The Super Bowl is the biggest night in football, arguably in music, and even more so, it’s the biggest stage for advertisers.
With over 120 million viewers tuning in annually, brands see this as a golden opportunity to make a lasting impact. But the price of entry is steep. A 30-second commercial costs a staggering $7 million, making it one of the most expensive ad placements in the world.
Each year, around 50 brands battle for a slot, crafting bold, emotional, and often humorous ads designed to be even more memorable than the game itself.
Ahead of Sunday’s big game, brands are teasing their ads, activations are emerging, and we’re establishing the marketing moments that will score a touchdown at this year’s Super Bowl.
With the knowledge that around half of Super Bowl viewers are female, Axios reported there is an increase in Super Bowl ads shifting toward health and female-focused messages.
This marks a shift from the past few years when Super Bowl ads typically targeted young men and their vices, like sports betting and crypto investing.
Novartis will make its Super Bowl debut with a 60-second commercial promoting breast cancer awareness featuring mega celebs including Hailee Steinfeld and Wanda Sykes.
WeatherTech’s 60-second ad spot features four older women flirting with other road passengers and spray painting trucks while enjoying a joyride.
Dove is back this year as the only beauty brand advertising during the event. The ad complements the brand's self-esteem project on how body confidence issues prevent girls from playing sports in high school and beyond.
L’Oréal’s NYX is taking a step back from advertising at the big game this year. The NFL banned NYX's Super Bowl commercial featuring Cardi B because it contained innuendos a plumping lip gloss that were deemed unsuitable for broadcast. Instead, the brand is pivoting to a social-first program in partnership with sports-betting app DraftKings, hosting a series of contests where fans can play for free to have a chance to win a share of $60,000 in total prizes.
Could this be the start of a domino effect where brands shift away from big-budget advertising with mega-celebrities, recognizing the ROI that’s driven by niche communities on social?
Although the official Super Bowl ad spots are still dominated by actors and big-time celebrities (for now), influencers have a growing presence surrounding the big game.
Alix Earle is quickly gaining celebrity status having started out on TikTok, and Carls Jr. have chosen her to be the face of theur Super Bowl advertising. The short social ad features Alix promoting Carls Jr.’s post-game hangover burger deal, and is already close to hitting 2M views on Alix’s channel.
This year, brands like Hellmann’s, Instacart, and Abercrombie & Fitch are shifting beyond sponsored influencer social posts to focus on real-life brand activations like exclusive parties and experiential events, and they’re integrating influencers into these strategies.
Digital Brand Architects reported a rise in brands requesting influencers to attend pre-game events rather than just creating social content from the stands. Many influencers, particularly in the food and lifestyle space, are partnering with brands on activations in New Orleans throughout Super Bowl week. For example, Abercrombie is hosting influencers at private brunches and game day events.
This shift reflects a broader industry trend where experiential activations drive higher social media engagement as they create a sense of community. By attending these events, influencers naturally generate additional content, and impressions, and reach beyond contracted posts. As the Super Bowl evolves into a week-long marketing event, brands see greater value in engaging influencers in person, creating more authentic and longstanding social content.
The concept of a content house was born in 2014 when members of an early YouTube collaboration channel, Our Second Life, moved into a home where they could all work together. The concept blew up during the pandemic as TikTok’s rise in popularity created a new demand.
This year, we’re seeing a creator house revival around the Super Bowl.
Rewired Talent is hosting a creator house in New Orleans for Super Bowl weekend, accommodating 10 influencers from various niches, including reality stars and sports creators. Evan Sahr, co-founder of Rewired Talent spoke to Digiday about the activation. He said: “[During the Super Bowl], there’s so many different brands as well as agencies that are trying to captivate and capitalize on this moment. [The house] is almost an easier barrier of entry for some of these brands to get in on the level.”
As our CEO Jenny mentioned above, the NFL have invited 150 creators to stay in creator houses during game weekend, and they’re becoming community hubs. Brands are inviting select community members to go along to enjoy meet and greets, workout classes, and events.
With the big game taking place on Sunday, next week will be all about analyzing the ads that sparked intrigue and action, consuming the content posted by influencers over the weekend, and identifying trends that will shape marketing budgets throughout the rest of 2025.
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