The Super Bowl, an event watched by millions worldwide, is renowned for its showcase of creative and engaging advertisements. These ads, crafted by various brands, aim to capture the vast audience's attention with innovative approaches. Given the significant investment required—ranging from $6.5 million to $7 million for a mere 30-second slot—it's crucial for these brands to not only highlight their products but also to make a lasting impression that builds brand awareness.
This year continues the tradition of strategic brilliance, with brands tapping into the allure of celebrity endorsements to stay relevant and capture viewers' attention.
Here's a look at 5 standout ads from this year's Super Bowl, each demonstrating the creative flair and strategic insight that make them memorable.
Michelob Ultra
Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl campaign features a multitude of stars, including superstar actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara. The Ultra Hustle, as the ad is named, introduces its audience to pickleball game competitions, where the actors take on real athletes with surprising outcomes.
Michelob Ultra’s list of recruited stars for this ad is impressive: from popular actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’ Hara to renowned athletes Randy Moss, Ryan Crouser, and Sabrina Ionescu. But it’s more than the cast that makes this ad stand out: the whole storyline is smart, funny, and captivating.
Based on Michelob’s ‘Play for an Ultra’ campaign, Dafoe and O’Hara start by playing an innocent game of pickleball with a drink of Michelob Ultra as the prize. After their win, they take on more and more games against professional athletes, with the ad escalating to the pair taking part in a professional competition. The storyline is inventive, the taglines are funny, and the ad fits Michelob’s campaign like a glove.
The campaign launches the brand’s new Play for an Ultra platform, reinforcing the brand’s connection to sports by combining humor, a little competition, and the ultimate prize: a Michelob Ultra.
Bosch
We couldn’t leave Bosch’s first Super Bowl commercial out of the 2025 list. Starring world-famous actor Antonio Banderas, a WWE professional that looks oddly familiar, and, of course, the company’s 800 Series refrigerator, Bosch aims to communicate a strong slogan to its audience: “The More You Bosch, The More You Feel Like A Bosch”.
Keeping the ad short and sweet, and creating a bit of a nostalgic feeling about the 80s, Bosch connects humor to its tagline by showing us a professional wrestler that struggles with a pickle jar, only to get help by none other than Antonio Banderas. With this concept, Bosch tries to get a simple and smart message across: the more you use the brand’s products, the better (and more confident) you become.
Uber Eats
Uber Eats is no stranger to Super Bowl ads. The brand’s experience in ad campaigns is showcased this year with popular protagonists, funny dialogue, and the use of a social media trend that’s currently on the rise.
Using small teaser videos, Uber Eats created anticipation for the 60-minute ad without giving away too much. The spots were short and funny, with Martha Stewart and Charli XCX partaking in the popular ‘We listen and we don’t judge’ social media trend. Matthew McConaughey, on the other hand, can be seen in his own teaser channeling a popular NFL persona (hint: think Chicago Bears).
And for the grand finale (yes, the Super Bowl itself), Uber Eats did not disappoint. The teasers hooked the audience in, and the “Century of Cravings” delivered. In a minute-long video that recruited a long list of ultra-famous people, Uber Eats introduces us to Matthew McConaughey, who presents his food-and-sports conspiracy theory: the initial purpose of football was to sell food. Packed with witty wordplay and numerous pop culture references, Uber Eats enforces its image as a fun, culturally relevant brand that taps into pop culture while keeping at the forefront of the audience’s minds.
Stella Artois
Stella Artois opted for a little mystery in this year’s Super Bowl ad. After five years, Stella Artois returns with an ad campaign that creates a light-hearted mystery and builds suspense, starting with a 30-minute ad, where we see David Beckham learning from his parents about The Other David.
Centering around the idea of the football superstar finding out about the existence of a long-lost brother, the campaign, named For Moments Worth More, spotlights the importance of building connections, and the brand’s role in that process.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell’s 2025 commercial seems to have it all: superstars, fan involvement, teasers of what’s to come, and a generous dose of photobombing. Taco Bell opted to collaborate with Doja Cat once again, this time on an ad centering around its fanbase.
The brand collected images of its superfans using Live Más Drive-Thru Cams last December, after it invited its customers to take part with a chance to be featured in the Super Bowl ad. With that, Taco Bell emphasizes and celebrates the importance of its fan base - as they stress in their ad, 'Celebs don't make Taco Bell Taco Bell, fans do'. Taco Bell successfully maintains an image strongly centered around its connection to its customer base, increasing customer loyalty even more.
