Why next year’s Super Bowl ads will be better

“Super Bowl ads from the past were better.” Something we like to say every year, right after the night is over. And if you are an ad freak like me, the kind that can repeat the dialogue in “Talking Stain” for Tide by memory or remember almost all the executions of the “One second ad” from Miller, you’d probably think that way too. But I am feeling better about our industry these days. So much so that from now on, we can say next year’s ads are better. The best and worst Super Bowl ads Ad Age reviews the Big Game commercials Click here Yes. Even with the half-exciting, half-scary ghost of AI coming for us all. Even with my teenage daughters laughing at the word “advertising” as in, I haven’t seen any of those “advertisings” lately in my Netflix shows. But yes, I also feel that we are still mutating as an industry in front of our very eyes. And that doesn’t always look perfect. Meanwhile, Super Bowl is a unique bubble in time; it crystallizes moments like a photo. Therefore, it is both a still picture and a moving spectacle of this mutation. And this is what it looked like to me in 2024: Gone are the big manifestos showing up defiantly on screen while crowds at home are eating nachos. Gone are the days of the divisive big ideas and the somber pianos. Gone is “It’s Halftime in America.” It is the post-pandemic-between-war times. We need escapism. But we are lacking a little bit of the confidence we used to have as an industry. The result, in some cases, is a strange, diverse mélange, a salad of things where too many objects look like ads of the past with three times the celebrities, way too many nonsensical jokes instead of conceptual thinking, and an overused tactic of running the ads many days in advance, as if nobody trusted their ideas enough to let them surprise audiences during the very night alone. It is understandable. Between the riddle of AI, the fear of social media backlash and a global political landscape that would make Churchill smoke too much, it is only natural to rely on the light touch of simple humor and the safe bet of multiple celebrities. And, honestly, this refreshed embracing of humor as the reigning creative device can even be welcomed … as long as it is part of the transition to whatever comes next and not a desperate resource. The ads we remember and love from past Super Bowls are the ones that had a human or a brand truth at their core, or those that took a huge bet or a defiant stand (which doesn’t only mean politics or big budgets, as a floating QR code confidently proved in 2022). Or the ones that had a celebrity as a vehicle for an idea instead of the other way around. Simply put, it really comes down to either an outstanding script, with or without a celebrity(ies), or to an incredible smart stunt taking an idea beyond the passing night to become an enduring part of pop culture. We have seen some of these on Super Bowl night, not as many as you’d want, but there they were. Reese’s is a fantastic brief-on-your-nose type of execution, like the ones that made me fall in love with US advertising. America giving back to France in the shape of a cheese board is really funny (Etsy). DoorDash offering to deliver every item that appears to your door is so clever and on-brand. CeraVe’s stunt was great, and in my opinion, even better than the actual spot. Dunkin’s spot is fun and nailed what most people expect from a Super Bowl ad, with celebrities that bring their own storylines to the narrative. But most importantly, we are finally seeing a plot twist in the dominance of the male narrative across the board, with some pretty daring ideas where the female point of view, tone of voice and sense of humor was the dominant one (which, in one specific case, seemed to be too much to bear for the powers that be.) So, there is hope. But we have to be impatiently impatient; it’s time for us to get our confidence back as an industry. To lead instead of simply trying to keep up. We just need to fiercely remind to ourselves that most of the narrative mechanisms that influencers use, the comedic language of memes and some of the most anthemic moments in recent big films (hello, Barbie third act big speech) among many other effective and entertaining ways to engage actual humans with content and brands, come from a way of expressing insights and connecting with culture that we, the advertising industry, came up with first. Hopefully, you enjoyed this year’s ads. But please, bite your tongue before saying that last year’s were better. And stay tuned. If we get it right and fully embrace our industry’s mutation, next year’s ads will be much, much better.

Why next year’s Super Bowl ads will be better

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