People who tune into the Super Bowl might be classified into two main groups: sports fanatics who are determined to watch every down, and everyone else, who watches mostly for the commercials (and maybe a Taylor Swift sighting or three). But among this latter, more casual group of viewers, we can also find evidence of true dedication. That is, some 160,000 viewers register in advance of the game, agreeing to rank the commercials during the broadcast, and then USA Today publishes the results. The lists offer some interesting insights into current trends. For Super Bowl LVIII, nearly half of the top 10 most popular advertisements leveraged people’s nostalgic affection for good buddies: Danny DeVito helped Arnold Schwarzenegger enunciate the final syllable in “neighbor” in State Farm’s well-known tagline; Matt Damon complained to Ben Affleck that “Sometimes, it’s really hard to be your friend” before participating in a performance by the “Dun’kings” while wearing Dunkin’-branded jumpsuits; Jennifer Aniston (Rachel) forgot who David Schwimmer (Ross) even was, to make room in her brain for recalling what Uber Eats delivers; and the Clydesdales relied on their old Labrador Retriever friend to lead the way for a delivery by Budweiser. As these examples indicate, many of the most popular ads were humorous. But others actively sought an emotional appeal and made ethical claims, including Dove’s encouragement of bodily confidence among young girls; Google Pixel’s demonstration of how it was working to increase inclusivity among people with limited vision; the NFL’s determination to expand access around the globe; or the reminder from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism that silence allows for hatred to persist, whereas making our voices heard means standing up to hate. In addition to their popularity among the estimated 123.4 million viewers who tuned in, we hope the advertisements were effective in meeting the companies’ marketing objectives too, considering that a 30-second slot cost a record-breaking $7 million in 2024.

Sources: “Best 2024 Super Bowl Commercials,” USA Today, February 13, 2024; Suzanne Vranica, “How Much Does a Super Bowl Ad Cost this Year?” The Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2024