“He Gets Us,” which urges viewers to delve into the life and teachings of Jesus with the line “Is there more to life than more?”, sets the scene for an identity-confused society living under late capitalism.

Every Super Bowl ad break functions as a kind of cultural MRI. Brands don’t just sell products here; they reveal what they think society wants, fears, misses, and aspires to. This year’s lineup felt particularly telling — not because it was exceptional, but because it exposed a strange mix of nostalgia, desperation, technological anxiety, and aesthetic confusion.

Nostalgia as a Safe Haven

So cringe. But you know what, whatever the client says...

Nostalgia continues to dominate, but not in a subtle or forward-looking way. This year leaned heavily into the early 2000s and the 80s, with a familiar parade of cultural callbacks: Levi’s, Xfinity resurrecting Jurassic Park, State Farm’s “Stop Livin’ on a Prayer,” T-Mobile bringing back the Backstreet Boys, and even the cultural echo of Scream 7 hovering in the background.

Skittles’ Deliver the Rainbow adopts a Wes Anderson–esque, fully analogue approach

Skittles’ Deliver the Rainbow stood out visually, adopting a Wes Anderson–esque, fully analogue approach that aligns with the broader return to crafted art direction. You can see the same sensibility surfacing in editorial culture right now — from Elle Fanning’s recent WWW issue to Rama Duwaji’s work for The Cut. This analogue obsession feels less like a trend and more like a reaction: a collective craving for texture, imperfection, and tactility in an increasingly synthetic world.

Late Capitalism, Loud and Clear

Bizarre imagery from Hims & Hers "Rich People Live Longer"

Several spots openly flirted with late-capitalism critique, intentionally or not. He Gets Us and Hims & Hers both sit in this uncomfortable space where moral positioning and commerce collide. They gesture toward meaning, relief, salvation — but always with a transaction attached. The result is uneasy, especially in a moment where economic pressure is no longer abstract for most viewers.

AI Is Everywhere — and No One Is Saying It Out Loud

Smooth faces everywhere, like in this United Airlines Super Bowl LX Ad, giving synthetic, hyper-consistent textures of AI generated visuals.

Another striking pattern this year is the widespread use of AI-generated or AI-assisted imagery, paired with an almost complete lack of disclosure. Beyond explicitly AI-led narratives like Amazon Alexa+ or Google Gemini, several spots — including Kinder Bueno, Xfinity, Pepsi and Meta — feature visuals that feel subtly synthetic, with overly smooth surfaces, impossible lighting and hyper-consistent textures. Svedka was the rare exception, openly admitting the use of AI, while most brands remained silent. That silence feels telling. As AI becomes embedded in production pipelines, its presence is increasingly hidden — shaping images from behind the curtain, present everywhere, named nowhere.

The Face of Perfection (Literally)

Lady Gaga in the Pokemon Super Bowl LX 2026 Ad "What’s Your Favorite?”

Waxed-looking faces were everywhere. Over-processed skin, frozen expressions, hyper-polished humans. It’s a visual language that pairs uncomfortably well with the extreme saturation and plasticity used to showcase products this year. Everything gleamed. Everything looked sealed in resin. Products increasingly appear less human-made and more digitally sculpted — almost 3D, almost post-physical. In an AI-led culture, this shift feels intentional, if slightly disturbing.

AI Everywhere, Taste Optional

AI, unsurprisingly, was omnipresent. Amazon Alexa+, Google Gemini, Genspark — all competing for authority, trust, and relevance. Google’s Gemini stood out for its restraint. The spot wasn’t cinematic, but it was practical, grounded, and clear about what the product actually does. That humility felt refreshing.

Meta Super Bowl LX 2026 Ad “Athletic Intelligence Is Here”

Meta, on the other hand, once again tried too hard. Heavy camera work, aggressive transitions through lenses, virtuoso movements that feel oddly dated. Virtuosic transitions seem to be out this year, and this spot suffers for it. Style overwhelms substance, leaving the viewer visually impressed but conceptually lost. Money can buy everything except taste — and Mark Zuckerberg continues to prove that point with remarkable consistency.

OpenAI Super Bowl LX 2026 Codex ‘You Can Just Build Things,’ reminding viewers that behind the screen there are human hands.

Interestingly, after last year’s grandiose OpenAI ad framing itself as humanity’s next great invention, the brand took a far more natural, human-led approach this year. “You Can Just Build Things” avoids spectacle altogether, opting instead for a simple but effective message to promote Codex, OpenAI’s programming service. The nostalgic soundtrack, the absence of gleaming or hyper-stylised imagery, and the use of black-and-white photography layered with images of computers and the history of coding hit the right note. After last year’s purely digital — and still strong — execution, this felt like a refreshing creative shift for an AI-led company, choosing restraint and humanity over grandeur.

Gambling, Wealth, and Desperation

Fanatics Sportsbook’s “Bet on Kendall” sits uncomfortably alongside the late-capitalism narrative. Betting companies are booming, feeding off a society increasingly convinced that gambling is the only remaining path to wealth. Using one of America’s wealthiest individuals to front this message is not just ironic — it’s insulting. It reads as tone-deaf at best, predatory at worst.

Fanatics Super Bowl Ad with Kendall Jenner

The same applies to Salesforce’s MrBeast’s Vault. The visual opens with a literal tube of money and the promise that “one of you watching will win it all.” The implication is clear: salvation is possible, you just have to play. It’s distasteful, positioning the viewer as a lab mouse chasing financial escape through gamified hope. Especially when the spokesperson likely earned more than the prize just by showing up.

Why Do the Effects Look Worse?

There’s an unavoidable question lingering over this year’s ad break: why do the special effects look cheaper? Across the board, visual effects felt rushed, thin, and occasionally unfinished. This may be a side effect of tightened budgets, faster pipelines, or over-reliance on shortcuts. Whatever the reason, the illusion is cracking — and viewers can feel it.

When “Good” Is Enough

Cadillac’s Formula 1

Cadillac’s Formula 1 spot made it into many “best of” lists, though the bar was admittedly low. It’s competent, well executed, but hardly groundbreaking. The same goes for Squarespace’s Emma Stone ad — watchable, safe, elevated by the simple fact that black-and-white cinematography plus an Oscar-winning actress is an almost guaranteed baseline of quality.

Interestingly, Squarespace chose to spotlight domain services rather than website hosting, which feels like a quiet strategic pivot. This choice becomes more legible when placed next to Wix’s Super Bowl LX ad, “The New Way to Create,” which openly promotes AI-supported tools for building websites. If AI marks the beginning of the decline of the traditional website template business, domains emerge as the more stable asset — suggesting Squarespace may already be repositioning for a post-template future.

The Most Tone-Deaf Moment

Genspark’s “Let Genspark Autopilot Your Work. You Take Monday Off!” featuring Matthew Broderick may be the most bizarre misstep of the year. In a climate where workers already fear automation and redundancy, the promise of AI taking over your job so you can relax is not comforting — it’s threatening. I would expect backlash. Monday off is not the fantasy brands think it is when the underlying fear is permanent dismissal.

The Coke–Pepsi Feud Needs to Die

Pepsi Super Bowl LX 2026 Ad – “The Choice”

Pepsi’s attempt to directly confront Coca-Cola by borrowing its polar bear mascot feels tired. Charming, perhaps, but lazy. The rivalry has been dragged out for decades, and at this point, everyone knows Pepsi is second best — and that’s fine. Leaning on this feud feels like a lack of ideas rather than a bold statement.

Comedy as Escapism

There were many comic spots this year, likely an attempt to inject escapism into a politically and economically tense environment. Personally, I’m not a fan of comedy-led advertising, and much of it blended into noise. That said, Bud Light and Instacart managed to land their humor without feeling desperate or grating.

The Ads That Actually Worked

Volkswagen’s The Great Invitation: Drivers Wanted is the standout commercial of this year’s ad break.

Volkswagen’s The Great Invitation: Drivers Wanted is, without question, the strongest commercial of the year. It blends nostalgia with storytelling, crafting an aspirational world that feels genuinely appealing to Gen Z and millennials. It doesn’t over-style itself or try too hard. Clean visuals, smart camera work, natural product placement, and a sense of joy make it resonate — not just visually, but emotionally.

Toyota’s Superhero Belt 

Toyota’s Superhero Belt gets a honourable mention, considering the bar was low. The narrative is simpler and more familiar, but effective. Its slightly strange aesthetic — a mix of vintage warmth and glassy stylization — shouldn’t work, yet somehow does. It’s short, sweet, and emotionally legible.

P.S. Do We Need Another Space Film?

Amazon Pictures used the Super Bowl stage to promote Project Hail Mary. Which raises a fair question: do we really need another space epic starring Ryan Gosling? The genre is saturated, both visually and emotionally. What once symbolized exploration and wonder now risks feeling like content inertia — safe, expensive, and culturally predictable.

Disclaimer: This is a first-impression write-up based on Sunday’s game. While we aimed to be as accurate and fair as possible, it’s possible that some spots were missed or that minor details may be inaccurate. This should be read as an opinion piece rather than a definitive or exhaustive account. For transparency, this post was originally drafted by a human and later formatted with the assistance of AI for clarity and ease of reading; all research, analysis and opinions expressed are our own.

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