Despite the dominance of ad-free streaming television, the humble commercial remains supreme. As momentum gathers ahead of America’s gladiatorial Super Bowl, a hefty slice of the business world has its eyes off the ball and on the $US8 million-per-30-second slots that separate the plays.
Super Bowl ads are the A-game of American commercial advertising, pulling together big brands with Hollywood stars and blue-chip budgets. All in pursuit of a fleeting moment which – they hope – will capture the audience’s attention and shift the flow of dollars their way.
TV ads with that much power in 2026 seems almost anachronistic. This is, after all, the era of everything-on-demand and no ad breaks. You have to wonder what the kids, already struggling with the idea of their parents once using rotary-dial telephones, make of all these oldies obsessing about clips that are too long for TikTok?
In truth, these are not really ads; they are commercial cinema. Chanel’s No. 5 The Film (2004), which starred Nicole Kidman and was directed by Baz Luhrmann, redefined how European brands sell their name. Train de Nuit (2009, also for Chanel) reunited Audrey Tautou and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet from Amelie. And Jude Law starred in Dior Homme’s Un Rendez Vous (2009), directed by Guy Ritchie.
So, what does Super Bowl LX – that is, Super Bowl 60 – have in store? Instacart, an American grocery delivery service, has captured the biggest slice of the pre-game buzz with a campaign featuring actor and comedian Ben Stiller and singer-songwriter Benson Boone. Don’t want to wait until Sunday? Here’s a preview.
The client: Instacart
Star factor: Ben Stiller, Benson Boone and director Spike Jonze
Nonsensical, infectious fun, giving shades of Eurovision meets Zoolander. Stiller and Boone play a pair of seemingly past-their-use-by-date 1980s pop stars. The theme? Bananas. Why? Because they are the most-sold item on Instacart. The mind boggles.
The client: Pepsi
Star factor: The iconic “taste test”
A sexy modern update on one of the most successful Pepsi campaigns ever created: the Pepsi Challenge, a blind taste test in which consumers sipped Pepsi and Coca-Cola, and chose the one they preferred. (Pepsi was allegedly the sweeter of the two.)
The client: Squarespace
Star factor: Emma Stone, director Yorgos Lanthimos
Website building company Squarespace has pulled in actress Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos for a haunting black-and-white short film teased with a clip in which Stone’s character is overwhelmed with emotion. The gimmick is not clear yet from the teaser … maybe she’s got no internet on her miserable wet island?
The client: Grubhub
Star factor: Director Yorgos Lanthimos
Really, Yorgos, two ads in one year? Someone might call that greedy. “This February, one food delivery app will finally put their mouth where their money is,” the teaser promises, as the camera tracks across a lavishly laid-out dining table.
The client: Uber Eats
Star factor: Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper and Parker Posey
Go big or go home is the motto here, with not one but four teasers, featuring Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper and Parker Posey, including one in which McConaughey interrogates Sourdough Sam, the official mascot for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
The client: Manscaped
Star factor: A hair-clogged drain
Nobody wants to look at a hair-clogged train, and yet Manscaped – a drop-shipping company that turned itself into one of the biggest men’s grooming brands in the US – is banking on a fairly unattractive clump of follicles, with a creepy pair of eyes, as the teaser to its Super Bowl ad. The jury is out. This one could turn out to be nothing more than a fur ball.
The client: Hellmann’s
Star factor: Andy Samberg, Elle Fanning
When in doubt, go nuts. This ad features Andy Samberg, the beloved star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, perched in a classic American diner, wearing a sequinned jacket and flogging Unilever-owned mayonnaise brand Hellmann’s, while singing a parody of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, in which the lyrics have been mercilessly rewritten. It is a lot to take in at once. The best bit, Samberg’s “Meal Diamond” sequinned jacket.
The client: Budweiser
Star factor: America
Budweiser always plays itself as an American classic. This year is Budweiser’s 150th anniversary, and America’s 250th, so it has dialled up the patriotism, with the company’s Clydesdale horse befriending a bald eagle before the two transform into the mythical flying horse Pegasus. It might get drowned out in this year’s storm of celebrities and stunts but it’s aiming to be the most elegant ad on the day. That is, except for …
The client: Rocket + Redfin
Star factor: Lady Gaga
… this ad, which is so classy it is almost too good for a live sport telecast. (No disrespect.) The newly merged mortgage lender and real estate brokerage supergiant isn’t shooting for a hard brand sell but rather to touch your heart with a gorgeous performance by Lady Gaga, singing the iconic Won’t You Be My Neighbour? from the television series Mister Roger’s Neighbourhood.
The client: Ritz crackers
Star power: Bowen Yang
Nonsensical whimsy with a double entendre thrown in for good measure – “no, you can’t borrow my thongs, and by thongs I mean flip-flops!” You can imagine the execs at Ritz held their breath when star Bowen Yang (and podcast mate Matt Rogers) were hit with some check-your-privilege blowback after criticising US politician Jasmine Crockett’s re-election campaign.
Super Bowl LX – the Seattle Seahawks v the New England Patriots – will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and televised on ESPN via Disney+, Foxtel, Kayo and Fetch TV, and on the Seven Network, on Monday, February 9, from 10.30am AEDT. You can also follow all the action on our live blog on this masthead’s website.
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Michael Idato is the culture editor-at-large of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
