2025 Super Bowl Ad Trends

One of our favorite yearly traditions is diving into the Big Game’s ads. This year had powerful, intriguing, and some just flat out weird spots by brands making a big investment in the largest live sports event of the year. Here are the trends we saw in this year’s ads:

1. The Silver Lining

Ads featured more senior talent than previous years, with 41% of ads utilizing seniors, up from 37% in 2023.

2. Superficial Bowl

Brands steered clear of controversy in a fraught social/political environment, with 85% of ads opting for humor over more earnest messaging.

3. Now-stalgia

Multiple advertisers used a mix of nostalgia and newness to capture a broader range of viewers—i.e., Martha and Charli XCX for Uber Eats, Meg Ryan and Sydney Sweeney for Hellmann’s.

4. We Moustache a Question

Why did two separate brands have facial hair flying off the faces of their celebs? Awkward. Fortunately, they rolled with it and activated to embrace it online.

5. Ads We Wanted to DEI For

Representation increased in multiple areas, with feminine expression, body type inclusivity and visual disability representation increasing significantly YoY. However, ethnic diversity decreased across creative.

6. AI in the Limelight

Rather than using AI technology to make ad creative, 2025 saw AI products in the forefront of ads from OpenAI, Google, Meta, GoDaddy—as well as Cirkul who highlighted the use of AI in everyday situations.

7. Stories Over Stars

Ads fueled by star power decreased from 77% in 2023, and 68% in 2024, to 54% in 2025. Instead, advertisers focused on storytelling over celebrity cameos to make their points.

8. Don’t Call it a Comeback

Many major brands known for past Super Bowl ads returned after a multi-year hiatus, including Nike, Go Daddy, Taco Bell, Meta, Jeep, Stella Artois, Little Caesars and Lay’s. We also saw a major drop in first-time advertisers in 2025.

Sources: Ad Age, The Drum

This article is featured in Media Impact Report No. 62. View the full report here.