Hello Sellouts

The Super Bowl is the only time I've ever been shushed during an ad break.

Americans take these commercials very seriously!

And so do brands, and for good reason.

After factoring in production costs, talent, and buying the ad slot, Super Bowl ads can cost $500K per second of runtime – about 10 times more expensive than the most expensive film ever made.

That means you can learn a lot from Super Bowl ads…even if you don’t have the same size budget.

This week, I watched and categorized hundreds of ads across the last five years to see if anything has changed and what we can learn.

Yes, hundreds.

 Super Bowl Ads Over The Years

What Hellmann’s Mayo Thinks of 2025

For four years, Hellmann’s Mayo Super Bowl message was "Make Taste, Not Waste", telling thrifty consumers they can make leftovers taste good.

A mix of funny, lightly eco-friendly anti-waste messaging was a bid to win price-sensitive consumers struggling against inflation.

This year, they switched to "It Hits the Spot."

When a brand spends this big on a single advertisement, it tells us a lot about what they (and brands like them) value. 

In this case, Hellmann’s is betting that:

• Inflation-sensitive messaging is tired

• Perceived value quality is the focus

• Nostalgia builds brand connection

The Big Picture

I saw a lot of commentary this year about brands playing it safer with more humor due to the political climate in the US.

During the COVID pandemic, there was a massive spike in "motivational" ads – the kind that tell you to follow your dreams and don't focus on the product itself.

Since 2023, there's been a pretty steady focus on humor in about 75% of ads.

Humor is staying steady, but heartfelt ads – the kind that move you – are experiencing decline.

Contrary to the commentariat’s predictions, social message is on the rise.

Whether that's messaging around patriotism like Harrison Ford's Jeep Ad or empowering women athletes from Nike.

All of these ads have a unifying tone with completely uncontroversial topics.

Brands are clearly steering clear of anything that could be politicized.

What does this mean for you?

1. Humor is your best bet for a general audience ad. We see this repeatedly in the success stories we analyze from True Classic Tees to Dr. Squatch – if an ad is fun to watch, more people watch it.

2. Fewer big brands are reaching out with motivational messages than in the past. This may be a gap that you can exploit to find a messaging gap they're missing.

3. Brands are afraid to alienate audiences in a politically fractured climate. Don't be afraid, figure out who your people are and speak directly to them with the social and motivational messaging that interests them.

While Nike can afford a Super Bowl ad, you can afford something they can't: hyperfocus. It doesn't matter if you might alienate half the audience if it helps you activate your core customer base to grow.

Who Reps Brands?

Nearly 7 in 10 ads relied on somebody famous (compared to only about half in 2021). A sharp decline in the number of ads that used musicians or actors gave way to an increase in athletes/coaches.

Overall, though, the lesson here is that big brands think a recognizable celebrity is key to big audience attention.

But you can't afford Ben Affleck to be in your ads, so what should you do?

1. Using a recognizable and trustworthy representative is a critical advantage in gaining user attention

2. Big brands aren't leveraging influencers who have devoted audiences because they are too small for the big screen

3. Influencers continue to be a great way to get a "celebrity" to represent your brand within cloistered audiences

4. Lacking influencer budgets? Showcase your founder’s story – the success, failures and behind the scenes of running the brand.

Sex Doesn’t Sell?

There were so few suggestive ads that I couldn't include it as a category. That surprised me, probably because I always think of ads like Cindy Crawford drinking Pepsi or Kim K selling Skechers.

But those kinds of ads seem to have really declined after the 2010s. We do have a handful of suggestive ads across the last five years, but very few.

Maybe brands have realized that in a big family broadcast, audiences just aren’t as open to provocative material.

Or perhaps they recognize the diversity of viewers and worry that leaning too hard into “sex sells” could alienate large segments of the population.

Either way, it’s clear that the playbook for Super Bowl advertising has evolved and steamy content is no longer front and center.

Sorry, Kim.

What’s The Multi-Million-Dollar formula?

There are some common elements in advertising and especially in Super Bowl advertising. That's:

• Old folks (65+)

• Children

• Animals

• Depictions of sports

• Ads based around singing or original music

• Ads that tie in with an existing TV show or movie

This year, we had a big spike for movie/TV tie-ins and a decline of every other type of attention-grabber.

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of this, if you have some ideas, email me!

 The Sellout Takeaway

So What Did We Learn?

In 2025, there were lots of other interesting tidbits, like a massive spike in nostalgic 20th century music, the death of crypto advertising or a heavy emphasis on AI. But let’s refocus on what matters to you.

You don’t need to produce a Super Bowl ad to benefit from them.

1. Humor works at keeping attention. If funny ads keep people watching during the game, they’ll reduce skip rates on digital.

2. A recognizable face helps a lot.

3. When you make an ad that works, repurpose and extend its narrative to increase the longevity.

All of this is nice info but let’s face it, we don’t have Super Bowl budgets. That leaves you with a few opportunities for your brand:

1. Find the micro-audiences that will adore your brand and message directly to them. As big ads get more generalized, they have less draw from these kinds of groups.

2. You can be the face of your brand at a much lower cost… because you aren’t speaking to everybody like big brands do.

3. Don’t be afraid to stand out with messaging to a group of consumers you want, even if it might alienate the ones you don’t. Big brands are increasingly afraid to do this, and that helps you.

Until next week,
Luke

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P.P.S. a few notes on the data (everybody's favorite topic). I collected this data by manually watching Super Bowl ads listed on Super Bowl-ads.com, then also hunting down any missing ones on other sources.

Some of these charts show more than 100% of videos, and that's because a commercial can theoretically be both heartfelt and funny, or have both an actor and a singer.