5 Super Bowl ad trends to watch

This year’s Super Bowl is inducing a lot of déjà vu, not just on the field—where the Chiefs and Eagles will battle for the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in three years—but also in ad breaks, where brands will repeat oft-played Big Game commercial tactics. Celebrities, nostalgia, sight gags and just overall silliness will dominate the commercials yet again. If you like aliens or flying facial hair, this game is for you. There are a few new twists to look out for. AI is poised to make its biggest splash yet, just not in the ad-making process. More automakers are staying on the sidelines. There is plenty of food advertising, as usual, though not as many sweets brands (which rushed into last year’s game). Marketers, for the most part, still don’t seem comfortable putting influencers in their Big Game ads, but plenty of brands are deploying them on the ground in New Orleans. Below, a closer look at what to watch on Sunday. Playing it safe Advertisers seem to share one goal this year—don’t get into trouble. While there are plenty of weird ads—including two with flying facial hair (eyebrows for Little Caesars and mustaches for Pringles)—brands are avoiding anything that could be remotely seen as political. Those who are pushing causes are highlighting issues that would seemingly have widespread support. Dove’s ad, which features a cute 3-year-old girl running, focuses on the obstacles to keeping girls in sports, for instance, while pharmaceutical brand Novartis is making the case for breast cancer screening. The overwhelming majority of brands are going for laughs, most of them with celebrity-packed spots full of silly visual effects. Aliens are a popular theme—Totino’s, Doritos and cookware brand HexClad are all using other-worldly themes. Perhaps brands are giving viewers what they want: 60% of consumers say they want funny ads, according to The Harris Poll, which surveyed around 1,000 consumers in the middle of January. But just as likely, marketers are doing everything they can to avoid being in the middle of the culture wars. “Brands are often cautious with Super Bowl creative, but this year seems particularly tame,” said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “Brands don’t want to offend anyone, so anything controversial is off the table,” he added, noting that “most of these spots were created in the fall, when divisions in the U.S. were particularly intense.” Rewind: How brands can promote unity in a divided America “Every brand leader is aware of how Bud Light has struggled after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney,” Calkins said. But “there is a risk that all this advertising will blend together. To stand out when so many brands will be telling funny jokes, a brand has to come up with something particularly clever. This is the creative challenge this year.” Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here The ’80s and ’90s are back A lot of brands are trying to meet this challenge by going back in time. Super Bowl ads have a history of leaning nostalgia—for many years it was the Boomer Bowl, but these days, getting nostalgic also means references that appeal to Gen Xers and even millennials. More: The most memorable Super Bowl ads of the past decade The singer Seal plays an actual seal in Mountain Dew’s ad, which features a remake of his ’90s hit “Kiss from a Rose.” Booking.com is using the Muppets, which might be timeless but arguably peaked with TV’s “Muppet Show” in the ’70s and ’80s. Instacart packed its ad with mascots that every Gen Xer, millennial and baby boomer knows, including the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Mr. Clean, Jolly Green Giant and the Kool-Aid man. And Hellmann’s traveled back to 1989 to remake a scene from “When Harry Met Sally…” Done right, nostalgia can also play well with Gen Z (the rise of streaming services ensures old movies can remain relevant). During a Gen Z panel at Ad Age’s recent Super Bowl Playbook event, Lia Kakoulidis, senior platform strategist at VaynerMedia, cited the Hellmann’s ad as one of her favorites, noting the decision to include a cameo from Sydney Sweeney as part of a cast led by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan (aka Harry and Sally). “I just thought that was very well done and [induced] just such lighthearted giggle,” she said. Also read: Marketing to various generations—what to know Where are the car ads? Not long ago, auto brands dominated Big Game ad breaks. In 2018, for instance, 11 auto brands ran ads. And in 2022, automakers ran eight ads, with retailers Carvana and Vroom also buying spots. It was part of an electric vehicle ad blitz as brands began to market EVs to a wide audience after pouring billions of dollars into developing them. Since then, the EV market has failed to live up to once lofty expectations, and brands have pulled back on their Big Game buys. Last year, four automakers bought ads, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and Kia. None of those brands came back this year, with Toyota and Kia both citing the fact that they don’t have new models to push in the first quarter. That leaves Stellantis as the only automaker in the game, barring any surprises. It is running ads for Ram and Jeep, which come as the automaker seeks to reinvigorate its marketing under a new leadership regime. Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at car shopping site Edmunds, said that “there was a time when brand building ads that got the nation to laugh would be a fine tactic for any automaker, but now it seems like that money is best spent elsewhere.” “The present and future of the auto industry is shaping up to be quite pricey,” she added. “Not only have automakers sunk vast amounts of money on EV development—a market quickly losing the U.S. government support that helped it grow in sales—they’re also beholden to the rapidly changing nature of President Trump’s proposed tariffs which, if implemented, will be very costly for all automakers.” Enter AI Artificial intelligence, which crept into last year’s game when Google and Microsoft touted the tech, will get a bigger push this year. OpenAI is using the Super Bowl to run its first TV commercial, while Meta, Google, Salesforce and GoDaddy are touting AI products in their ads. When it comes to using AI to make ads, brands are taking a more conservative approach. Ad Age surveyed 39 Super Bowl advertisers, 31 of which said they did not use AI at all in their 2025 ads or declined to speak on the matter. Those that are using it seem to be deploying it in more of a supporting role. GoDaddy is using its ad to promote its Airo AI tool in a collab with Walton Goggins’ Goggle Glasses. But when it came to making the ad, GoDaddy only used AI for the conception phase, Fara Howard, GoDaddy’s chief marketing officer, said this week during Ad Age’s Super Bowl Playbook. “We felt that story was best told in ways that [were] human created,” Howard said. Influencers on the ground, but not in the ads While influencers and creators continue to gain greater love from big brands, when it comes to the Super Bowl, most marketers are sticking to traditional celebrities—including many who have been around for decades, such as the aforementioned Crystal-Ryan duo as well as Martha Stewart, Kevin Bacon, Tom Brady, Eugene Levy, Snoop Dogg, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Peyton Manning and, of course, Matthew McConaughey. More: Uber Eats’ ad is packed with celebs and food puns While DoorDash’s ad was inspired by a trend popularized by a TikToker—Sam James’ “girl math”—the brand did not put her in its ad, instead opting to make comedian Nate Bargatze the star; the brand, however, did do a deal with James for a social media video leading up to its ad release. @samjamessssss honestly it would be crazy not to sign up for DashPass 🤑🍔#DashPassPartner #DashPassMath ♬ original sound - samjamess One brand leading into the newer wave of influencers/creators is upstart soda brand Poppi, which put Alix Earle, Jake Shane and Rob Rausch in its ad, which has yet to be released. “It’s important for Poppi to connect with our core audience and introduce the next generation of soda using the next generation of talent,” the brand said in a statement. Influencers are getting plenty of love in experiential Super Bowl campaigns. As reported by Ad Age this week, a large group of creators represented by both Digital Brand Architects and parent company United Talent Agency will be in New Orleans to attend dinner parties, cocktail hours and other events hosted by brands in the lead-up to the Super Bowl. Creator partnerships are campaign is “usually a fraction of the overall cost” of an in-game ad, said Ryan Detert, CEO of influencer marketing agency Influential. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here

5 Super Bowl ad trends to watch

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