{"id":35585,"date":"2026-02-08T10:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/?p=35585"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:28:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:28:41","slug":"super-bowl-ad-trends-were-tracking-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/super-bowl-ad-trends-were-tracking-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Bowl, Sourced: Data Trends on This Year\u2019s Top Ads Already"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Going into Super Bowl LX, iSpot Creative Assessment tested over 60 teasers and 40 in-game spots, with the full game coming this evening\/early Monday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the ads that have already been evaluated, however, here are the trends iSpot is identifying up front this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the most up-to-date look at released SBLX ads and teasers, check out the annual<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/events\/super-bowl-commercials\"> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">VIP Ad Center<\/span>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hub-cdn.ispot.tv\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/08150001\/Screenshot-2026-02-08-at-3.59.34%E2%80%AFPM-1024x287.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35601\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:27px\"><strong>Animals Winning Big<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Animals are featured in all four<\/strong> of the most likeable ads pre-game, according to iSpot Creative Assessment scores, led by Ring\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gnfh\/ring-search-party-super-bowl-2026-pre-release-be-a-hero-in-your-neighborhood\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Be A Hero In Your Neighborhood<\/span><\/a>,\u201d about finding lost dogs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Budweiser\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gwgP\/budweiser-free-bird-song-by-lynyrd-skynyrd\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">American Icons<\/span><\/a>\u201d leans into clydesdales and Americana for the brand\u2019s 150th anniversary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Last year, animals took a backseat to children in Super Bowl ads\u201437% for kids vs. just 25% of ads for animals\u2014but <strong>animals were in 33% of tested 2026 Super Bowl ads pre-game<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:33px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:27px\"><strong>Celebs Keep Surging<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Since 2010, celebrities have flipped from being featured in 31% of ads to 68% in 2025 (peaking at 78% in 2020).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multi-celebrity ads have also become the norm, at 51% last year, as brands try to hit as many audience quadrants as possible in their small 30-second window.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Looking at tested ads pre-game,<\/strong> <strong>celebrities appeared in 60% of ads, with 40% of ads being multi-celebrity spots<\/strong> (both down vs. last year).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Notably, celebrity ads don\u2019t necessarily yield higher likeability, however\u2014with recent years showing celebrity ads performing just below all-Super Bowl norms by that metric.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hub-cdn.ispot.tv\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/08115201\/Screenshot-2026-02-08-at-12.51.45%E2%80%AFPM-1024x646.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35595\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:27px\"><strong>Feelings or Funny?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Of the ads tested pre-game, 63% of teasers scored for Funny according to iSpot Creative Assessment, down from last year\u2019s high of 71%.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Last year\u2019s most likeable Super Bowl spot, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/TZde\/pfizer-super-bowl-2025-pre-release-knock-out-song-by-ll-cool-j\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Knockout<\/span><\/a>,\u201d scored very well for heartfelt emotions and was not funny at all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Before the game, the two most likeable ads\u2014Ring\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gnfh\/ring-search-party-super-bowl-2026-pre-release-be-a-hero-in-your-neighborhood\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Be A Hero In Your Neighborhood<\/span><\/a>\u201d and Budweiser\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gwgP\/budweiser-free-bird-song-by-lynyrd-skynyrd\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">American Icons<\/span><\/a>\u201d are not ads scoring for Funny, either.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:33px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:27px\"><strong>All-In on AI?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Nearly a quarter of pre-released Super Bowl ads tested dealt with AI in some way (including <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gnQf\/svedka-super-bowl-2026-pre-release-shake-your-boots-off\">Svedka\u2019s spot created with AI<\/a>)<\/span>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recent emerging Super Bowl categories like AI and cryptocurrency have not performed as well as other brands\u2019 with audiences, typically avoiding both overtly funny or heartfelt pitches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This year could buck that trend, though: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/ad\/gtHi\/amazon-alexa-super-bowl-2026-pre-release-chris-hemsworth-thinks-alexa-is-scary-good\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Amazon\u2019s Alexa+ spot<\/span><\/a>, starring Chris Hemsworth, was No. 3 by Likeability pre-game while directly addressing AI-related concerns with humor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:33px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative; width:100%; padding-top:56.25%; padding-bottom:40px;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/share\/gtHi\" style=\"position:absolute; top:0; right:0; left:0; bottom:0; width:100%; height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:45px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s just a sample of how iSpot understands the Super Bowl ad landscape. Come back here for more Super Bowl trends through the game, and be sure to tune into our AdAge webinar on Tuesday after the game for a thorough look at the biggest trends that shaped this year\u2019s Big Game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-font-size is-style-fill\" style=\"font-size:21px\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/event.webcasts.com\/starthere.jsp?ei=1748940&amp;tp_key=13fa74d933\" style=\"background-color:#6ebd23\">   <strong>Register Now<\/strong>   <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going into Super Bowl LX, iSpot Creative Assessment tested over 60 teasers and 40 in-game spots, with the full game coming this evening\/early Monday morning. Given the ads that have already been evaluated, however, here are the trends iSpot is identifying up front this year. For the most up-to-date look at released SBLX ads and&#8230; Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":35587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[243],"ispot_product_categories":[],"acf":{"expiration_date":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35585"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35617,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35585\/revisions\/35617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35585"},{"taxonomy":"ispot_product_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ispot_product_categories?post=35585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}