The Super Bowl is a blue-chip advertising occasion as brands can reach what is far and away the biggest live US TV audience each year. When 30 seconds of airtime costs as much as $8 million, standing out from the crowd is vital to driving a return on investment – an outcome that can be assessed in various ways. While similar themes tend to emerge from the Super Bowl occasion - as they do for any major annual event - the outcomes are a signal of the health and ambitions of US creativity.
To get the most incisive analysis about this year’s slate join us and System1 at VML’s office in New York on the evening of Feb 11th for an exclusive event.
Budweiser wins the popular vote
USA TODAY’s Ad Meter is perhaps the most famous, and arguably most straightforward, of the Super Bowl ad rankings, as it’s based on a pure, albeit unscientific, popular vote:
Budweiser took pole position in the Ad Meter for the first time in ten years with its “First Delivery” spot, which featured a Clydesdale foal proving itself; the spot leaned into the brand’s distinctive assets, and also brought back an old tag line: “This Bud’s for You.”. “The Little Farmer”, an ad from Lay’s, was in second, as the PepsiCo-owned chip brand told a heart-warming story of its potatoes being grown on family farms. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the owner of Budweiser, also grabbed third and fourth places with celebrity-studded spots from Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois respectively. Closing out the Ad Meter top five was “Somebody | It Takes All of Us”, an inspiring tale of mentorship from the NFL.
Lay’s has greatest long-term sales potential
System1, the ad-testing company, identifies the best Super Bowl ads by correlating consumers’ emotional responses with long-term sales potential (using its Star Ratings) and short-term sales potential (using its Spike Ratings):
- Lay’s “Little Farmer” (5.9 Stars) and the NFL’s “Somebody | It Takes All of Us” (5.6 Stars) were the top two for expected long-term sales.
- They were followed by a spot from WeatherTech celebrating “grannies” living their best lives (5.2 Stars) and another NFL ad promoting girls’ football in “Flag 50” (4.9 Stars).
- Häagen-Dazs ice cream rounded out the top five with “Not so Fast, Not so Furious” (4.7 Stars), a slower-moving take on the high-octane “Fast & Furious” movie franchise, and featuring some of its stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Ludacris.
- In keeping with data from WARC’s recent report on The Multiplier Effect, there was little crossover between the top ten ads for short- and long-term sales potential, as just two spots – from Reese’s and Stella Artois – made both lists.
- Pfizer also hits the right notes
- “Little Farmer” from Lay’s, the NFL’s “Somebody | It Takes All of Us” and the Pfizer commercial “Knock Out” all hit Top 10 lists a number of times, and each commercial showed the power of leaning into emotion.
The Pfizer ad, which depicts a young boy imagining how he will defeat cancer, marked the second year in a row that the pharma giant has advertised in the Big Game.
Despite pharma being one of the biggest US advertising spenders, historically, the category has been relatively absent from the game – but this year proved an exception, with Novartis, Bayer and the online health brand Him & Hers joining Pfizer in buying spots.
T-Mobile scores with online engagement
Measurement company EDO tracks online engagement – like search and brand website visits – immediately after a Super Bowl ad airs, with a score of 100 on its “Engagement Index” representing the average, and totals above that figure beating its norms:
- T-Mobile (1,263 points) led these rankings with a spot offering consumers free access to a satellite-powered wireless phone service through July.
- Ram trucks (848 points) took second position thanks to actor Glen Powell putting a rugged spin on a fairytale in “Drive your own story”.
- Liquid Death claimed third (804 points) with its big-game debut, a tongue-in-cheek commercial that encouraged consumers to drink (water) on the job.
- Next up were an ad for Universal Pictures’ live-action movie adaption of “How to Train Your Dragon” (778 points) and a spot for Him & Hers’ “Sick of the System” (771), promising more affordable access to weight-loss drugs.
Nike wins with creatives
Sporting goods brand Nike, returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 27 years, was the top big-game ad among a panel of leading creatives from the client and agency sides.
Nike’s ad, championing women’s sports, and headlined by basketball player Caitlin Clark, received the 2025 Super Clio, which is handed out each year by the Clio Awards to the most creative ad in the NFL season-closer.
This brand-led effort marks the latest step in Nike’s return to equity building after a pivot towards performance targeting and direct-to-consumer sales led to revenue struggles.
It was praised by the judges for its “pitch perfect pacing, script and message of strength.”
Source: warc.com
Sourced from EDO, System1, The Clios, USA Today, WARC
