Super Bowl 2025 and AI—everything marketers need to know about how tech is showing up in Big Game ads

AI is playing a growing role in brands’ Super Bowl marketing strategies—but not in the ways that some might expect. Instead of making waves with AI-generated commercials, most brands are avoiding it in the Big Game, and the technology remains behind the scenes. In theory, the Super Bowl could be a prime playground for a brave marketer to launch an AI commercial, and it would definitely grab attention. However, most brands are not willing to be among the first to take the risk, and they are largely avoiding the technology to create their commercials this year. Out of 39 Super Bowl advertisers contacted by Ad Age, 31 said they did not use AI at all in their 2025 ads or declined to speak on the matter. Brands have learned to stay quiet on the AI topic because it remains divisive for both consumers and fellow marketers, according to ad agency leaders. Agencies, however, are using AI with fewer reservations. Todd Sussman, chief strategy officer at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ FCB New York, suspects agencies working on Super Bowl ads used AI in some point of the early stages of developing Big Game ideas. Multiple agencies confirmed with Ad Age that they used image generators such as Midjourney and video generators such as Runway to develop brand assets and better illustrate desired scenes. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here AI is also poised to show up in a larger way in the products featured in the commercials. Super Bowl viewers will see and hear more about the technology in this year’s Big Game ads than in previous years, Mark Evans, Fox’s head of ad sales, recently told Ad Age. The role of AI in advertising is still a sensitive subject even more than two years after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which unleashed a proliferation of similar products from Google, Meta, Microsoft and others. Agencies have rushed to adopt text, image and video AI into their work, and cutting-edge brands have incorporated the technology into major campaigns. The Super Bowl represents another high-profile moment for the ad industry to understand how AI now influences the planning and creative concepts behind the commercials. Here is everything you need to know about how AI is playing a role in Super Bowl 2025. How are brands using AI for Super Bowl ads? For the most part, brands kept their use of AI under wraps (more on that below). A few marketers gave Ad Age glimpses into the technology’s role in the Big Game. GoDaddy, Hims & Hers and MSC Cruises each used AI in the ideation phase of their Super Bowl spots, mostly for creating storyboards of early ideas, the brands separately told Ad Age. Hims & Hers used image generator Visual Electric to help develop the story behind its ad, a montage of clips depicting the obesity epidemic in the U.S., a spokesperson for the brand said. Both GoDaddy and MSC Cruises declined to share specifics regarding their use of AI, but they confirmed that AI was used in the ideation phase of their ad creation process. Google’s marketing team used various Gemini tools, which is its AI-enabled platform, to advance its regional Super Bowl campaign, in which 50 different spots will air in all 50 states showing how Gemini helps small businesses (including one for Illinois, below). Google’s team used Gemini to develop a wider strategy around the campaign, whittle down interview transcripts with small business owners to select the merchants they wanted to highlight, and analyze the interviews for usable quotes and voiceover lines, according to a company blog post. Google did not share specifics about how AI played a role in its national ad, details for which have not been released yet. However, AI was largely not a necessity for many brands this year. Seventeen brands, including Taco Bell, Coors Light, Reese’s and DoorDash, told Ad Age that they did not use the technology at any stage in the development of their Super Bowl ads.Inside the making of Reese’s volcanic Super Bowl commercial Why don’t brands want to use AI for Super Bowl ads? Some brands could be keeping AI at an arm’s length this Super Bowl because they fear backlash from their fellow marketers, said Kevin McTigue, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. And they would have plenty of recent examples to back up their concerns about generating AI outrage. For example, last year, Toys R Us used OpenAI’s video tool, Sora, for an ad that was widely panned by the creative community. And for the holidays, Coca-Cola aired an AI-generated TV ad that also drew a polarizing response from members of the ad industry. Super Bowl audiences, too, have shown a distaste toward content they interpreted as having AI’s fingerprints. For one of its ads during last year’s game, the “He Gets Us” campaign drew ire on social media for appearing to feature AI-generated imagery, even though the technology was not involved. Doritos barred AI-generated content from being used in its fan contest, in which one fan-created ad was selected to be this year’s official spot. “We wanted this truly to be something that highlighted creators’ love for the brand and for creating, and we felt like to make that a fair platform for everyone that might submit an ad, we decided that AI was something we didn’t want to be used,” said Tina Mahal, SVP of marketing at PepsiCo Foods North America, during Ad Age’s Super Bowl Playbook. PepsiCo is the parent company of Doritos. In addition to the 17 companies that told Ad Age they did not use AI, another 14 brands declined to comment for this story, including Nerds, Dove and Liquid Death. This hesitation could be a sign that marketers are worried about the optics of using AI to create their ads because the technology still presents a PR problem, said Craig Elimeliah, chief creative officer at agency Code and Theory. “Brands are keeping quiet, not because AI isn’t involved, but because they don’t want it to be the story,” Elimeliah said. How are agencies using AI for Super Bowl ads? More so than brands, agencies were keen to use AI for their Super Bowl efforts. Ad agency Monks used AI to pitch ideas to shopping rewards app Fetch for a livestream that will run alongside Fetch’s official spot, said Adam Strom, Monks’ group creative director. Fetch has a national commercial, created in-house, that will send people to the livestream on its app, where it is giving away $1.2 million. Monks tapped into its proprietary AI hub, Runway’s text-to-video tool and Adobe Firefly to show Fetch ideas for the livestream. For example, the agency generated images in the brand’s purple and yellow colors to make its ideas feel more bespoke, Strom said. Monks also generated images to precisely show lighting and prop teams the scenes it wanted to create in the livestream. “AI makes the right idea easier to get through,” said Strom. Still, Fetch did not use AI in the production process of the actual spot, a brand spokesperson told Ad Age. Pinnacle Advertising used image generator Midjourney to storyboard its ad for WeatherTech, a spokesperson for the brand told Ad Age. The CGI-filled spot follows a group of women in their 70s wreaking havoc during a road trip. WeatherTech itself did not use AI in the production process, the spokesperson said. AI also lent an advantage to agencies when they were pressed for time. In January, when Fetch wanted Monks to be ready for a test of the livestream, shortening the time it had to complete the concept, Monks used its AI hub to quickly get its creatives on the same page, Strom said. AI is especially helpful during the early stages of developing ads when agencies often need to act quickly and pitch brands on ideas, said FCB’s Sussman. “I imagine a lot of agencies used AI to get them to their Super Bowl brief,” Sussman said. FCB New York, which worked on this year’s Super Bowl ads for Pringles and Budweiser, did not use AI at any stage in the process, Sussman said. How will AI show up in Super Bowl ads? Last year’s Super Bowl ads referenced AI more frequently than those of the previous year, and this year that number will be even higher, Fox’s ad sales leader Evans told Ad Age last week. AI will be a central focus of Meta’s ads, which promote the company’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine and Kris Jenner wear the glasses and query Meta’s AI assistant with the phrase “Hey Meta” in an ad released Monday. GoDaddy will also highlight an AI-powered product, Airo, which automates web design and other tasks for small businesses. Google will air its 50 separate regional ads during the game that call attention to Gemini’s AI capabilities. Salesforce has confirmed that it will run an ad that extends its AI agents campaign, starring Matthew McConaughey, which highlights how businesses can offer intelligent, automated assistants—agentic AI—to consumers. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tech brands touting their AI in this year’s game may couch it in new terminology to reflect the latest trends, Northwestern’s McTigue said. For instance, “AI-powered” has been a buzzword for many enterprise-focused companies, but this year could see a shift of emphasis to “agent-powered” in a nod to the rise of AI agents. These automated assistants are expected to play a big role in AI’s development in 2025, McTigue said. Salesforce has not shied away from using the word “agents” in its campaign with McConaughey. At least one non-tech brand will subtly poke fun at AI in its Super Bowl commercial: Water bottle company Cirkul, with a spot that shows a mobile-based AI causing a snafu. But non-tech marketers should generally be cautious about making AI appeals in their ads because most of the consumers they care about are uninterested in the specifics of the technology, said Code and Theory’s Elimeliah. Also: Avocados brand opts for AI-generated videos over in-game ad When will AI be ready to write a Super Bowl ad? This is a question advertisers have been pondering for at least two years, as ChatGPT came online less than three months before Super Bowl 2023. AI technology is still two to three years away from being ready to produce Super Bowl-worthy material that does not risk putting off tons of viewers, FCB’s Sussman said. Despite impressive advancements such as OpenAI’s video tool, Sora, creative marketers are still operating in what Sussman called the “caveman era of AI.” Others disagree, however. AI will be able to write a Super Bowl ad “sooner than we think,” said Debora den Iseger, senior VP and head of content and innovation for Monks’ global studio. Den Iseger thinks the technology is nearly already there and all that needs to improve is integrating brand assets to make the AI-generated material more bespoke and production-ready. Still, brands will continue to face a host of legal questions, mostly pertaining to AI and copyright, which could mean that even when the technology is up to the Super Bowl challenge, brands could have reasons to hold AI back creatively, den Iseger said.

Super Bowl 2025 and AI—everything marketers need to know about how tech is showing up in Big Game ads

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