The Super Bowl is one of the biggest cultural moments of the year, drawing upwards of 100 million TV viewers with buzz extending to social media in the days leading up to the game. But for brands marketing in and around the game, it can be hard to reach—and resonate with—Gen Z.

As part of Ad Age’s Gen Z roundtable video series, we recently asked three Gen Zers how they’ll be tuning in to the game, what they want to see from brands and the role of social media. Many Gen Zers may not have cable, so it could be that Paramount+ advertisers will have a better chance of reaching them. Ads should be funny, nothing serious, and have unexpected celebrity pairings. And on top of that, brands will need to be ready to be part of second-screen conversations and memes.

Panel participants included Bree Doldron, associate PR consultant at Creativ Strategies; Zach Honer, senior creative strategist at Open Influence; and Serenity Griffin, community manager at Adolescent Content.

Read on for five takeaways from our conversation on what Gen Z wants to see in this year’s Big Game.

Where they will be watching

While dozens of brands have shelled out the $7 million needed to buy a Super Bowl spot on CBS, those who advertise on Paramount+ may have a better chance of reaching Gen Z. None of the three panelists have cable, and said they plan to watch the game on Paramount+ through a friend’s login.

Panelists were also interested in the Nickelodeon simulcast, even as Griffin said that she was not aware that it was an option until very recently. Doldron added that it wasn’t appealing to keep up with another streaming channel, and planned to stick to Paramount+.

But Honer said that the explosions of slime and SpongeBob narration might be more entertaining. “It might be interesting to watch it in that way just to make the experience more engaging, funny even,” he said.

According to a recent Ad Age-Harris Poll, 21% of respondents plan to stream the game on Paramount+ and 7% say they will watch the Nickelodeon simulcast, but that jumps up to 12% for Gen Z.

Read more Super Bowl poll findings

Be ready to meme, and use micro-influencers

Panelists also said that they would be keeping an eye on social media during the game, using X (formerly Twitter) for live quick takes and memes, but watching TikTok for post-game content.

Griffin noted that while brands might be drawn to big creators or celebrities, micro-influencers have more engaged communities, and should have them as a part of their social media strategy in the lead-up to the game. 

Doldron agreed. “Our feeds on socials are so curated these days that rarely we’ll be seeing the massive millions and millions of followers influencers just organically pop up on our feeds,” she said. “It’s more so influencers that are similar to the communities that we’re already engaging with. So to see brand partnerships in that space would really be a game changer, no pun intended.”

The post-game memes, tweets and commentary are also a draw for Gen Z.

“The post-game commentary is what I’m most interested about, like those post-game memes,” Griffin said. “And I think if brands wanna get in on the action, they just need to make sure that it is authentic to their brand, it’s native for them.”

Read more: Super Bowl social media plans for brands

Honer advised that brands be ready to act on the increase in attention. “I think it’s really important for brands to kind of prepare for the audiences’ next step from seeing the traditional ad spot on their screens, to searching it on social. And for audiences to be able to find something surprising and delightful when they do search it.”

Celebrities are in, QR codes are out

When it comes to who stars in Super Bowl ads, Doldron said celebrities are great, but she is more interested in how exactly celebrities are used, noting that unexpected pairings might be the way to go. She referenced 2023’s Doritos ad with Jack Harlow, Missy Elliott and Elton John, and DoorDash’s ad with Matty Matheson, Raekwon and Tiny Chef. Griffin added that seeing celebrities portrayed in a non-traditional role would be funny and unexpected, using the hypothetical example of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the tooth fairy.

Griffin is hoping to see nostalgic ads, and wants brands to lean into humor. “I think the humor of it all really just gives us a sense of escapism. And it helps us to escape the harsh realities that we live,” she said. “I mean, graduated during COVID, can’t find a job, your friends are sick, the social anxiety … The last thing I want to see when I’m tuning in is a serious ad or fear mongering.”

Comedy was the overwhelming favorite Super Bowl theme in the Ad Age-Harris Poll.

One thing all the panelists agreed on was that QR codes are out. 

“I think that because [Coinbase] was the first to do it in that way, it was so engaging,” Honer said, referring to Coinbase’s 2022 ad that featured a bouncing QR code. “But now you’d have to do something different. Maybe no brand mention at all, just a really interesting thing like an entertaining skit or something.”

Griffin agreed. “I’m already on my phone and entertained, so I’m not going to stop what I’m doing to pull up the camera to be rerouted to something else that I was not even interested in in the first place.”

Doldron added that they aren’t feasible if you are at a packed watch party or in a bar. “Logistically, it’s not realistic to all flock up to the TV.”

How the Super Bowl could evolve

The panelists also had ideas for how the NFL could engage younger fans, or fans who don’t watch football outside of the Super Bowl going forward.

Griffin predicted that the option to watch the game in VR will be more popular in the future. “It would be super cool if there were some type of VR Super Bowl watch party,” she said. “That would be so lit because you have that field-side experience … I stamp this right now: in 20 years, everyone’s gonna have VR. Everyone’s gonna have some type of goggle contact glasses to watch it virtually. And I think that will be revolutionary.”

Recent news: How brands are using Apple’s Vision Pro headset

Doldron agreed, adding that there could be more AR viewers for superfans. Honer wants the league to lean into more behind-the-scenes content in the lead-up to the halftime show.

The brands that stood out from past Super Bowls

Every company fears making an ad that consumers loved, but they then fail to remember the brand it was for. Throughout the conversation, panelists referenced several previous Big Game spots, including Rakuten’s 2023 Clueless ad, Pringles’ 2020 Rick and Morty ad, Tubi’s 2023 ad that had us scrambling for the remote,  Tide’s ad series from 2018 that referenced other ads, State Farm’s social media campaign with Khaby Lame, The Farmer’s Dog spot from 2023 and Fenty Beauty—not an official in-game ad, but a halftime show display that certainly paid off.

For more of the latest news, sign up for Ad Age’s Super Bowl newsletter.