The pattern: This year's Super Bowl ad lineup tilts decisively toward star power and humor over heartstring-pulling narratives, continuing a trend that has reshaped the game's advertising tone in recent years.
- Many confirmed spots feature A-list talent: Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride (State Farm), Adrien Brody (TurboTax), Matthew McConaughey and Bradley Cooper (Uber Eats) among them.
- Comedy dominates creative strategies, from Uber Eats' conspiracy theory premise to State Farm's fictional insurance company setup and Pepsi's playful jab at Coca-Cola's polar bear mascot.
- Budweiser stands as a notable outlier, investing in heritage-driven sentiment with its 150th anniversary spot featuring a Clydesdale foal and bald eagle set to "Free Bird."
Why it matters: The data confirms what this year's creative executions suggest: Funny has won.
- Humorous spots now account for 71% of Super Bowl ads, up from 62% in 2016, per iSpot.
- Heartfelt content has collapsed to 20%, down from 38% in 2018.
This shift reflects confidence that famous faces and humor cut through clutter more reliably than heartfelt emotion. Celebrity appearances plateaued at two-thirds of spots after surging from 40% in 2016, while multi-celebrity spots climbed from 17% to 51%. The creative calculus favors quotable, memeable moments that spread faster on social, extending reach beyond broadcast. Virality could be more necessary to justify ads as production costs climb—not to mention the $8 million cost per 30-second slot.