The Best Super Bowl Ads of All Time and Best of 2026

A Super Bowl ad is one of the most expensive bets a brand can make. With $8 million spent on airtime alone, there is no margin for unclear ideas or forgettable execution. Every second has to work.

This list breaks down the best Super Bowl ads of all time alongside the standout campaigns of 2026, looking at what worked and why those ideas still matter for brands today.

What Makes a Great Super Bowl Ad?

A great Super Bowl ad is a piece of communication that cuts through the noise of one of the most watched events on television and sticks in memory long after the game ends.

The Super Bowl consistently draws well over 120 million viewers in the US alone, with a large global audience as well, more eyes than nearly any other media event.

That audience’s collective focus creates a rare moment where billions of social conversations and media impressions build around the ads themselves, not just the game.

The best Super Bowl ads also travel beyond game day. They spark conversation, replay well on social, and plug into a bigger brand story rather than living as a one-night stunt.

Best 2026 Super Bowl Ads Everyone Is Already Measuring Against

A mix of humor, nostalgia, celebrity cameos, emotional storytelling, and tech themes dominated the conversation this year, with industry commentators and viewers already calling out which ads landed and which didn’t.

Some brands leaned into wit and identity, others tried big creative risks, and a few sparked widespread discussion about where advertising and technology are heading.

What follows are the ads from this year that brands, analysts, and audiences are already using as benchmarks:

1. Anthropic: Claude Ad
2. Google: New Home
3. Bosch: Big Game
4. Levi’s: Behind Every Original
5. Michelob: The ULTRA Instructor

1. Anthropic: Claude Ad 

The ad has fun imagining the near future where your AI assistant suddenly turns into a walking ad break. You ask a simple question and out of nowhere it starts pitching products mid-conversation. It’s awkward, annoying, and very intentional.

There’s a subtle wink at competitors like OpenAI experimenting with ads, but the joke isn’t aggressive. It’s more of a raised eyebrow than a punch.

Results:

Anthropic’s spot drove strong positive sentiment and solid visibility metrics:

• It generated tens of thousands of positive social mentions, with about 25.5% positive sentiment compared with 16.3% for OpenAI’s spot.
• On YouTube, the Claude Super Bowl ad logged over 402,000 views, significantly more than the comparable video for OpenAI released in the same window.
• According to ad engagement tracking, Anthropic’s commercials outperformed OpenAI’s on some key web behavior metrics, including site visits and search interest immediately after airing.

How To Use Competitive Positioning To Define Your Brand

Start by looking at the biggest criticism or tension in your category and lean into it, not to bash competitors, but to clarify what your brand stands for. That means identifying a user concern that matters emotionally and then showing how your product resolves it at a human level instead of listing features.

When a brand owns the narrative before anyone else does, it builds identity through contrast and earns memory through clarity.

2. Google: New Home 

Google told a quiet story about moving into a new home, using everyday moments to show how its products fit naturally into daily life.

The ad followed small, relatable experiences, letting Google Assistant, Maps, and Search appear as background helpers instead of center-stage features.

Results:

The ad ranked among the top-rated Super Bowl spots for emotional impact and brand recall across multiple post-game industry reviews.

Viewers remembered the story and associated that feeling with Google rather than specific features.

That matters because Super Bowl success for brands like Google shows up in favorability and recall lift, not immediate clicks or conversions, and this spot performed strongly on both fronts.

How To Make The Product Feel Inevitable

What I take from this is focus. Google aimed for long-term brand memory instead of short-term attention spikes.

When the audience remembers how the ad made them feel and remembers the brand behind it, the campaign has already done its job. For brands spending at Super Bowl scale, recall and trust tend to outperform hype every time.

3. Bosch: Big Game 

Bosch’s Super Bowl spot stars celebrity chef Guy Fieri in a surprising way: he starts off as a clean-cut, ordinary guy and then transforms back into his familiar persona when he uses Bosch products.

The ad plays with that contrast to show how Bosch tools and appliances make people feel more confident, capable, and energetic, tying everyday tasks to a fun moment of transformation.

Results:

Industry grading panels that evaluate marketing effectiveness gave Bosch’s ad an “A” rating among all 2026 Super Bowl commercials, highlighting it as one of the most successful in terms of clarity and engagement.

How To Make Engineering Feel Emotional

If you take something away from this, let it be this rule: when your product category feels dry or technical, tie it to a human feeling that’s universally understood, like confidence, pride, capability, and illustrate that feeling in a simple, memorable transformation.

Bosch turned its engineering credibility into an emotional trigger without ever needing a list of features.

4. Levi’s: Behind Every Original 

Levi's spot was shot almost entirely from behind its subjects’ backsides, deliberately using the iconic look of their jeans to tell stories of cultural influence and identity.

Every frame features well-known figures like ROSÉ, Doechii, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Questlove, and Stefanie Giesinger, walking, dancing, living, and expressing themselves in Levi’s denim.

The soundtrack is James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing,” giving the piece energy and rhythm as it ties past and present cultural expression together.

Results:

Industry reaction to Behind Every Original has been strongly positive, with several outlets citing it as one of the most talked-about or culturally resonant commercials of Super Bowl LX.

Critics and marketing watchers highlighted its bold visual strategy and its celebration of heritage without relying on typical product selling.

How To Use Heritage To Create Relevance Today

Urge brands with a long history to lean into what they own visually and emotionally, not just verbally. Levi’s didn’t tell viewers it stands for originality. Instead, it showed it through the way people move in denim, the way culture feels, and the way icons carry themselves.

That kind of storytelling turns brand equity into cultural currency, which can outlive any specific product rollout or seasonal campaign.

5. Michelob: The ULTRA Instructor 

A young guy named Greg is struggling on the slopes with his friends when a legendary instructor (played by Kurt Russell) takes him under his wing.

We see training montages, wipeouts, triumphs, and camaraderie on the snow, all set to Eye of the Tiger-style energy.

Olympic athletes Chloe Kim and T.J. Oshie appear as onlookers, and the payoff is Greg finally “sticking the landing” after which his friends toast with Michelob Ultra beers at the bar.

Results:

While full official performance figures haven’t been released yet, early industry reaction suggests the ad gained significant buzz for its storytelling and cross-promotion with the Winter Olympics theme.

Analysts noted that the commercial stood out for blending Super Bowl spectacle with a narrative arc rather than a simple gag or celebrity cameo, and it has been part of rankings and discussions of standout 2026 commercials.

How To Position the Brand as the Reward

Focus on associating your brand with an aspirational journey instead of a single moment of consumption. Pick an emotional arc your audience experiences: striving, improving, celebrating, and show your brand as the reward, not the context.

That makes the brand feel like part of a memory people want to replay rather than just something they saw during a game.

10 All-Time Best Super Bowl Ads

Across decades of Big Game advertising, only a handful of commercials have truly earned their place in pop culture.

These are the ads people still talk about years later, the ones that changed expectations of what a commercial can do and became shorthand for creativity, emotion, or cultural impact.

1. Coca-Cola: Hey Kid, Catch! (1980)
2. Apple: 1984 (1984)
3. Pepsi: Cindy Crawford (1992)
4. Nike: Hare Jordan (1993)
5. Snickers: Betty White (2010)
6. Chrysler and Bob Dylan: America’s Import (2014)
7. Amazon: Alexa Loses Her Voice (2018)
8. Dunkin’: Drive-Thru ft. Ben Affleck (2023)
9. Uber Eats' Don't Forget (2024)
10. Budweiser: First Delivery (2025)

1. Coca-Cola: Hey Kid, Catch! (1980)

What stands out to me every time I revisit this ad is how comfortable it feels doing very little. It centers on a small, human moment between a kid and a football icon and lets that interaction carry the entire message.

Coca-Cola never pushes itself forward, and that confidence makes the brand feel like a natural part of the scene more than something being sold.

Jesse Brede, CEO of Lion’s Share Digital highlights how tapping into nostalgia and human connection can lead to lasting brand impact: “The Super Bowl ads with the most lasting impact often trigger childhood memories and remind us of our humanity.”

How To Create Emotional Recall Without Explaining the Product

To apply this now, you should identify moments your audience already understands and cares about, then design creative that fits inside those moments without narration or justification.

That could be shared rituals, everyday interactions, or small wins people recognize instantly.

That is how emotional recall forms and why this approach still outperforms louder, more descriptive campaigns today.

2. Apple: 1984 (1984)

When I look at this ad, what strikes me is how unapologetic it feels. Apple didn’t try to be liked, relatable, or reassuring. It picked a side and made a statement about control, conformity, and rebellion, then trusted viewers to connect the dots.

Even now, it feels bold because it assumes the audience is paying attention and does not need the message spelled out.

How To Anchor a Brand Around a Belief Instead of a Feature Set

The main move here was showing what Apple stood against before talking about what it sold. That made the brand feel meaningful before the product even entered the conversation.

If I were applying this now, I would start by clearly defining what my brand does differently from the rest of the category. That could mean rejecting common industry habits, outdated ways of doing business, or the dominant players everyone already knows.

Once that difference is clear, messaging becomes simpler because every campaign points back to the same idea. Products change over time, but a clear point of view gives the brand something people can remember and align with.

3. Pepsi: Cindy Crawford (1992)

Pepsi leaned into pop culture, celebrity, and aspiration without pretending it was anything deeper.

Cindy Crawford stepping out of a red sports car and casually grabbing a Pepsi turned the brand into a symbol of cool without overthinking the message.

How To Own the Cultural Moment You Are Buying Into

The strategic move here was using a highly visible moment to lock in a specific brand image.

Looking from today’s lens, I would focus less on chasing whatever culture feels popular and more on choosing signals that reinforce the same identity across time.

That means selecting partners, visuals, and cultural references that all point in one direction and committing to them beyond a single campaign.

When a brand repeats the same signals consistently, recognition builds faster and confusion disappears.

4. Nike: Hare Jordan (1993)

What I enjoy about this ad is how naturally it blends worlds that should not work together. Michael Jordan represents peak performance and seriousness, while Bugs Bunny brings chaos and humor, yet the pairing feels effortless.

Nike trusted the audience to enjoy the contrast instead of overexplaining the joke, which gives the whole spot an easy confidence.

How To Use Contrast To Scale Reach Without Repositioning

Nike used contrast to pull new audiences in while keeping its core promise intact. Jordan remained the best athlete in the room, even when standing next to a cartoon.

If I were applying this today, I would think about how to introduce an unexpected element that expands reach while protecting authority.

That could mean pairing a serious B2B product with an entertainment format, or placing a premium brand inside a playful cultural space without changing its tone.

5. Snickers: Betty White (2010)

I still think this ad works because it starts with a feeling everyone recognizes.

That low-energy frustration where everything annoys you and you are not operating at your best.

Casting Betty White only amplified the point, but the humor works because the insight comes first.

How To Turn an Insight Into a Platform

The smart move here was turning a single insight into a repeatable idea. Snickers treated hunger as a problem people live with daily and built a platform around it.

The easy way to recreate this is to identify one specific problem your audience experiences often and describe it in simple language.

Once that problem is clear, creative execution becomes flexible. Different characters, formats, and channels can all express the same idea without losing meaning.

And when people recognize themselves in the insight, they remember the brand long after the ad ends.

6. Chrysler and Bob Dylan: America’s Import (2014)

The ad shows Bob Dylan talking while you see American factories and workers. He says America has always taken ideas from other places and turned them into something its own. At the end, Chrysler calls itself “America’s Import.”

What this means is simple. Chrysler was owned by a foreign company at the time, and people questioned whether it was still an American brand.

Instead of avoiding that issue, the ad says being influenced by the outside world is exactly what makes America American.

Chrysler is saying, “Yes, we are owned by a foreign company, and that does not make us less American.”

How To Take Control of a Negative Narrative

Instead of ignoring difficult conversations or trying to dodge them, you should address them directly and change the framing.

Start by identifying the criticism people already associate with your brand. Then, define it on your terms before competitors or commentators do.

That means explaining the issue clearly and confidently, without apology, and showing why it does not weaken your brand’s value.

7. Amazon: Alexa Loses Her Voice (2018)

The entire premise is that Alexa suddenly cannot speak, which should be a nightmare scenario for a voice assistant brand.

Instead of avoiding that weakness, Amazon leaned into it and built the whole ad around the chaos that follows when humans try to replace her.

The celebrity cameos are exaggerated and ridiculous on purpose, and that contrast makes Alexa’s usefulness obvious without ever listing features.

Why Turning Product Failure Into the Joke Works for Brands

Amazon showed it was comfortable enough with its market position to joke about failure, which made the brand feel secure and dominant rather than defensive.

If you want to mirror this, look at the one limitation or frustration customers already joke about and design creative that acknowledges it openly.

That could mean poking fun at overcomplicated setups, user errors, or edge cases where the product struggles. When a brand names the problem first, it disarms criticism and builds trust.

8. Dunkin’: Drive-Thru ft. Ben Affleck (2023)

What grabbed me about this ad was how little it felt like an ad. It plays out like a real, slightly awkward moment of Ben Affleck working a Dunkin’ drive-thru, leaning into the jokes people already made about him and the brand.

The smart part is how closely the scenario matches the brand’s reality. Dunkin’ is built around everyday routines, quick stops, and familiarity, and the drive-thru setting reinforces that without saying a word.

Affleck works because he feels like a regular customer who somehow ended up behind the counter and not a polished influencer delivering lines.

Why Leaning Into What People Already Believe About Your Brand Works

The strategic move here was embracing existing perception instead of fighting it. Dunkin’ knew how people already saw the brand and the celebrity and built the creative around that shared understanding.

Now, if I was in your place and wanted to achieve similar results, I would start by mapping the jokes, memes, and assumptions people already make about my brand, then choose the ones that align with how I want the brand to be remembered.

Using those perceptions as creative fuel shortens the distance between the ad and the audience.

9. Uber Eats' Don't Forget (2024)

What’s happening in the ad is deliberately simple and a little absurd. Uber Eats builds the entire commercial around the idea that people forget things all the time, then pushes that logic to extremes.

Celebrities show up forgetting obvious, important details, and the joke keeps escalating while the message stays the same.

If people forget essentials, it makes sense they might forget food too.

How To Own a Common Human Habit

Start by identifying a small moment where people routinely slip up or cut corners, not a big lifestyle aspiration.

Then, exaggerate that behavior in creative so it becomes easy to remember. The goal is to make the brand the automatic response when that moment happens in real life.

This works because when the situation repeats, the brand surfaces without effort.

Uber Eats positioned itself as the default solution to everyday forgetfulness, which is far more powerful than explaining why the product is better.

10. Budweiser: First Delivery (2025)

The story follows August Busch Jr. as he makes the very first Budweiser delivery by horse-drawn wagon, traveling from the brewery to a local tavern.

Along the way, people watch, follow, and celebrate the moment because it represents the birth of something bigger.

By the time the delivery arrives, Budweiser is framed as part of American history rather than just a product.

How To Use Your Origin Story To Build Authority

Look at what your brand can credibly claim through experience rather than messaging. That could be years in the market, first-mover status, or a defining moment that shaped the business.

The important thing here is showing history through action and visuals instead of explaining it in copy.

When a brand can demonstrate where it came from and why that matters, it builds trust faster than any feature list ever could.

Takeaways from The Best Super Bowl Ads

From the classics to the newest spots, the ads that stick with viewers share patterns that brands can actually use. These are repeatable principles supported by data and decades of behavior around Super Bowl advertising.

1. Great ads tell one clear story people remember
2. Emotional connection beats feature lists
3. Simplicity scales better than complexity
4. Cultural relevance multiplies impact
5. Authenticity beats superficial spectacle

1. Great Ads Tell One Clear Story People Remember

Comedy, emotion, nostalgia, empowerment, the actual genre doesn’t matter as much as clarity. Ads that focus on one idea consistently outperform those trying to do several things at once.

Human psychology research by Harvard shows that clear stories travel further than clever explanations because they reduce cognitive friction and make recall easier.

2. Emotional Connection Beats Feature Lists

Whether it’s warm feelings, relatable frustration, or inspirational moments, emotional hooks are the strongest drivers of recall and brand affinity.

Ads that make people feel something: joy, nostalgia, pride, humor, build memory better than ads that emphasize specs or benefits.

3. Simplicity Scales Better Than Complexity

A good Super Bowl ad does not cram every feature, product line, or message into one 30 seconds.

Successful ads strip the idea back to one simple, memorable truth that can be understood instantly by millions of people watching at once. Clarity elevates recall more than complexity ever can.

4. Cultural Relevance Multiplies Impact

Ads that tap into shared cultural references or current conversation topics travel faster through social channels and earned media.

Cultural alignment means being relevant in the moment while still being true to the brand’s identity.

5. Authenticity Beats Superficial Spectacle

Viewers can spot forced cultural references or hollow attempts to be funny.

The ads that stick are rooted in something genuine about the brand or the human condition, whether it’s confidence, aspirations, or relatable flaws.

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Best Super Bowl Ads FAQs

1. Why do brands spend so much on Super Bowl ads?

Super Bowl commercials cost millions because the event attracts massive audiences, routinely over 120 million US viewers and millions more globally, giving brands unmatched reach in a shared cultural moment. That visibility can boost brand awareness and recall far more than typical TV ads.

2. Do Super Bowl ads actually work for brands?

Yes, results shows that Super Bowl spots can significantly increase brand recall, engagement, and even household purchase volume for established brands. In some cases, ads have driven notable revenue gains, though results vary by category and competitive context.

3. How much does a Super Bowl ad cost?

A 30-second Super Bowl commercial regularly sells for around $7-8 million or more just for airtime, not including production, talent, and follow-up campaign costs.

4. What makes a Super Bowl ad memorable?

Memorable ads usually tell a simple story, connect emotionally with large audiences, and link the idea clearly to the brand. Humor, nostalgia, and cultural resonance help make them stick in people’s minds well beyond the game itself.

5. Is celebrity the key to a great Super Bowl ad?

Not necessarily. Celebrities can grab attention, but the most effective ads use them in service of a clear idea and brand message. If the celebrity overshadows the brand or the concept isn’t tied to the product, the impact diminishes.