My 7 Favorite Ads of Super Bowl 2025
You should “zig” when the others “zag.” (It’s a cliché, but that doesn’t make it wrong.)
Last year, the day before the Super Bowl, I got woken up at 5:30 a.m. by skunks having a sex fight under our backyard deck. (Fun fact: February is skunk mating season where I live.)
They drenched our backyard and it took a full week for the smell to dissipate.
I’m happy to report that there was NO repeat performance this year.
I can also report that I remember the skunk funk a lot better than any of last year’s Super Bowl ads. And I suspect that next year…I’ll remember the dueling black-and-white paramours better than THIS YEAR’s ads, too.
Because, while there was some fine work, none of the spots from Super Bowl LIX will enter the pantheon of “all-timers.” And it’s becoming a recurring trend.
It comes down to the fact that brands are just trying to cram WAY too much into their Big Game ads. Too many celebrities, too many messages, and, on a super practical and tactical level…too many shots! (Some of the spots moved so fast, the jokes didn’t have time to really land; looking at you, Dunkin.)
I get it. It’s an impossibly hard brief. There is so much money invested in these things…and that means there’s a lot of pressure and too many eyeballs on ’em and too many voices weighing in.
Plus, the release-the-spot early strategy (which has become de rigor to better leverage the investment) creates a distorted lens for the creative. When you look at these ads in isolation as stand-alone pieces, they may feel fine—the right kind of “big” for the “The Big Game.”
But in the flow of the broadcast, most of them feel over-stuffed. Brands would be wise to remember the context in which they’re seen, if they really want to break through.
This year, the best of the bunch “zigged” while the others “zagged.”
Here were my favorites, in no particular order:
When this ad aired during the broadcast, it felt like the first chance I had to take a breath. From the bombastic Fox opening and the decibel-splitting volume of the game to the crazy kinetic commercials, the Google spot was a relief. Advertising A.I. technology is tricky, but they found an emotional, human story. Yes, tugging the father-daughter heartstrings is an advertising cheat code, but it was a really nice spot.
Body Horror FTW
It’s always interesting to see what sort of executional trends bubble up each year (and, no, we’re not talking about the two goldilocks ads, the three Matthew McConaughey ads, or the FOUR alien ads.)
This year, strange (horrific?) body manipulations reigned supreme! Whether that was Little Caesar’s soaring eyebrows, Pringles flying facial hair, or Tubi’s hat-shaped skulls.
But my two faves were probably Mountain Dew’s “let’s make Seal into a seal,” which was the right kind of weird.
And the nightmare fuel “winner” had to be “Let’s Go Tongues,” from CoffeeMate. I guarantee it will be on many “most hated” lists…and I’m not sure I disagree with that assessment. But it was also so goddamn strange that it stood out and I could still remember it after the game.
Bud Light
To be honest, I sorta didn’t want to like it. (I’m still a little pissed at how the brand handled the Dylan Mulvaney thing…they should not have thrown her under the bus.) BUT, you gotta give credit where credit is due and their cul-de-sac spot was a return-to-form for a brand that’s made lots of great ads over the years. Good performances, a great use of their cast, and genuine laugh lines.
Chat GPT
This might have been the best example of “zigging” in this year’s game—a spot that looked and felt different than everything else. A design-forward idea that leaned into their refined identity system. Elegant motion graphics to tell their story in a compelling way.
Novartis Breast Cancer Screening PSA
A public service announcement that understood you still need to capture attention on advertising’s biggest stage…and used humor and, well, boobs to do it. With a perfect swerve toward its message: “Now that we have your attention, make sure you get screened for breast cancer.”
Doritos
Years ago, Doritos revolutionized Super Bowl ads by handing the keys to their fans. They let “regular people” make and submit their own spots and then would air one or two on the biggest stage in advertising. They brought the contest back this year and the winning spot stood out for its simplicity—it was one of the best paced spots of the whole broadcast. Probably because amateurs aren’t thinking about how much each second costs, they’re just trying to make a spot that lands.
Good Ideas
I’m not sure the ads were amazing, but a shout-out to a few that had interesting executional IDEAS behind them.
🧻 Angel Soft’s dead simple ad encouraging you to go poop.
🚀 The “let’s all sing together” Rocket ad was a bit of a cliché, but cutting back to the crowd in the stadium singing the same song was a nice, smart tie-in that I haven’t seen before.
🦥 The Coors Light sloth spot was basically the same joke Zootopia made back in 2016. Their pre-game billboard typo and can-face-roller were more inspired.
✉️ I’m still not sure if Bill Murray handing out his phone number was an ad for Yahoo or what, but it was a nice play on the old story that he doesn’t have an agent and you can just email him if you want him to be in your movie. (Yes, I emailed. Yes “he” emails back…sorta.)
📍 I confess I didn’t clock one of these in San Francisco (maybe I missed it?), but like the idea of Google running 50 local ads in 50 markets.
🏟️ The “we’re back to the game…WAIT THIS IS AN AD!” has been done, but Disney did it well with the Lilo & Stitch promo.
🐝 This cross-promo idea where Tubi turned other SB ads into faux trailers for Tubi movies.
Other observations
🙏🏻 Did somebody think to tell the Jesus people that Depeche Mode wasn’t singing about Jesus when they wrote “Personal Jesus?”
🇺🇸 The “let’s all come together” and “bid for unity” themed spots probably seemed like a better idea a month ago…before the new administration shredded the Constitution.
🐴 Budweiser won the Ad Meter? Huh. I legit thought they ran an old spot. (Maybe because they released it two weeks ago.)
👟 Yes, I thought the Nike spot was fine. But the bar is pretty high for Nike spots. Maybe it’s not fair to grade them on a curve, but I do.
👴 In the battle of “old people can still do things” spots, I liked Michelob Ultra WAY more than the Weathertech spot.
💀 Liquid Death’s spot was less shocking (and a tad less interesting) than most of their usual stuff. Maybe they felt like they had to step back and “introduce” themselves with an older idea, “we’re just water.” (They say it was super effective.)
🍰 I have very mixed feelings about the Hims & Hers GLP-1 ad. Demonizing the “obesity industry”…to hawk the latest miracle drug IN the obesity industry feels like having your cake and eating it too. But it was a well-crafted spot with a strong POV.
🐳 NerdWallet’s beluga might have been the best performance of the night (besides Jalen Hurts.)
😡 There was a rumor going around that there were going to be ads crapping on USAID. I’m REALLY glad that turned out not to be true, because my rage at such propaganda would have swamped any rational discussion of the other spots.
😂 Honestly, this AI-generated fake SB ad might have all the real ones beat.
🥩 I don’t understand much about the Kendrick-Drake beef, but I want to make sure I live my life in such a way that somebody doesn’t use a Super Bowl halftime show to publicly shame me.
⚖️ Did I mention that WE had a regional Super Bowl campaign that aired in New England?! 😉
Watch ALL the 2025 Super Bowl Spots
John Kovacevich is a creative director and the founder of Agency SOS. He writes a weekly email highlighting three bits of creative inspiration for modern marketers. You should subscribe; it’s free and it’s good.
BONUS: Read the story of the Super Bowl spot that I couldn’t sell 15 years ago that still haunts me to this day.
