy it? Football is a game. Yes this is a platform, but let’s keep it light, please
Four Faves
1. Little Caesar’s Eugene Levy’s Eyebrows, “Whoa.”
Even if you didn’t know Levy’s eyebrow prowess, the eyebrows went on a quite an adventure with a mustachioed baby, cultish caterpillars, and the classic man-hits-pole mishap.
2. Michelob Ultra with Catherine O’hara and Willem Dafoe, “The ULTRA Hustle”
Whenever the underdogs win against young hot people, it’s going to be an American classic (even if the hot people are real pro atheles). The solid script was made only more memorable with O’hara’s hilarity and Dafoe’s demeanor.
3. Mountain Dew Baja Blast with Seal, as a Seal, “Kissed from a Lime”
This probably works the best if you’re familiar with Seal and his hit song Kissed from a Rose, but the shock value of a seal with a human face singing about Mountain Dew while the real human Seal comments on it… It got major laughs from my living room from all ages.
4. Bud Light with Post Malone and Shane Gillis, “Big Men on the Cul de sac”
As pure fun, it’s features a hook that’s hopefully never been used before: “I have a colonoscopy tomorrow.” The two leading men served as aspirational characters for a big audience who loves football: white, suburban, middle-aged dads. Do they have a boat? Yep. Do they hate the HOA? Absolutely. Did Peyton Manning show up? Of course he did. What a great time for dads on the cul-de-sac.
Two Misses
Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses with Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt and Kris Jenner
For me, this didn’t break through the noise. I couldn’t tell when they were talking to their glasses and when they spoke to each other, and while I adore the two actors (and the reference to the $6million banana), I couldn’t follow the off kilter conversation over the Super Bowl watching hubbub. Find it here, if you want.
Uber Eats, with Matthew McConaughey and a bahjillion other celebrity cameos
I honestly love this solidly ambitious idea, but at the time, it felt too long and difficult to follow. I was too caught up in trying to find the cameos that I missed the dialogue. This might have been a placement issue, either where it fell during the game, or maybe it might have preformed better around regular season play with longer attention spans. The full video
Who really won?
Harrison Ford x Jeep®, “Owner’s Manual”
At the time I write this 2/9/2025, it’s the #12 Trending video on YouTube.
At a long and expensive 2 minutes, the Harrison Ford inspirational monologue was placed at the end of the game, right when attention was holding close.
Harrison Ford’s signature slow delivery and beautiful scenery stood in a stark contrast to the comedic celebrity and wacky attention-grabbing of the previous 3 hours. It drew focus and made people in our room say “shhhh.”
The content? Togetherness, humility, freedom to choose, and the ability to disagree. It was American in the best way.
And, you knew who the ad was for based on the closing phrases, “This Jeep makes me happy, even though my name is [mouths, ‘Ford’]”
I wondered if this was only going to be my personal favorite, based on the depth of the message and the balls of the advertisers to go with this format. But, at #12 Trending video on YouTube the day after the SuperBowl, I’m not alone, and that feels good.
Until next year!
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