The Super Bowl is more than just a game that shows the matchup between the best team on the AFC and the best team on the NFC — it’s also the one night a year any of us ever watch commercials anymore. Since the 1970s, the Super Bowl has become a huge night for advertisers, with Coca-Cola, Apple, and Google all spending loads of money and getting huge responses in return.
This year, some companies put their ads online ahead of the game while some are waiting for the element of surprise to take them viral. Tim Calkins, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, told the Associated Press that this year, advertisers are avoiding controversy more than every — particularly after the 2024 presidential election. Now, there are fewer creative risks, the outlet reported.
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“That’s the challenge this year. Everybody wants to be safe, but you also want to be interesting,” Calkins said. “Safe advertising isn’t the advertising you notice or remember.”
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Despite the relative safety of most of the commercials, plenty put enough weight in nostalgia or simple humor to float to the top. Here are the best commercials of the 2025 Super Bowl so far:
When Sally Met Hellmann’s
The ULTRA Hustle with Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara
Ben Affleck returns to Dunkin
Channing Tatum stars in the STōK Bold Big Game ad Featuring Wrexham AFC
Barry Keoghan for Squarespace
Four old ladies for WeatherTech Whatever Comes Your Way
Eugene Levy’s eyebrows for Little Caesars’ Whoa!
Sloths for Coors Light
Seal as a seal for Mountain Dew
Glen Powell as Goldilocks for Ram Trucks
Nate Bargatze and Nate Bargatze and an opera singer for DoorDash
Shaboozey for Nerds
The stars of the “Fast and Furious” franchise for Häagen-Dazs
