Welcome to my annual review of Super Bowl ads. I wonder what kind of scrambling went on after the US Presidential Election. I watch the ads, but not the game, to spot trends. I watch for trends throughout the year, but every Super Bowl becomes an opportunity to see what is on advertisers’ minds at the same time. I’m writing this intro before the game and before I’ve seen the ads, but I already know I will be watching for oligarchs versus rednecks, even though they may be on the same side; form versus function, because appearances seem to matter more than practicality and pragmatism; and how many businesses will try to dodge populist politics versus jumping onto bandwagons. And yet, it is probably the same suite of corporations: cars, beer, sports, escapist movies, perfume, travel, and personal finance. The practice is interesting sociologically, but also is a hint of investment sentiment. Will AI be as prevalent as the Internet was when we capitalized it? How about American-made? Stay tuned. It takes a long time to watch dozens of ads. I expect a beverage may be required, and I’d be startled to see a local microbrew advertising what I choose to drink.

I feel like I should open a beer, crank up some country rock, and wave a flag to get in the mood. Nah. This is always an odd enough experience already.

I miss AdBlitz. It compiled an exhaustive list in previous years. 

From https://www.superbowl-ads.com/category/video/2025_ads/

• Universal – Escape to a theme park that is kind of like a movie, so escape to an escape.
• Doritos – Aliens want our salty snacks.
• Greatness – MAGA? Jesus? 
• Meta – Celebrities eat art, and Meta does what?
• Meta Ray-Ban – Stupid celebrities?
• Bosch – Machismo is back.
• Ritz – Celebrity freaks?
• Pfizer – Drug ads cause anxieties through fear. Skip.
• Michelob – Celebrities win at pickle ball.
• TurboTax – Weird backwards driving is okay, and she ends up in luxury.

Except for the ad for Jesus, machismo, celebrity, and escapism is back. Oh, and celebrities are better than any of us.

• T-Mobile – Starlink/Musk – I’m sure this has been developing for years. Sorry, T-Mobile.
• Homes.com – Best? But at what?
• Marvel – More escapism.
• Dunkin Donuts – Celebrities that are anti-Starbucks more than they’re for something.
• DoorDash – More celebrities.
• Ram Trucks – A celebrity in a truck they don’t need, in ways it can’t be used.
• GoDaddy – Dumb celebrities saved by AI and AR? Sounds like a theme for a new era. Hello, eloi.
• *NerdWallet – Finally, my first laugh thanks to a beluga.
• Skechers – Old celebrities?
• *Lay’s – Potato farmer cuteness, yeah, that worked, I think I’ll have some Kettle Chips. (GF)
• SquareSpace – Break stuff to spread the word?
• *Hate – Well done showing how ridiculous it is. Will it work?
• Little Ceasars – celebrities
• Pringles – celebrities
• HexClad – Something useful. A pan with aliens but celebrity matters more than why use the pan.
• WeatherTech – Still advertising after all these years? More old folks, but at least they show what it does.
• Hellman’s – Harry Met Sally – I’m a fan, but I doubt that mayo can do that.
• Hims – Selling fear.
• Budweiser – Clydesdales – Always a good entry. 
• Bud Light – Guns and beer.
• OpenAI – Progress, and therefore good. Right? Right?

Celebrities, so many celebrities. Are they the only people who matter? Almost three dozen ads so far.

• Google Pixel – AI and a phone help craft resume lies, yet real. Good?
• Cirkul – A celebrity delivers water bottles. But why Cirkul?
• *Mountain Dew – Celebrity and unreal, but at least funny. “None of this makes sense.” And yet, it is closer to a real ad than most of the rest.
• Uber Eats – celebrities
• Coors – Sloths, cool. Mondays?
• Instacart – Quick and relatively clear.
• Rocket – Home, country home. “Everyone deserves their shot at the American Dream.” Unity. Serious question: How real is a home for the viewers?
• Liquid Death – Ugh! What a thing to say!
• Poppi – A new kind of soda. Not bad.
• Taco Bell – Anti-celebrity makes a point, with a celebrity.
• Nike – “So win.” Good and simple.
• Salesforce – celebrities commenting on AI?
• NFL – “It Takes All of Us”

My winners

• NerdWallet – I enjoyed the humor, and the idea that even belugas have figured out personal finance.
• Lay’s – It may be a revelation to some that potato chips come from something that grows in the ground.
• Hate – Really anti-hate, but if they’d started with the ending they would’ve lost a lot of folks. Sad that we need an ad like this. Glad someone did it.
• Mountain Dew – As silly as it was, it made more sense than several of them.
• Nike – Concise, simple, strong and actually created an emotion.
• NFL – “It Takes All of Us” as possibly the first NFL ad that I liked because it was about people, not celebrities, not the game. People.

OK. That’s over four dozen ads. I didn’t catch them all, but it’s more than enough for me to notice trends.

I expected more AI. I didn’t expect so many celebrities. Both things are out of touch with regular people. Those who are in the AI world and the celebrity world can believe that their world is everything. They’re missing a lot. One segment of society missing the reality of another segment is not a good sign, especially when it is amplified, displayed, and celebrated as if it was aspirational and normal. Ouch. 

Maybe celebrity is safer than reality, at least for a while. Ironically, I think AI is going to redefine reality, and it is going to happen in ways that are going to be more confusing than these ads.

No change to my investing strategy. Still, an educational exercise every year.

PS I really liked the Harrison Ford piece. I’ve always been impressed by him and his approach to life. And, Jeep was good enough to make it happen and mostly get out of the way. Nicely done. (The ad was posted after this post, which I thought covered enough of them. It did, but this one deserved special treatment, hence, the PS.)