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Brand Management
As the clock ticked down to :00 this past Sunday, the Super Bowl season ended for most of this year’s 59 advertisers (and hundreds of tag-along brands). But it didn’t have to be that way.
When the NFL extended their season by a week, they created a golden opportunity for marketers - 2 of the year’s biggest PR moments are now within a week of each other. In 2026, the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day even fall on the same day!
3 Super Bowl advertising hot takes before reading all the rankings, which would take all the fun out of it. . .
1. MISATTRIBUTION PROOFING: From an awareness & recall POV, 4 of the ads people around me laughed at had the brand irreplaceably intertwined with the idea (Michael CeraVe, Schwarzenegger StateFarm 'Like a Good Neighbor', Mr. T in Skechers, Hellmans Mayo Cat). While I thought the main point of each was easily missed (making them pure awareness/affinity-builders and likely not much more), I admire brands that make it impossible to leave them out of the retelling, since brand misattribution is where so many funny ads fail. For example, I bet a lot of people will be talking about the funny Christopher Walken impersonation ad and forget it was from BMW.
2. WORKS ANYWAY: There were a few ads I didn't like that I feel may be effective. Popeyes had a convoluted ad, but a clear takeaway - I will remember they now have wings. Starry had a mildly funny analogy ad with an ex-boyfriend (soda), but it did make me curious to try it. Temu had one of the 'worst' ads of the night (and airing it 3 times was torture) but it stuck out for that reason and may have moved mountains on US brand awareness. My point is that we sometimes get so worked up on who won the Super Bowl that we overthink the ads that may drive their marketing objective.
3. NOSTALGIA: 2 very different ads that I thought tugged at the heart effectively were the ads for Wicked and Kennedy. Wicked used music and familiar characters/scenes to drive a sense of nostalgia and excitement for the upcoming film - likely teeing up an avalanche of marketing to follow. Kennedy, who is polarizing as a person, used the ace up his sleeve around family lineage. Politics aside, I thought using JFK's 1960 thematic was a fairly effective approach. I did wonder who his target market is and why he couldn't interject a stronger platform message of his own, but felt it was breakthrough nonetheless. Against this backdrop, I thought the nostalgia Budweiser tried to draw out with the clydesdales for the nth time felt sadly overplayed.
Final thought - with ad costs soaring to $7M this year, I look forward to the analysis around how hard the same investment might have worked for brands on TikTok/Insta or YouTube, but the Super Bowl remains a pretty unique, cultural phenomenon... and with some major PR and retail merchandising upside that armchair ad reviewers often overlook. Definitely a Christmas morning moment to unwrap...love this time of year.
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The worst part of waking up for a Brand Manager leading a ‘legacy brand’ is replaying negative consumer feedback in the mind. Enter Folgers. The brand has been a staple in US households for over 170 years with an iconic jingle and a history of innovation. But with the rise of Starbucks/Nespresso and the demonization of instant coffee, the glory days are long gone. Folgers dropped a new Anthem ad that people are talking about. Why don’t you watch it - and then we’ll talk.
Recently, brand mascots like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben have disappeared - and for good reasons - but they’re emblematic of a much bigger shift, as 5 cultural trends converge. So, are many of America's most well-known mascots on their way out – or might some quick thinking from marketers help them live another day? For many brand managers, hopes of sustaining relevance lies in the balance.
