It’s kickoff time.
Super Bowl 59 is here, with The Kansas City Chiefs facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana (Sunday, Feb. 9 on Fox at 6 p.m.).
More importantly, the brands go head-to-head, vying for who can grab the audience’s attention with the splashiest commercials.
This year, there are almost 50 ads that are reportedly around $8 million per 30 seconds of air time.
“There’s the Super Bowl playbook, as we call it,” expert Magda Tomaszewski told The Post.
Tomaszewski, a freelance global brand director who has worked with brands such as Nike and Wallmart, explained that the usual format includes ads focusing on “nostalgia, celebrity, comedy, and often animals.”
Experts all noted that the 2025 ads are playing it safe.
“The Chiefs are going for a repeat, and for a lot of brands, they’re going on repeat,” Peter Bray, Founder and Executive Creative Director at Bray & Co, told The Post.
“It feels like people aren’t so much introducing new characters or ideas – a lot of brands have seen what worked in the past, and are going back to it,” he noted.
Here’s what experts had to say about the key ads of the 2025 Super Bowl.
Hellmann’s
This year’s ad for the mayo brand made a splash by reuniting “When Harry Met Sally” stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal for a recreation of the classic rom com’s iconic diner scene. Sydney Sweeney also made a cameo at the end.
“That’s a good one,” Alison Weissbrot, the Executive Editor of Adweek, told The Post.
“It’s been a fan-adored movie for decades [and it’s] a really iconic scene that everybody knows about.”
Bray said, “What’s impressed me is how Hellmann’s understood their audience, and by introducing Sydney Sweeney [at the end], they’re making Hellmann’s relevant again to a whole new generation.”
Magda disagreed slightly about the Sweeney cameo.
“I think that the brand has done a really amazing job with… pairing such an iconic product to an iconic cultural moment that has resonated across generations. So I really love that,” she said about the spot.
But she added, “The only random bit was Sydney Sweeney appearing at the end. That kind of threw me, because I felt like it was just such an elegant and fun piece of creative, without that added celebrity cameo.”
Uber Eats
Matthew McConaughey, Martha Stewart, and Charlie XCX star in the brand’s 2025 spot.
“Humor remains big, and I’ve been noticing a lot of multigenerational focus,” Elizabeth Sullivan, who has worked in advertising for over a decade and is a managing director at VML Health, told The Post.
As an example, she said, the Hellmann’s ad has Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, “But then they also throw in Sydney Sweeney. So, that there’s that Gen Z element to it. Same thing with Uber Eats – they have Martha Stewart with Charli XCX.”
Weissbrot said that this year’s crop of ads reflects many celebrities who “are sort of time tested.”
“People have loved these celebrities for years, they’ve been in the limelight for a long time, like Martha Stewart. You do have some new faces like Charli XCX. But…it’s a little bit of a safer bet to go with a celebrity that people are familiar with.”
Stella Artois
David Beckham and Matt Damon star as newly discovered “brothers” in this ad for the beverage.
“I thought it was the moment meets the opportunity,” said Bray.
He added, “David Beckham is an incredibly likable person, and Matt Damon is often the butt of a lot of jokes in Hollywood. So, to bring them together as twin brothers was brilliant.”
Bray said that it was a “very strong ad,” because “Beckham is cross-generational. He’s beloved by a lot lot of people. It feels a great match with Stella.”
Tomaszewski said that Beckham and McConaughey (for the Uber Eats ad) are both returning faces, since both stars were also in Big Game ads last year.
“It has been interesting to see the celebrities that are becoming household names across Super Bowl commercials,” she said.
Dunkin’
Ben Affleck, who was in an attention-grabbing ad with his ex-wife, Jennifer Lopez, in last year’s Super Bowl spot for the brand returns. For the 2025 spot, J-Lo is gone, but he’s with his brother, Casey, and “Sucession” star Jeremy Strong, who pokes fun at his notorious “method acting.”
“In terms of celebrity use, the best I’ve seen is Dunkin’. Their use of Ben Affleck last year was brilliant, and what they’re doing this year by introducing Jeremy Strong, they’ve one-upped themselves,” said Bray.
He added, “They’re not bringing Ben in for his acting ability, but for what everyone knows about him outside of being an actor,” he said, referring to Affleck’s habit of getting snapped eating Dunkin’ products in paparazzi photos.
“That’s why it works so well. This year bringing Jeremy who is the ultimate method actor at the moment, and capitalizing on his ‘method’ acting is perfect,” said Bray. “Youre utilizing the [celebrity] personality for who they are.”
Sullivan said that last year’s Dunkin’ spot featuring Affleck was “huge” for the brand. “So bringing that group [of celebrities] back with a little bit of a spin on it…that was smart, and people remember that.”
Tomaszewski agreed. “Bringing back Ben Affleck is a brilliant brand move — he’s become synonymous with Dunkin’, and his connection to the brand feels effortless and authentic,” she said.
“Then you have Jeremy Strong, who leans into his over-the-top reputation with a level of self-awareness that is…Pure comedy gold. It’s hilarious and unexpected, but more importantly, it keeps Dunkin’ firmly in the cultural conversation, proving they know how to tap into the moment.”
Ram
For Ram’s 2025 ad, Glen Powell donned a wig and read a story to his real-life niece and nephew.
“It wasn’t actually that long ago that there were less than 50 percent of ads in the Super Bowl featuring celebrities,” explained Bray. He said it changed around 2019, and the use of celebrities “tends to go up year on year.”
It’s hard to get noticed, and if an ad has a celebrity like “It boy” Powell, it helps them stand out, he said.
Coffee mate
The brand has only released a teaser so far, but they tapped country superstar Shania Twain to star in their spot, and even write and perform a new jingle for it.
“I’m really curious,” said Tomaszewski.
“Bringing on talent like that to see their own take on a jingle or a song is always fun.”
But she added that it can also go “completely downhill.”
“She’s a queen, I’m sure it’ll be fabulous, but I’m definitely curious to see how that pans out.”
HexClad
Pete Davidson and Gordon Ramsay star in the brand’s big game debut, dubbed “Unidentified Frying Object.”
This harkens back to how Sullivan pointed out this year’s ads trending towards a “multigenerational” focus, since Ramsay and Davidson are celebs with vastly different audiences.
“A lot of ads that have two celebrities or more instead of just one spokesperson. I think what we’re seeing is that they’re trying to appeal to multiple generations with one spot,” Sullivan told the Post, which she said gives them “more bang for their buck.”
Häagen-Dazs
Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ludacris all reprise their roles from the “Fast and Furious” movie franchise for the ad for the ice cream.
“I think that it gets people excited,” Sullivan said, referring to the type of ad that reunites actors from a hit franchise.
“I think it’s a good way to be memorable,” she added.
She said that there are two “spectrums” for Super Bowl ads: doing something “super unique that hasn’t been done before, which is hard in advertising because there have been so many different ads over the years. And then the opposite end of the spectrum is like something that is proven – like ‘Fast and Furious.’ Those movies have been hugely successful,” she said.
Tomaszewski said that celebrity casting for a Super Bowl spot should “give fans unexpected, playful, entertaining moments.”
Mountain Dew
This year’s big game spot features the Grammy-winning singer Seal doing a rendition of his song “Kiss From a Rose.” Becky G also stars. For an added element, Seal is transformed into a real seal in the ad.
“I think given the fact that the Super Bowl is an opportunity to reach millions of Americans at one time, it’s a huge reach opportunity for advertisers, but it also means that they have to tread really carefully and try not to rock the boat too much or take a stand that people won’t necessarily agree with,” explained Weissbrot.
“So a lot of the creative that we’re seeing is relying on different tropes and themes that can please everybody….We’re seeing a lot of animals; cute animals.”
Pringles
Adam Brody, James Harden, Nick Offerman and Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid star in this year’s spot for the snack. It’s a humorous ad involving flying mustaches.
Harden is known for his facial hair in the NBA world, while Offerman is known for his facial hair on the hit comedy “Parks and Recreation.” Brody isn’t known for having a mustache, but he did experience a recent career renaissance on Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This.”
“When you look at celebrity casting, there’s a level of intention that should be put behind it and to really nuance the creative and make sure that there’s cultural relevance,” said Tomaszewski.
Totino’s Pizza Rolls
Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson star in this spot for the snack food. The spot also includes children and aliens.
“I think that Totino’s Pizza Roll ad is going to be popular,” said Sullivan.
“I can see that getting a lot of social media buzz. The ad overall is funny.”
She added that it has a multi-generational focus, since it also includes kids at the start.
“And they also focus on the cost per pizza roll, which in today’s economy, with everything being crazy expensive and people struggling at the grocery store, I think it’ll probably make some big impacts there.”
She added that the humor mixed with the relevance – combined with the ad also including a cute alien – will make it “ memorable.”
Bud Light
The 2025 spot for the beer giant stars comedian Shane Gillis and rapper Post Malone.
“It’s very much leaning into the white male drinker that Bud Light obviously has had some issues with in the past, and controversy. So, seeing how they try to rebound from that will be really interesting by tapping into that audience,” said Weissbrot.
She was referring to how, when the brand teamed up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year, this led to a boycott. It all culminated in Kid Rock shooting cans of Bud Light to protest.
“They’re leaning really hard in a particular direction. So I’m really curious to see if that if that works for them,” she said.
Bray agreed. “In terms of an ad where a lot is riding on it for them, Bud Light is very different to their prior year’s efforts — and Bud Light needed a win,” he noted.
Bray explained that looking back on the past few years, Bud Light is an example of how many brands “have been the subject of culture wars in the United States. A lot of brands have realized that, from a commercial perspective, it can be unhelpful to be part of the dialogue.”
“If you’re a brand selling detergent, you want as many households as possible buying detergent. Not just households that have one political view or another.”
But on the flip side, he noted: “We have a saying in advertising that you don’t want people to like you, you want people to love you. And, if you stand for everything, you stand for nothing. So, there is an opportunity for brands who do want to take a stand…. But the reality is, advertising exists for commercial reasons…which is why if you want a successful Super Bowl ad, it’s about playing to everybody, and playing it safe.”
Instacart
The brand makes its big game debut with a spot that includes several icons from grocery brands, such as Mr. Clean, The Pillsbury Doughboy, the Energizer Bunny, and the Old Spice Guy (Isaiah Mustafa).
“I do think the Instacart ad is a possible misfire,” said Bray.
He added that when a brand crams as many celebrities in as possible, it leaves a viewer saying, “What just happened, what did I see?’”
He explained, “You’re so busy celebrity spotting that you miss the impetus of the ad and there’s no storytelling. The Instacart dd is cramming so many different characters – it’s smart but is it memorable?”
Squarespace
“Banshees of Inisherin” and “Saltburn” star Barry Keoghan stars in this year’s spot for the brand.
“In terms of ads where it’s made a real impression on me, my favorte at this stage is Squarespace. With Barry Keoghan and the donkey, I think they created an ad that is close to perfect,” said Bray.
He added that the ad works because, “It’s a beautiful mix of storytelling with lighthearted humor. I think they have something special.”
