Super Bowl Updates—the 1980s Are Calling, But Will Gen Z Listen?

Ad Age is counting down to Super Bowl LIX. In the weeks leading up to the game, which will air on Fox on Feb. 9, Ad Age will bring you breaking news, analysis and first looks at the high-stakes Big Game commercials—all in our Super Bowl newsletter. Sign up right here to get them via email.

Rom-com rewind 

With 17 days till game day, we are starting to get a better feel for what brands have planned—and to no one’s surprise, there will be plenty of celebrities and laughs (or at least attempts at humor). Nostalgia continues to fuel a lot of year-round marketing and the Super Bowl will be no different. Hellmann’s is poised to take viewers back to 1989—the Unilever brand today released a teaser with plenty of clues suggesting a “When Harry Met Sally…”-themed spot that seems likely to include the hit movie’s actors Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Our question: Does Gen Z know anything about this movie?

In another throwback, Drew Barrymore tries to sing Madonna’s “Holiday” (released in 1983) in a video from MSC Cruises, which teased its first Super Bowl ad that will also star Orlando Bloom. Bud Light is going back to the Post Malone well, with the singer poised to appear in his fourth Big Game ad for the brand, whose teaser also includes comedian Shane Gillis. Its Anheuser-Busch InBev sibling brand Stella Artois, meanwhile, has tapped David Beckham (who was in Uber Eats’ Super Bowl ad last year) for an ad about a twin brother he never knew about.

We also got clues from Instacart (it is borrowing the Old Spice Guy); Taco Bell (Doja Cat is photobombing consumers at a drive-thru); and GoDaddy (actor Walton Goggins will plug its AI-powered Airo software).

For more details on these teasers, and to watch them, check out Ad Age’s Creativity’s daily roundups and sign up for the Creativity Weekly newsletter.

The slow lane

Here is one thing the game will lack—automotive ads. Stellantis is the only automaker confirming ad buys this year. Today it announced Ram would join its Big Game lineup, along with Jeep. A host of other auto brands say they are sitting it out, including Kia, which had been among the most consistent auto advertisers in the game. Toyota, an NFL sponsor and a regular Big Game advertiser, is also on the sidelines. But it will have a presence at the NFL’s Super Bowl Experience in New Orleans with an exhibition that lets fans “ride shotgun” with NFL stars via an augmented reality experience.

Ram becomes the 36th brand to confirm a national in-game ad buy, meaning more than half of the expected commercial inventory is now accounted for. Meta also jumped in this week, confirming an ad promoting its Ray-Ban smart glasses starring actors Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt. 

To keep track of all the advertisers running national spots in the game, bookmark Ad Age’s regularly updated Super Bowl ad chart.

Bite-sized

We already knew the game would have a pizza rolls ad (Totino’s) and this week we found out an actual pizza brand is in, too—Little Caesars. Except the Detroit-based chain is not advertising full-sized pizza, instead focusing on its Crazy Puffs, pizza dough cups filled with sauce and cheese or pepperoni and topped with garlic butter. With more than 12 million pizzas typically ordered on Super Bowl Sunday, pizza brands tend to focus on pre-game marketing. Last year, for instance, Domino’s promoted a meal deal priced at $19.89—a nod to Taylor Swift’s 2014 album “1989.”

Get behind-the-scenes details from Big Game advertisers at Ad Age’s live-streamed Super Bowl Playbook event on Feb. 4. Register and learn more at AdAge.com/SuperBowl2025.

Who’s winning so far?

Increasingly, the key to Super Bowl marketing is winning on social media—and by that score, Doritos has the early lead. The PepsiCo brand, which is bringing back its “Crash the Super Bowl” contest for the first time since 2016, was the most talked about Super Bowl 2025 advertiser as of Jan. 21 earning 1,709 mentions and 23,189 engagements (likes, comments, shares), according to an analysis by Sprout Social. “Doritos exemplifies the importance of fan involvement as the most talked-about advertiser so far,” according to Sprout. 

It was followed by Bud Light (227 mentions, 4,237 engagements) and Coors Light (153 mentions, 5,114 engagements). State Farm placed second, but it is no longer in the game after canceling its plans in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, with that news apparently driving much of the social media attention.

This week in Super Bowl history

Super Bowl XVIII was played 41 years ago this week—the Los Angeles Raiders crushed Washington on Jan. 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in a game broadcast on CBS, which sold 30-second ads for about $450,000. Apple got its money’s worth with Ridley Scott’s dystopian “1984” ad, which is considered one of the best Super Bowl ads of all time. TBWA\Media Arts Lab leader Lee Clow years later told Ad Age that “Steve Jobs’ simple challenge was, ‘I think Macintosh is the greatest product in the history of the world, and I want an ad that’s that good.’”

For a complete look at Big Game commercial history, check out Ad Age's Super Bowl ad archive.