In total, 39 ads, or 56%, leveraged celebrities, with an average score of 2.6 stars.
Kantar’s data, meanwhile, highlighted how the average ROI for Super Bowl ads with celebrities is typically higher than those without. Its report said having multiple celebrities doesn’t necessarily translate into better ad performance.
Instead, its analysts recommend brands choose ambassadors that make sense for both the brand and the storyline. It pointed to Booking.com as a strong example of a brand that figured out how to cut through the noise with A-listers.
Kantar also highlighted Uber Eats’ “Don’t Forget Uber Eats” fronted by David and Victoria Beckham—which scored 85 for impact in its rankings—as a great example of leaning into pop culture through famous faces.
5. Lindt was the highest-ranking debut advertiser
According to System1, the highest-ranking debut advertiser was chocolate brand Lindt, which opted for a chilled-out ad scored by Perry Como and featuring the brand’s familiar “Master Chocolatier” character.
Pfizer also scored well for a debutant, achieving 3.8 stars with a Queen-soundtracked ad celebrating 175 years of medical achievement.
5. For Super Bowl 59, brands will need to plot their game plan to deliver maximum impact
For Forrester senior analyst Mo Allibhai, the ads he believes will be the most impactful drove an emotional response underpinned by storytelling.
“The most effective ads were hilariously memorable—like the Paramount+ ad with Sir Patrick Stewart tossing Arnold into a cliffside, or Ben Affleck’s maximum cringe effort on behalf of his beloved Dunkin Donuts, or tugged at our emotional cores, like the ad showing Google’s Pixel phone and its assistive features powered by AI,” he said.
“Microsoft CoPilot and Amazon Web Services ads failed to connect as deeply, despite boasting class-leading products and higher production values, they simply aren’t strong storytellers.”
