From AI to Americana: What Worked in This Year’s Super Bowl Ads
By Molly Mitchell
While the Seahawks claimed victory on the field in this week’s Super Bowl LX, advertisers battled it out on the world’s biggest televised stage. With viewership projected at 128 million, brands once again paid premium prices to reach an audience that doesn’t skip commercials.
That dynamic is what continues to make the Super Bowl uniquely valuable, according to Kimberly A. Whitler, the Frank M. Sands Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia School of Business, whose research with Jeremy Grossman (UVA ’26) and Zhen Ye (UVA ’27) includes tracking 11 years of Super Bowl advertising.
“There’s no other time during the year where people actually treat ads as something to be watched versus something to be ignored,” she told Fortune.
The Darden Report asked Whitler to break down this year’s Super Bowl ads, from emerging trends to the campaigns that most effectively advanced their brands.
You have previously identified animals, celebrities and nostalgia as ongoing trends in Super Bowl ads. Were there any unique trends this year alongside the tried-and-true themes?
Youth Empowerment. While there have been several ads in the past that focus on young girl/women’s empowerment (e.g., Always “#LikeAGirl”, Bumble “The Ball is in Her Court,” Olay “#MakeSpaceForWomen”), this year’s ads encourage self-belief among girls and boys.
Americana. Whether it is cowboy hats, bucolic imagery, or a countrified drawl, several ads included classic elements of Americana. Budweiser not only had the Clydesdales, cowboy hats, and rural imagery, but it had the evolution of an eaglet into a soaring eagle, hinting at America’s 250th
Harmony, Community, and Neighborliness. Advertisers have figured out that people tune into the Super Bowl to escape the discord and chaos communicated through many media platforms.
Rather than picking sides, a key thread running through this year’s Super Bowl ads was a desire for peace, harmony, community, and neighborliness. Whether it was Ring’s “Search Party” or Rocket and Redfin’s “American needs neighbors like you,” or Blue Sky Alliance Against Hate’s “Sticky Note,” there is a general theme centered on people coming together to support one another.
Tech- and Science-Forward. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot more tech- and science-forward ads this year. They were centered on how AI is transforming consumer experience (e.g., Oakley Meta and Amazon’s Alexa), office productivity (e.g., Ramp), and information search (e.g., Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT).
Wellness. There were more health-related ads than typical, promoting brands such as Wegovy with Tracy Morgan, MAHA Center with Mike Tyson, Hims and Hers, Novartis’ “Relax your Tight End” ad and Liquid I.V.
Which ads do you think were particularly successful this year?
Most ratings of Super Bowl ads are focused on the likability of the ad. However, ad likability doesn’t necessarily translate into effectiveness. For an ad to “work,” it needs to accomplish the objective the ad was designed to achieve.
Here are four ads I think worked well by 1) delivering a coherent and compelling message that strengthens a brand’s in-market position relative to competitors and 2) creating a story that will relate with the core target.
Ring’s Search Party. The ad introduces a new and compelling benefit for consumers—the ability to find missing animals (and presumably, people who are lost). In addition, the story is quite gripping and informational.
It suggests that the “old way” of finding lost animals is replaced by Ring’s new, better way. It highlights animals being reunited with their families through the power of Ring. It is a heartwarming, uplifting, and hopeful ad—many elements that can resonate with viewers.
Pepsi’s Zero Sugar. In the research I’ve conducted with Jeremy and Zhen where we reviewed 602 ads from the past 11 Super Bowls, we found that the use of animals is highly related to overall Super Bowl ad ratings. However, it isn’t just the inclusion of animals, it is the use of animals as protagonists (e.g., Clydesdales).
This ad uses polar bears as protagonists, in a story that is clean, clear, and interesting. Beyond the storytelling, however, is a powerful message that Pepsi tastes better than Coke, which has the potential to shift consumer beliefs about Pepsi’s product on a primary dimension upon which people choose a beverage – its taste. This has the potential to drive interest, trial, and adoption.
Additionally, the message connects with multiple different audiences. For consumers who lived through the Pepsi vs. Coke Taste Test of the mid 1970’s, it can have a nostalgic effect. For younger generations who grew up with Coke’s polar bears, it can drive immediate recognition and affinity.
Budweiser’s American Icons. Normally I wouldn’t include the Budweiser Clydesdales ads for one key reason. I suspect that the very high ratings for the ads are driven by a lot of non-beer drinking individuals and that there isn’t necessarily a connection between the ad and consumption increases.
This year, however, I’m including it in the ads that work for the following reason: In 2023, Bud Light had the brand crisis associated with influencer Dylan Mulvaney that contributed to over a billion dollars of EBITDA losses for the firm over 4 quarters. The negative dip impacted not just Bud Light but also Budweiser. Starting in Super Bowl 2024, the brand has tried it’s best to erase the controversy by going back to the heritage of the Clydesdales, Bud light humor, and all-American feel good Budweiser ads that highlight animal heroics.
Therefore, this year, I’m including the Budweiser ad because it effectively reinforces the historic likability of the Clydesdale ads and may help to further distance the brands from the crisis. They are focusing on the brand’s longevity by highlighting their 150th birthday and there is a subtle connection to America’s 250th birthday, continuing to reinforce Budweiser as America’s beer.
Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic Claude ads. I thought that a couple of the AI search platforms did a good job of communicating a unique and different benefit. Microsoft demonstrated how to actually use Copilot to make better decisions with excel data, and Anthropic’s Claude communicates a core benefit that consumers prefer—search without ads.
For more from Whitler on this year’s Super Bowl advertising landscape, check out her insights this week in The Associated Press, Fortune, Forbes and more.
Associated Press
Superbowl ads try to overcome tough times with health, caring and the usual laughs
Super Bowl 2026: Seahawks beat Patriots to claim second franchise title
USA Today
Five years since COVID Super Bowl ads, ‘Re-United States of America’ never came to be
Fortune
Anthropic isn’t done spooking SaaS investors
Forbes
Why Budweiser’s ‘American Icons’ Will Be The Most Popular Super Bowl Commercial In 2026
Going For The Gold By Scoring A Touchdown During Marketing’s Biggest Week
Pitchbook
The AI Super Bowl ad battle is a new phase in the competition to IPO first
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Executive MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 20,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Press Contact
Molly Mitchell
Senior Associate Director, Editorial and Media Relations
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia
MitchellM@darden.virginia.edu
