Super Bowl Ads 2025: The Good, The Bold, and the Hilariously Memorable

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The Super Bowl isn’t just about football anymore. It’s become the biggest advertising event of the year. Every brand competing for airtime knows they need to do more than just promote a product, while every advertiser wants to stand out. The best commercials entertain, surprise, and leave a lasting impression. 

This year’s Super Bowl commercials went beyond the basic sales pitch, with brands using absurd humor, unexpected contrasts, and narratives where the product wasn’t even the main focus. These trends weren’t random—they’re carefully crafted strategies designed to engage audiences and make ads more memorable.

In this article, we’ll use our creative analytical skills to walk you through some of our favorite commercials, break down key trends from Super Bowl 2025 and how brands used them to capture attention in one of the most competitive advertising spaces in the world. Even one of our clients made the list, but you’ll have to stick around to find out who.

Use of Quirky & Whimsical Themes in Ad Narratives

Super Bowl 2025 ads leaned heavily into quirky and whimsical storytelling, using comedy, surreal visuals, and absurd premises to capture attention. A common trend this year was the use of alien encounters to create comedic tension, while others relied on exaggerated, physics-defying visuals to bring everyday objects to life in unexpected ways. These approaches show that audiences respond to the unexpected, and brands are willing to push creative limits to make an impression.

Several brands embraced alien storylines in different ways, each with its own take on extraterrestrial interactions:

• HexClad’s “Out-of-This-World Cooking” – Gordon Ramsay tries to teach aliens how to cook, with humor coming from their complete fascination with human culinary techniques.
• Doritos’ “Invasion” – Aliens land on Earth, but instead of world domination, they are obsessed with Doritos, forcing governments to negotiate snack-sharing treaties.
• Totino’s “Pizza Party Protocol” – A group of scientists believe they are making first contact, only to find out that aliens are already huge fans of Totino’s pizza rolls.
  

These ads not only capitalized on sci-fi themes but also highlighted aliens as fun, curious characters rather than intimidating beings. This approach made them feel more relatable and entertaining for audiences.

Another noticeable trend was the use of surreal, floating body parts associated with hair to create humor:

• Little Caesars’ “Whoa” – Eugene Levy’s eyebrows dramatically detach and fly through the air after he eats a Crazy Puff.
• Pringles’ “The Call of the Mustaches” – Different shaped and sized mustaches detach from a variety of people’s faces to go grab Pringles cans to deliver them to the man (played by Adam Brody) who ran out of them.

Both commercials relied on exaggerated visual effects to turn something as simple as facial hair into a spectacle. The randomness of floating hair and eyebrows made the ads unpredictable and memorable, reinforcing the idea that audiences are drawn to the bizarre. These trends suggest that unexpected, whimsical storytelling is a highly effective way to keep audiences engaged.

Use of Contrasting Elements

One of the most effective ways to grab attention in advertising is through contrast. When two opposing elements—whether they’re personalities, settings, or tones—are placed side by side, they create tension, humor, or an unexpected twist that keeps viewers engaged. This year’s Super Bowl ads leaned into these contrasts, using them to make brand messaging more memorable and entertaining.

Several brands used cultural and personality contrasts to create humor and highlight their products:

• MSC Cruises’ “Lost in Translation” – Orlando Bloom represents polished European luxury, while Drew Barrymore plays an enthusiastic, carefree American tourist. Their back-and-forth interactions contrast refined elegance with spontaneous adventure, showing that MSC Cruises caters to both styles of travel. The exaggerated differences make the ad playful while reinforcing the idea that the cruise line is for everyone.
• Bosch’s “The More You Bosch” – Antonio Banderas embodies European sophistication, demonstrating Bosch products with precision and style. Opposite him, Mark Harley plays a loud, high-energy American handyman, handling the same tools in a chaotic, over-the-top way. We’re proud to call them a client as they highlight their versatility, showing that they’re a brand for both the refined professional and the hands-on problem solver.

Other ads played with physical contrasts to create unexpected and humorous moments:

• Oikos’ “Stronger Together” – In an airport setting, a small, unassuming woman casually picks up a massive, muscular man and carries him across the terminal. The humor comes from the role reversal—viewers expect the man to be the one demonstrating strength, but instead, it’s the woman effortlessly lifting him. This unexpected contrast reinforces Oikos yogurt’s high-protein benefits in a fun and memorable way.

The effectiveness of these contrasts lies in the way they subvert expectations. Instead of relying on straightforward product demonstrations, these ads use juxtaposition to create humor, surprise, and a stronger emotional connection. By challenging assumptions—whether about travel, strength, or expertise—these brands don’t just capture attention; they make their messages more engaging and thought-provoking. This approach suggests that audiences are more likely to engage with advertising when it disrupts their expectations, making contrast not just a visual tool, but a strategic one for stronger brand recall.

Product/Service as a Background Feature of the Ad

One of the biggest highlights in Super Bowl advertising is how brands position their products or services within a commercial. Instead of making the product the main focus, many brands now build their ads around a strong narrative, comedic setup, or emotional moment—allowing the product to blend into the story naturally. This approach makes the ad feel more like entertainment and less like a traditional sales pitch, making audiences more likely to stay engaged.

Several Super Bowl 2025 ads followed this approach, using storytelling as the main driver while keeping the product in the background:

• Stella Artois’ “David & Dave” – The ad focuses on a humorous encounter between David Beckham and Matt Damon, who plays his long-lost American twin. Their playful banter about fame and cultural differences takes center stage, while Stella Artois is subtly featured as the drink they share in the background. The beer is present, but the ad is really about the two celebrities and their contrasting personas.
• Uber Eats’ “A Century of Cravings” – Matthew McConaughey leads a deep-dive conspiracy theory about how football was invented just to sell food. The humor and storytelling drive the commercial, with Uber Eats positioned as the convenient way to satisfy those cravings. Instead of focusing on app features or delivery speed, the ad keeps the product in the background, making it feel like a natural part of the conversation.

By making the product feel secondary to the story, these brands create commercials that people want to watch, share, and talk about. When an ad is genuinely entertaining, audiences absorb the brand message without feeling like they’re being sold something directly. This shift highlights how effective advertising today is less about direct promotion and more about making an emotional or comedic connection.

Alison.ai for Deep & Insightful Creative Analysis

At Alison Ai, we know that a great Super Bowl ad isn’t just about high production value and celebrity cameos—it’s about results. Once the game is over, brands need to understand what worked, what didn’t, how to improve future campaigns, and further connect with their audiences. That’s where we come in.

With over 2 million creatives analyzed, 250 million features identified, and 10 billion tags processed, our AI-powered platform delivers creative intelligence that breaks down every element of an ad’s performance. Instead of relying on guesswork, our creative analytics provide real-time insights backed by deep machine learning.

• Comprehensive Creative Performance Insights – Track engagement, spot creative fatigue, and compare ad spend vs. actual performance.
• Smarter Creative Strategy – Use user behavior analytics to identify trends across platforms and regions, refining visuals, messaging, and targeting.
• Alison’s Picks for Optimization – Instantly know which elements to replace or modify to improve impact.
• Proactive Creative Updates – Detect when engagement starts to drop and refresh ads before performance declines.

Super Bowl ads set the tone for creative marketing trends each year. With Alison Ai, brands don’t have to guess what works—they can analyze, adapt, and optimize with creative intelligence that turns bold ideas into high-performing campaigns.

Rethinking What Makes Ads Work

Super Bowl 2025 ads proved that the most effective commercials aren’t just about selling—they’re about creating an experience. Whether through humor, contrast, or subtle branding, advertisers are finding new ways to connect with audiences in a crowded media landscape. Understanding what makes an ad truly effective requires looking beyond surface-level creativity. The real question is: How do you move beyond simply watching great ads to truly understanding what makes them work?

Book a Demo Today to find out more.