What do you remember from Super Bowl Sunday? Did you sit on the edge of your seat and keep track of the touchdowns and field goals? Did you know at the outset that the Philadelphia Eagles would be the victor? Or, did you eagerly await the ads? For marketers and many others, we tend to keep one eye on the game because we really want to see (and talk about) the ads.
According to USA Today, "For one day a year, people can't wait to cozy up on the couch and watch commercials during the Super Bowl. For some, it's a nice sideshow to the big game. For others, it's the main event. In a world where everything is an ad, we do our best to escape them, unless it's the Super Bowl. Companies spend a fortune for just 30 seconds of our time, hoping to capture a market. With diminished attention spans and countless things competing for them, the Super Bowl offers an opportunity to speak to consumers when they are more focused. It might just be the one day a year where the public isn't buried in their phones, channel-surfing, or doing a variety of other things at once."
For Super Bowl 1 in 1967, a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $37,500 - and with inflation, that is about $350,000 in 2025 dollars. For Super Bowl 59, that same 30-second ad cost $8 million, according to USA Today's AdMeter, up from $7 million last year.
According to Aimee Picchi, "Super Bowl ads command a premium because the game is typically the most-watched media event of the year. That gives brands a chance to reach more consumers at one time than anywhere else, and many companies use the opportunity to trot out new products or introduce a new slogan. There's another reason why brands are so willing to pay up: About 3 in 4 people say they are actually excited to watch the ads during the Super Bowl. Families and friends typically watch the game together, and often talk about the spots as well as the game itself — a discussion that can carry over at work the next day."
Jura Liaukonyte, marketing professor at Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business explained further, "This shared experience can amplify the emotional resonance of advertisements, making them more memorable and effective. When viewers watch the Super Bowl, they are not just passive recipients of content — they are engaged in a communal event."
This quote from Landor Associates is timeless and worth repeating: "Here are three tips to help you, your dad, or even your football-crazed grandma decide which brands scored a touchdown with their commercials: Is the ad on-brand? Will you remember the brand tomorrow? And, does the ad speak to the times?"
An interesting note about the Super Bowl and branding. Ever wonder why the logos include Roman numerals? According to CBS Sports, "For nearly 60 years, the Super Bowl has become a central part of American culture well beyond the sphere of pro football. And for many, the Super Bowl also prompts the need to touch up on a certain other piece of culture that always re-enters the collective conscience around Super Bowl time.
The Super Bowl is one of the select few mainstream events still using Roman numerals, a system that has largely been forgotten. Although the numeral system of Ancient Rome began to fall out of use in favor of Arabic numerals around the 14th century, there are still a few instances in which Roman numerals are commonly used: on clock faces, to identify lineages -- particularly for royalty and other important figures -- and to denote each edition of the Super Bowl.
The use of Roman numerals for each Super Bowl dates back to the fifth Super Bowl, with the league adopting the use of the system to avoid confusion over the year the game is associated with. The Super Bowl is always played in the year following a chronologically recorded season, so while this Super Bowl is being played in 2025, the game itself will determine the champion of the 2024 NFL season.
In addition, the idea to use Roman numerals for the Super Bowl is also credited to Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, who believed their use would add an element of grandeur to the NFL's biggest game. Hunt, of course, is credited with coining the term "Super Bowl," and his Chiefs are competing to become the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row."
While there was no ad similar to Apple's 1984 ad; no ad that was as memorable as Budweiser's post-9/11 ad from 2002 with the kneeling Clydesdales; no animated Coca Cola polar bears; and no Tweet clever enough to rival Oreo's "dunking in the dark" from 2013's "Blackout Bowl" at the Superdome in New Orleans; some ads did stand out to me, and without further ado, here they are:
HELLMANN'S: Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reprised their roles from the film "When Harry Met Sally" for a famous scene at Katz's Deli in New York City. This time, Meg Ryan needed some mayonnaise. This was a surprise ad, and for those of us who remember the film, the scene was hard to forget.
WEATHER TECH: Four female senior citizens took to the open road with the music in the background, "Born to Be Wild." This was a geriatric version of "Thelma and Louise."
NOVARTIS: The ad began by focusing on women's breasts, but as it went on, the emphasis changed. According to AdWeek's Bill Bradley, "Novartis put a spotlight on breast cancer awareness with the help of Hailee Steinfeld, breast-cancer survivor Wanda Sykes, cheerleaders, partygoers, and everyday women living their lives. The ad was a healthcare promo with a twist, showing breasts in all forms and fashions along with a message to pay attention to them when it matters the most. According to the ad, more than 6 million women watching the Super Bowl may be diagnosed with breast cancer, but websites like YourAttentionPlease.com are there to help with screenings and potentially life-saving information."
NIKE: The ad was entitled, "So Win," and was the first time since 1998 that a Nike commercial aired during the Super Bowl. According to Austin Curtright of USA Today, "Women’s sport isn't the future, it's right now. We're seeing it in packed arenas, in TV ratings, in the way people are showing up for the game like never before. Commanding attention isn't about being the loudest in the room. It's about making sure that when you step up, everyone takes notice. Women's sports have seen a stark rise in popularity in recent years, which each of the athletes featured in the commercial have played a role in. Nike is appearing to step up its commitment to women's sports."
BUDWEISER: Whenever the Clydesdale horses appear in an ad, the ad tugs at the heartstrings. This ad was no exception. A young foal returned a lost keg of beer and proved he was just as talented as the adult horses.
COORS LIGHT: This ad's theme was the sluggishness of Mondays, and as a result, the beer changed its name to "Mondays Light."
MOUNTAIN DEW: Singer Seal became a seal and sang that he didn't have hands to hold the beverage.
LAY'S: A young girl planted a potato and watched it grow, eventually becoming a potato that would become Lay's potato chips.
DOVE: This ad spoke volumes. According to Just Jared, "The personal care product brand’s 2025 Super Bowl Commercial shows a little girl running down the sidewalk and brings an important message about how girls in sports are treated. "At 3, these legs are unstoppable. At 14, she'll think they're unbearable. 1 in 2 girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type...Let's change the way we talk to our girls. #KeepHerConfident."
During the game, while sharing posts on Twitter/X, some brands stood out with their posts, such as, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jet Blue, Library of Congress, Best Friends, Avocados from Mexico, Minions, Samsung Mobile US, and LAY'S. If you missed their posts, check them out.
According to Google, "Wicked: For Good was not featured in a trailer during the 2025 Super Bowl. Universal chose not to preview the sequel to the Oscar-nominated musical. Wicked: For Good is scheduled for release in theaters on November 21, 2025. The movie continues the story of Elphaba and Glinda from where the first part left off. The sequel centers on the consequences of their decisions and further developments in the world of Oz. Universal likely didn't need to advertise Wicked: For Good as early or to as large an audience as other movies because of the excitement surrounding the first movie and its Academy Award nominations...Other movies featured in trailers during the 2025 Super Bowl included: Jurassic World Rebirth, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, and How to Train Your Dragon."
A few timeless words from Jacques de Cock, a faculty member at the London School of Marketing: "The Super Bowl is a phenomenon unsurpassed in the world. It is one of the few national social events, which is also why social media traffic during the game is so high...What is also remarkable is that advertising is not viewed as something to skip but is seen by 77 percent of viewers as part of the entertainment, and therefore, more watched and engaged with than any other television advertising during the year."
Today, the official countdown begins for Super Bowl 60, scheduled for February 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California - home of the San Francisco 49ers. This will be the third Super Bowl to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second to be hosted by Levi's Stadium. Will we see an ad or two that will go down as the best of all time? We'll have to wait and see.
Image credit: ABC6 Action News.
To read any of my previous Super Bowl ad review posts (I've been writing them annually since 2012), search #DebbieLaskeysBlog using the term "super" to access all the links.
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