Safe Bets, Bizarre Bods, AI Infusion

Besides Powell’s ad for Ram truck, Harrison Ford starred in Jeep’s two-minute spot. But the focus was less on electric vehicles and more on the rugged adventure that the brand has always championed. 

The decline in automotive advertising—and EV advertising in particular—comes amid industry-wide budget constraints and increasing regulatory uncertainty as the Trump administration considers cutting EV tax incentives.

In years past, Kia struck an emotional chord with an ad for its EV9, Will Ferrell pushed the U.S. to go head-to-head with Norway on EV adoption in a GM ad, and Ram likened EV worries to erectile dysfunction. 

5. Body get bizarre

In one of the more unexpected developments of this year’s Super Bowl, a number of ads embraced surreal, grotesque, body-morphing visuals. 

Seal’s transformation into a real seafaring mammal in Mountain Dew’s spot was just the beginning. Nothing will wipe from our minds Eugene Levy’s runaway eyebrows in Little Caesars’ spot. But Little Caesars was preceded—and potentially outshined—by Pringles’ exaggerated mustache mishap. Coffee Mate’s animated, sentient tongue also contributed to the trend of wacky, attention-grabbing imagery. Tubi’s commercial, featuring fleshy, moving hats, was another unexpected foray into the bizarre.

“I’m assuming the body shock exists because of the need to ‘shock’ people’s eyeballs on this stage. Lots of people are drinking and half watching/barely hearing the audio at Super Bowl parties, so sometimes you need something that grabs your eyeballs, like weird cowboy hat-shaped skulls covered perfectly in flesh, or a weird dancing tongue, or just Seal’s face on a seal,” said Gordy Sang, co-CCO at Quality Meats Creative.  

6. AI everywhere, of course

It was impossible to miss the abundance of AI-focused messaging in this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads. From OpenAI’s first foray into Super Bowl advertising to Google’s emotionally charged ‘Dream Job’ ad spotlighting Gemini’s talk features, the technology was front and center.

GoDaddy’s ad for its suite of AI tools emphasized automation for small business owners, though it struggled to leave a lasting impression. Meanwhile, Meta’s lighthearted campaign for its Ray-Ban smart glasses featured a star-studded lineup, including Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, and Kris Jenner, but left some viewers questioning the product’s real-world appeal.