By: Sadie Maeda
The cost of a Super Bowl ad is not what determines whether it works. The fundamentals do.
This year, a 30-second spot cost brands roughly $8–10 million before production, talent, and amplification. That number alone says everything about the pressure. This is the biggest stage in advertising. The most expensive airtime in the world. The one moment where brands have the full attention of more than 100 million people.
And yet, by Monday morning, most of the ads are already forgotten.
This year’s Super Bowl made one thing very clear.
Budget does not create clarity.
Celebrity does not create strategy.
Volume does not create impact.
Some of the most expensive ads of the night were also the easiest to forget. The ones people actually talked about were almost always simpler, clearer, and more intentional.
So instead of publishing another “best and worst” list, we asked the Riot team a different question: what actually made you stop and pay attention and what completely missed?
No rankings. No awards. Just honest reactions from people who spend their days thinking about creative, storytelling, and brand clarity. Here is what came out of Riot’s Super Bowl debrief.
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#1 The ads that worked felt simple and intentional.
In a night known for big budgets and bigger personalities, the ads that landed most consistently with our team were often the most straightforward.
Not louder. Not more chaotic. Just clearer.
A clear winner? Coinbase. Mackenzie, Head Designer at Riot, summed it up best: “There was a shortage of simple ads this year. A lot of people were trying to focus on unity, celebrity cameos, and catchy tunes. The Coinbase karaoke spot did all of that in a surprising and fun way without overcomplicating it.”
That Coinbase ad came up repeatedly across the team. A basement full of millennials singing Backstreet Boys was not a complex concept. It was nostalgic, clear, and easy to follow. The message was simple. Everyone can get into crypto. The execution stayed focused on that idea.
Our takeaway: Simple is harder than loud. But it’s what people remember.
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#2 Humor worked when it had a purpose.
Funny ads always show up during the Super Bowl. Not all of them land.
Kyle, Designer at Riot, pointed to the Novartis “Tight End” prostate cancer screening ad as one that worked because it balanced humor with a clear objective: “It was one of the only ads that truly made me laugh out loud, but it also raised awareness around prostate cancer screening. I didn’t know it was 1 in 8 men until after seeing the commercial.”
The humor made the message approachable, but the message itself stayed clear. The goal was to get more men screened. The product was a PSA blood test. The audience was obvious. The tone made a serious topic easier to engage with.
Justin, Designer and Brand Strategist at Riot, called out Instacart’s banana ad for a similar reason: “Plain and simple, the humor worked. Everything feels so intense and serious these days, so it was a nice change of pace to watch something funny and lighthearted. The whole room was laughing and we all wanted to watch it again.”
Our takeaway: People remember why they laughed more than what made them laugh.
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#3 Celebrity for the sake of celebrity didn’t land.
Celebrity appearances were everywhere. Some worked. Many did not.
Celebrities can create attention. It cannot replace a clear idea. Without a strong concept underneath, even the most recognizable face does not carry the message far enough.
Kyle felt State Farm’s spot was a missed opportunity despite strong talent: “They had the potential with Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride, but it just fell flat. I would have taken a less is more approach and let them carry the dialogue instead of trying so hard to be funny.”
Our takeaway: If the celebrity is the takeaway and not the brand, the brand paid a lot of money to be forgotten.
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#4 AI showed up everywhere, but not always well.
AI showed up across categories this year. Tech companies, beverage brands, and entertainment platforms all leaned into it in different ways. It was one of the most noticeable themes and it also generated some of the strongest reactions.
Mackenzie called out Xfinity’s de-aging heavy Jurassic Park themed ad: “None of us need AI de-aging to remember these actors or these roles.”
There were exceptions. Cailun noted that the Amazon Ring dog finder commercial was one of the better uses of AI this year because it actually supported the story instead of replacing it.
One of the most talked about internally was the SVEDKA “Dance Your Bots Off” commercial. The concept leaned heavily into AI-generated visuals and a futuristic party atmosphere, but the execution left our team questioning the strategy behind it.
Justin, Designer and Brand Strategist at Riot, put it plainly: “AI has proven to be a powerful tool when the right prompts are used. This commercial could definitely use a stronger story and be a little more polished. If the bots are living inside the computer, it would make more sense for the entire world of the ad to follow that logic. Instead it just felt disjointed.”
David from our LVRY team had a similar reaction, “This felt like an ad that only dilutes the brand name by characterizing it as a sub-prime, inhuman and comedic brand without fully committing to value or a certain vibrant lifestyle, at least for humans.”
Our takeaway: Technology alone does not make an ad interesting. It only amplifies what is already there.
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The biggest issue: unclear messaging across the board.
The most consistent comment across our team had nothing to do with budget, celebrity, or production value. It came down to one thing: clarity.
A lot of ads looked incredible. Some were beautifully shot. Others were ambitious and visually impressive. But if you could not explain what the ad was for within seconds of it ending, none of that mattered.
Our takeaway: Super Bowl ads are just a magnified version of everyday marketing. If the message isn’t clear, scale doesn’t help.
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Super Bowl ads are often treated like their own category of marketing. In reality, they expose the same challenges brands face every day, just at a higher cost and higher visibility.
Spending more does not fix weak positioning.
Louder does not mean more effective.
Scale does not replace clarity.
Whether a brand is spending eight million dollars on a national broadcast or building a campaign with a much smaller budget, the same fundamentals apply. A clear message. A strong idea. A real reason for someone to care.
