Each year 78Madison gives its two cents on what commercials stood out for the Super Bowl, in this case Super Bowl LIX. If it wasn’t for the fact that we were viewing the Super Bowl for the commercials, it is fair to say that many of us would have turned the game off not long after halftime. What a beat down by the Philadelphia Eagles. Congratulations.
Overall, our team felt there were a lot of good commercials, but that there wasn’t any real over the top winners. Also, was it just us, or did there seem to be an inordinate number of commercials. By our estimation, there were around 110 ads played during the game. At an average cost of $8,000,000 per ad, that’s $880,000,000 in revenue.
So, what were the standouts? Here goes…
ROCKET MORTGAGE – TAKE ME HOME
Brilliant. Rocket Makes Super Bowl History with their “Own the Dream” Ad and live In-Stadium Singalong. The “Own the Dream” integrated marketing campaign during the second quarter of Super Bowl LIX turned into a nationwide singalong, bringing millions of Americans together.
The 60-second ad is a tribute to the meaning of home. Set to a reimagined version of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” it captures everyday Americans returning to the places that matter most – from children playing in backyard sprinklers to veterans reuniting with loved ones. As the final words, “Everyone deserves their shot at the American Dream. Own the Dream.” filled the screen, Rocket delivered a Super Bowl first. The stadium became part of the story. When the broadcast returned to the game, more than 65,000 fans at Caesars Superdome broke into a live singing of John Denver’s anthem. We give the top Super Bowl honor to Rocket Mortgage.
NORVATIS – YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
Does Novartis have your attention? Super Bowl commercials have been breast-obsessed for decades, but an ad from Novartis put the focus on women’s chests in a different light thanks to a novel bait-and-switch approach. “Let’s give breasts the attention they deserve most,” says Hailee Steinfeld in a clip that directed people to yourattentionplease.com, a site that helps women get information about breast cancer screenings. The clip also featured Wanda Sykes, who is a breast cancer survivor.
BUDWEISER, FIRST DELIVERY
This was so good, and so on brand. A genius commercial. Not only is the little horse as a button, but the script is amazing. The little horse puzzled at which fork to take, his little whinny when it goes over the falls. Perfection! The determination to get that missing keg to the bar by the young Clydesdale just makes this commercial AWESOME!! Well done Budweiser.
HELLMANN’S – WHEN SALLY MET HELLMANN’S
This was cute and memorable. Of course, the commercial takes us back to When Harry Met Sally and actually does it justice with co-stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, doing what they do. They were great. The ad calls on Meg to recreate her iconic scene at Katz’s. The “I’ll have what she’s having” moment proves a triumph when she adds a little mayo to her sandwich!
MICHELOB ULTRA – THE ULTRA HUSTLE
Ha. Could this have been Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe’s best roles yet, with cameos alongside NFL legend Randy Moss, Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser and WNBA Champion Sabrina Ionescu in a fun-filled spot that celebrates the joy and spirit of friendly competition.
The 60-second spot follows the iconic pairing of Dafoe and O’Hara – as an unassuming duo who take to the pickleball court and dink, shake-n-bake, and hustle their way to beating the competition and collecting Michelob ULTRA. Well done.
UBER EATS – THE CENTURY OF CRAVING
Uber Eats has so many good teasers it’s hard to fathom how they could pay for all this star talent. Either way, we are definitely behind Matthew McConaughey’s conspiracy theory that football was invented to sell food. In the ad, fans follow McConaughey as he time travels through history to put a food centric spin on just about each piece of the game – beginning in 1876 with the naming of the pigskin, to deciding Buffalo (wings) deserved a team, to naming players after appliances, to Peyton Manning’s Omaha plays (and steaks, to this year’s Big Game being played in Caesar’s Superdome – clearly a stadium named after a salad. The ad also has co-conspirators Martha Stewart, Charli XCX, Kevin Bacon, Greta Gerwig and Sean Evans, Refrigerator Perry. Fun. There were several Uber Eats commercials, and they were all good.
PRINGLES – THE CALL OF THE MUSTACHE
Pringles made a play on its famously mustachioed mascot for the brand’s 2025 Super Bowl commercial and it was memorable. The spot stars actor Adam Brody (“The OC”), who hears a voice telling him to blow into a Pringles can in order to get more chips. What that actually does is summon some of America’s most iconic mustaches: KC Chiefs coach Andy Reid, actor Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) and former NBA MVP James Harden. Viewers get the funny visuals of Reid and Offerman without mustaches, while Harden looks unrecognizable with the rest of his thick beard but no facial hair above his lip. Hanging out with Harden, Offerman ends up with an epic double-stache.
HOMES.COM – WE’RE THE BEST
Clever. Entertaining. Well branded. Creative. The commercial features brand spokesperson Dan Levy who appears alongside co-star Heidi Gardner, with a cameo by Morgan Freeman. They are meeting with their corporate lawyer to work on a marketing campaign to say that “Homes.com is the best home-shopping site,” but their lawyer objects to them making the claim, so they offer creative ways to state their claim. Well done from start to finish.
DUNKIN – DUNKINGS, THE BEAN METHOD
The DunKing is back — and he’s brought some new recruits. The world’s most famous Dunkin’ aficionado, Ben Affleck, stars in a new commercial with younger brother Casey, as well as actor Jeremy Strong. The spot opens to find Ben knocking on Strong’s door as Casey declares, “Jeremy is a method actor. He’s not coming out until he’s ready.” Ben seems confused and asks his brother to explain what that means as he admits he never studied any books. “Look where I’m at,” he says, proudly, to Casey, who is wearing a fuzzy pink bucket hat and orange-tinted sunglasses. “We’re big time now.”
Ben then opens Strong’s dressing room door to find him appearing from inside an oversized Dunkin’ coffee can and covered in a thick, coffee colored glaze with chunks of beans covering his face and body. “What are you doing in there?” Ben asks. Strong replies, “We’re doing a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial, right? I’m just trying to find the character. I think I found a way in. You’re from Boston, I’m from Boston. Dunkin’ is Boston. Boston is Paul Revere. One if by land, two if by sea. Red coats are coming.” Goofy, but memorable.
TOTINO’S PIZZA ROLLS – CHAZMO FINALLY GOES HOME
“Chazmo Finally Goes Home” marks the first Super Bowl ad ever for the frozen pizza category and General Mills’ return to the Big Game after more than a decade. The actors Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson team up as suburban dads and introduced fans to the intergalactic visitor Chazmo. In a humorous and unexpected twist, and with a bag of his beloved Totino’s Pizza Rolls in hand, Chazmo’s heartfelt farewell is abruptly interrupted, leaving Tim and Sam in shock and hilariously scrambling to maintain composure. Robinson and Richardson try to rationalize the gruesome incident to the traumatized children who witness it. “Unfortunately, that’s just a part of life,” Robinson explains as Richardson continues to munch on pizza rolls. The two men then reveal that they are less affected by Chazmo’s death because they didn’t really know him all that well. Funny, and of course, and obvious reference to E.T.
LAYS – LITTLE FARMER
Potatoes come from Idaho. Everybody knows that, right? Not so fast, Spud. This Frito-Lay commercial spotlights a potato farm in Elkton, a small St. Johns County community between St. Augustine and Palatka, Florida. “The Little Farmer” features 5-year-old DeLee Parker and her family’s Parker Produce, which traces its St. Johns County roots back to 1937. The 60-second commercial features a young girl planting a loose potato and carefully tending it as it grows to maturity, when she proudly adds it to the truckload of spuds heading to the potato chip factory. It includes shots of DeLee’s father and grandfather, along with other family members and neighboring farmers. Tugs at the heart.
STELLA ARTOIS – BROTHERS
Matt Damon and David Beckham star as long-lost brothers in the Stella Artois’ 2025 Super Bowl ad. The premise of the commercial can be explained in one line: David Beckham finds out he has a secret American twin named Dave while sharing a beer with his (fake) parents at a pub.
It’s fun, funny, and memorable. The pair bonded over buffalo wings, soccer kicks and Stella Artois during the commercial. As they walk arm in arm, Beckham reveals to Damon that he has a secret to share. “Your brother is a famous soccer player. So how famous are you? Are you like Matt Damon famous?” he asks Beckham, who in turn responds, “Maybe Ben Affleck famous.”
HAAGEN-DAZS – NOT SO FAST, NOT SO FURIOUS
In this ad, Fast & Furious characters Dominic Toretto and Letty Ortiz slow down for a moment of ice cream indulgence, leading to Tej Parker (Ludacris) calling out his crew for taking their time with Häagen-Dazs…Dom and Letty sharing that coastal sunset moment, as it should be.
COORS LIGHT – TIME CAPSULE
Here, Coors Light reteamed with NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a campaign that toys with league rules about players promoting beer. Mahomes appears in an online video about a shoot that is called off after a closer reading of NFL rules. The brand’s solution is to bury the full commercial in a time capsule, an event that will be livestreamed on June 28. Fun. Creative. And not a bad tease for the future.
BUD LIGHT – CUL DE SAC
This Super Bowl commercial features best buddies Post Malone and Shane Gillis enjoying the view from their lawn chairs when a neighbor asks for some help in turning up the vibes at his backyard party. Post and Shane jump into action, launching Bud Lights as party invitations to neighbors on the cul-de-sac as the party starts to heat up. Peyton Manning enters the party in a classic BMOC fit, consisting of jorts and a fanny-pack, as the whole cul-de-sac assembles for a good time where ice-cold Bud Lights are cracking, the meats are smoking, and the vibes are easy.
LITTLE CEASERS – EYEBROW FLY AWAY
The Canadian actor and comedian Eugene Levy (American Pie, Schitt’s Creek) leverages the power of his fulsome eyebrows in this fun campaign for the pizza chain. Truth be told, there seems to be a facial hair face-off between the pizza chain and Pringles this Super Bowl, as celebs get so excited by their snack choices, their moustaches or eyebrows are sent into a frenzy and go awol. This commercial has Levy so transported after chomping into one of the restaurant chain’s bite-sized pizza pockets, his famously bushy brows take off and make mischief around town. The most amusing scenario being when a group of hairy caterpillars mistake the brows for deities.
SLOTHS FOR COORS LIGHT
Coors Light is back in the Super Bowl advertising game with a sloth-based commercial that plays on America’s Monday morning hangover. Waking up the morning after the big game, everybody’s favorite slow-moving animals stand in for fans trying to get anything done on Monday. “The day after the Big Game, it’s easy to feel like a sloth – they perfectly capture that ‘Case of the Mondays’ feeling.”
MOUNTAIN DEW – SEAL
A little freaky to be honest, but funny at the same time. In this SB commercial, Seal takes his namesake to new surreal heights. The 30-second spot features the 15-time Grammy nominee transformed into a literal seal (with a realistic face) who washes up on Baja Beach to serenade Becky G with “Kiss from a Lime,” a Baja Blast-inspired rendition of his Grammy-winning hit “Kiss from a Rose.”
SKETCHERS – MARTHA STEWART
It was so goofy, this ad made everyone in the room laugh. Business mogul Martha Stewart had a pep in her step in a Super Bowl ad for footwear brand Skechers. In the ad, Stewart says the line “drop a beat” as she proceeds to breakdance, showing off her own functionality, and that of the shoes. The 83-year-old ends her dance routine by saying, “And that’s how you glide.” Funny, cute and memorable.
PUBLIX – FIND YOUR FANDOM
OK, this commercial aired a few times pre-game, but what a great feel featuring a song by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. Publix always does a great job with their commercials, and this really didn’t disappoint. Just had the feel of where America is going. Go Publix.