The best ads from Super Bowl LX
For all the hype and bluster surrounding the Super Bowl, there really is no event quite like it when it comes to compressing the US national mood. The 60th edition of the NFL’s marquee fixture once again combined sport, spectacle and extremely expensive advertising – each 30-second spot reportedly costing an eye-watering $8 million – reminding us that scale, rather than subtlety, remains de rigueur for the greatest show on turf.
While the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots duked it out for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, CR’s attention was fixed firmly on the breaks in play at Levi’s Stadium. And no, we’re not talking about Bad Bunny’s halftime show. The ads served up during Super Bowl LX’s near four-hour runtime featured plenty of celebrity cameos, CG wizardry and cultural IP resurrected from several decades ago, but few genuine surprises.
So what do this year’s ads tell us about the state of the US in 2026? As ever, quite a lot – though not always intentionally. If previous years leaned into weirdness, nostalgia and escapism, this crop feels even more untethered from everyday reality. We’re deep into maximalism now: familiar faces doing deliberately unfamiliar things, emotional shortcuts dialled up to eleven and technology presented as both punchline and saviour.
As we noted in last year’s round-up, there was a time when Super Bowl ads flirted with overt political commentary or attempted to position brands as moral actors. In 2026, that impulse feels largely spent. Instead, the dominant currencies are recognition, comfort and escapism – big laughs, big feelings and big names, all competing for an audience that has seen everything already and as such has become ultra cynical. (Acknowledging this fact, the good folk at Ralph went so far as to create a bespoke AI tool called SlopBowl, providing users with real-time, ready-to-share hot takes.)
All that being said, there was no shortage of bold, occasionally exhilarating, creativity on show, with several ads either bucking the trend of recent years or cleaving to a tried-and-trusted formula to winning effect. Here are 13 of our favourites from the night.
Xfinity has achieved the remarkable feat of breathing new life into Jurassic Park with the help of original cast members Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, director Taika Waititi, and its own telecoms know-how.
Created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, this slice of unapologetic 90s nostalgia hits all the right notes, recreating several iconic moments from Steven Spielberg’s film while transforming the famously fallible dino theme park into a smooth-running luxury resort. We’re even prepared to forgive the slightly iffy digital de-aging job, with Neill’s character at one point remarking, “that salt scrub made me feel 33 years younger”. Touché, Taika.
Directed by Spike Jonze, this gloriously stupid, retro-styled spot for Instacart distils the brand’s obsessive attention to grocery detail into a slick burst of musical absurdity.
Staged as a disco showdown between Ben Stiller and Benson Boone’s mustachioed light entertainers, the ad turns the humble question of banana ripeness into a full-blown performance set-piece, complete with soaring vocals, showy choreography and a chaotically slapstick finale. “Papa, I did-a the flip!” is a line reading we won’t be forgetting in a hurry.
Another ad with bags of retro charm is this House of Pain-soundtracked effort from Volkswagen, which reimages its ‘Drivers wanted’ campaign as an invitation to a new generation to say ‘yes’ more in life.
Directed by Leigh Powis of ProdCo, it’s a fine example of nostalgia not only done right but with a clear rationale, the original ‘Drivers wanted’ message having been first introduced by VW in the late 90s.
This partnership between Oakley and Meta heralds the dawn of a new era in AI. No, not artificial intelligence – Athletic Intelligence.
Featuring athletes Marshawn Lynch, Akshay Bhatia and Sky Brown alongside filmmaker Spike Lee and YouTuber iShowSpeed, this dynamic two-part spot by Mother LA shows off the capabilities of the supposedly gamechanging ‘performance AI’ glasses in a variety of action-packed sporting scenarios.
Sabrina Carpenter presumably had plenty of offers on the table this year from brands seeking her endorsement, so we only speculate as to her rea$on$ for agreeing to this bizarre Pringles ad.
It sees the pop star build her perfect partner out of the potato-based crisps – known for their moreishness and stackability, if not their romantic qualities. The name ‘Pringleleo’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but as a whole this is a decent stab at humour.
Some A-listers phone it in when it comes to shilling for major brands on big game day. Not Matthew McConaughey, who breaks from his usually earnest, philosophical on-screen persona to royally wind up Bradley Cooper for Uber Eats.
Although fairly route one in terms of execution, this 60-second ad from independent creative group Special US boasts enough self-awareness and star wattage to raise a smile.
The French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard famously said all you need is a girl and a gun to make a movie. According to Budweiser, all you need to make a Super Bowl ad is a horse and an eagle.
Titled American Icons, this simple yet effective spot by BBDO New York cranks up the patriotism – and the Lynyrd Skynyrd – to deliver a gently stirring message of hope and unity. If I were American, I’d probably have a lump in my throat right now.
Following last year’s origin story spoof starring Barry Keoghan, Squarespace have rolled out the (even bigger) big guns this time around. Their hero ad reunites Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone for an operatic cautionary tale about the pain of discovering your first-choice domain has already been taken.
Between the moody monochrome cinematography and the Brutalist island mansion where the actor finds herself trapped in anguish, there’s plenty to admire. According to Stone, the story was inspired by true events, as detailed in two additional films titled The Negotiation and A Message from Emma Stone.
Puns abound in VML’s minute-long Neil Diamond tribute for Hellmann’s, featuring a barely recognisable Andy Samberg as – set your eyes to roll – ‘Meal Diamond’.
With the irresistible charm and infectious karaoke chops of a human Muppet, the onetime SNL star performs a cheeky rendition of Sweet Caroline (or rather, Sweet Sandwich Time) in a busy restaurant while simultaneously squirting mayonnaise onto unsuspecting diners’ plates – including, for some reason, Elle Fanning. So good, so good, so good. Well, yes, actually.
Not so much notable for its creative execution as for the timeliness of its content, this PSA urges Americans living or travelling abroad to register to vote ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and an Uncle Sam-costumed Nick Offerman volunteered their time to spread this important message from the quintessentially English (entirely fictional) village of Dorkington.
Back to musical comedy now courtesy of Manscaped and agency Quality Meats, whose Hair Ballad ad depicts a bunch of freshly shaved furry critters lamenting their fate.
Reminiscent of the Fizzgigs from Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s cult 80s fantasy movie The Dark Crystal, and surprisingly cute given their anatomical provenance, the handcrafted puppets are the brainchildren of production company Can Can Club and directing duo the Perlorian Brothers. The making-of film is well worth a look.
For its Super Bowl debut, Anthropic dropped four ads across the night to emphasise its commitment to keeping Claude an ad-free zone. Created by Mother, each full-length spot opens with a declamatory title (Betrayal, Treachery, etc) and centres on a wholesome everyday scenario that is ultimately spoiled by an awkward brand plug.
Doubling down on Anthropic’s positioning as ‘an AI safety company’, the campaign uses tongue-in-cheek humour well to get its point across. But not everyone is a fan – OpenAI’s Sam Altman took to X to explain, at some length, why Anthropic’s claims are disingenuous. If the next phase of AI is companies openly sniping at one another, it’s hard to see any winners.
For its own Super Bowl pitch, OpenAI also dropped four ads as part of a new campaign titled You Can Just Build Things. The gently rousing 60-second hero film, released alongside three regional spots, equates the company’s latest Codex model with some of the greatest technological breakthroughs in recent human history.
Last but by no means least, Levi’s used their moment in the spotlight to underline their cultural heritage with this cheeky spot by TBWA\Chiat\Day LA. Set to James Brown’s funk classic Get Up Offa That Thing, it features a carousel of denim-clad tushes, including several iconic reverse shots of George Michael, Bruce Springsteen and Woody from Toy Story.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
Polar bears. Queen’s I Want to Break Free. Taika Waititi. All fine on their own terms – but put together: pure advertising poison. The choice, to borrow the title of this ironic(?) spin on the classic Pepsi Challenge, is easy enough: pass.
Yorgos strikes again – albeit with a very different outcome to the above Squarespace spot. Here, the director ropes in his frequent musical collaborator Jerskin Fendrix and DP Robbie Ryan to stage an extravagant dinner party scene, à la The Favourite, for GrubHub.
The ‘twist’: at the head of the table sits George Clooney, who delivers the campaign line with a half-hearted grin and none of his usual gravitas. Considering the talent involved, this feels like the advertising equivalent of a fourth-quarter fumble at the one-yard line.
Charli XCX and Rachel Sennott briefly liven up a lecture in this chaotic ad from prebiotic soda brand Poppi. Granted, CR doesn’t quite fall into the target demographic – but the vibes are decidedly off.
