Super Bowl LX Commercials: Best, Worst, Most WTF

Cue John Williams’ famed fanfare! One of the most easily rewatchable movies of all time, everybody knows that the major crux of Jurassic Park happens when the power goes out on the island and hell breaks loose. In this Xfinity spot, which reunites Jurassic stars Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, they get the park up and running again, no problemo, in a clever spot that combines the fan-favorite movie and the brand itself. And of course, they had to throw in some modern allusions, including selfies with dinosaurs. Say roar! I mean, cheese.

Let us get this straight: it’s a commercial for OpenAI, yet everything in it is analog? If you asked an artificial intelligence platform the main takeaway from this ad, it’d be hypocrisy wins. With images of people reading books, playing games, and faces like Einstein flashing on the screen, one would never think it’s all meant to promote a product that bastardizes years of human ingenuity. Then again, it makes sense considering A.I. probably made the whole thing.

Forget about A.I.: asses and butts are a trend this Super Bowl. And Novartis blew Kellogg’s out of the water (no pun intended). Depicting zenned-out football players who are tight ends (get it?) doing yoga and relaxing on hammocks (listening, naturally, to Enya’s classic “Only Time”), the ad promotes an early detection prostate cancer screenings. Considering the amount of fellas watching the game, it’s silly while saving lives.

Put on a red cardigan and tie your shoes in preparation to hear a sentiment America needs right now coupled with the powerhouse voice of a superstar and one of the most endearing songs, well, ever. Rocket and Redfin managed to recruit Halftime surprise guest Lady Gaga for their Super Spot where she lushly sings the iconic theme to Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Teased in a black and white preview video dripping with saccharine and sincerity. As for the actual commercial for an otherwise unexciting mortgage company, was it covered with a bit too much smaltz, not to mention a little tone deaf — it takes a lost dog to get the white family to pay attention to their new neighbors? Perhaps let’s just focus on the music.

First they collaborated on The Favourite, then the deliciously twisted Poor Things, followed by the mindbending Kinds of Kindness, and then Bugonia. Their next project? Well, it’s for SquareSpace. You read that right: visionary and eccentric director Yorgos Lathimos and Emma Stone teamed up for this unique spot for the website building platform complete with the duo’s typical cinematic trademark, combining eye-popping cinematography and a dramatic performance in a commercial that’s both dark and dryly hilarious. Is it too late to add a Best Commercial category to next month’s Oscars?

It’s not that we have anything against this commercial. It’s just that seeing the Mayor of Flavortown himself, Guy Fieri, dressed like a normal guy is downright freaky. When Fieri first posted a portrait of him without his trademark frosted tips and goatee (leaving out the fact that it was part of an ad campaign), the collective public let out a gasp. Will this get people talking? Yes. Will it sell Bosch appliances? Well, maybe not. What’s Fieri without his flavor?

Pass the chips.. and, the tissues. Snack brands are typically known for their asinine ads and catchy slogans. (Once you pop you can’t stop, anyone?) Lay’s went in the complete opposite direction for their latest Super Bowl ad, emphasizing the potatoes that make up those addictable chips and the folksy farmers who grow them. Designed to not only strike up a craving but tug at your heartstrings, the commercial is almost inconceivably directed by Taika Waititi, the visionary director behind out-of-the-box flicks like 2019’s JoJo Rabbit (where Hitler himself serves as a boy’s imaginary friend). It also gives us another reason to cry: Knowing Waititi was behind the lens, it couldn’t have been at least a little bit kooky? It’s like hiring Guy Fieri to make a meal without any spice.

Sing it with me: “Instacart lets you choose your bananas!” We all knew Benson Boone is a man of many talents, from singing to backflipping. But who knew he could be this funny? In this retro-style spot from director Spike Jonze, Boone holds his own with Ben Stiller in a series where they play an Eighties-era singing duo that, in another dimension, could easily be a feature-length, made-for-streaming movie. Added bonus: a bona fide Boone flip. Would you expect anything less?

We all know that Sabrina Carpenter has her share of boy trouble (looking at you, all you manchilds out there). But Super Bowl LX, she’s trading steaming espresso for crunchy chips. In this admittedly funny commercial, Carpenter is seen dating a Frankenstein-esque man made entirely of Pringles. Featuring vivid CGI and some funny gags along the way, what earns this commercial WTF status is the fact that Lay’s improbably switched up their iconic “Once you pop, you can’t stop” logo to a refreshed “Once you pop, the pop don’t stop.” Is nothing sacred? You can bet there were dozens of meetings about swapping their famed verbiage, grammatical incorrectness and all.

Who wouldn’t want to have a beer with Peyton Manning, Post Malone and Shane Gillis? Known for their perennial blockbuster Super Bowl ads, the Bud Light assembled a dream team of beer bros who convene at a wedding and tragically see a runaway keg. Cue Whitney Houston’s timeless “ I Will Always Love You” as the poor keg rolls down a cliff, with the guys scrambling to chase it. From its personalities to music placement, humor and action, it all gives Bud Light a big reason to have one of the best ads of the Big Game.

If you think about it, Charli XCX is brilliant at having it both ways. On one hand, she tears down and pokes fun at corporate America and packaged pop stars with albums like brat and her new movie The Moment, a feature-length commentary that skewers the idea of selling out. Yet at the same time, she happily inserts herself in the middle of the machine, cashing in with collabs like a pop-up performance for H&M, (from Times Square, no less), to her Big Game ad for UberEats last year. For 2026, Charli teamed up with the probiotic soda brand Poppi, where she and fellow it-girl Rachel Sennott goof on “vibes, vibes and vibes,” complete with Poppi taking on the strobe-visuals Charli uses in much of her recent work (which, it bears repeating, lambasts selling out). Then again, is there anything more brat than saying one thing then doing another?

It’s a bubbly question as old as time itself that amounts to apples or oranges. Pepsi or Coke? For the latest shot in the ‘cola wars,’ Pepsi used Coca Cola’s imagery of their iconic polar bears for their own advantage by depicting a snow-white bear with a crisis of identity who sips Pepsi and… likes it? Also directed by Taika Waititi, the rest plays out by bears seeing therapists and having sad walks through the city. Bonus points for the allusion to the Coldplay couple, who went from cuddling at a concert to fodder for a commercial during the biggest game in the world.

FA rap force since the early 2000s, 50 Cent is known for his gruff persona in and out of da club. For Doordash, the man with the half-dollar-moniker shows that he’s actually a big softie, getting silly about beef. No, not the rap kind. The kind you can get delivered. Is there comedy in 50’s future? To paraphrase a wise man: Get rich or die laughing.

When it comes to William Shatner deciding to do this commercial, we have to assume he cashed the check first and asked questions later. Yes, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran really spent the going rate of a reported $8 to 10 million to air a Big Game ad where they proudly announce to America that the cereal makes people… well, you know. And the legendary Star Trek Shatner allowed his last name to be associated with it? Pack it up, folks. We’re done here.

For the past couple years, the Dunkin’ commercials with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been the hit of the Super Bowl. (Remember the orange suits and those wild cameos from Jennifer Lopez and Tom Brady?) So how do the boys from Boston top themselves for 2026? By recruiting a baker’s dozen of throwback sitcom stars, reimagining their breakout Good Will Hunting as a Nineties-era comedy with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Jaleel White, Jason Alexander, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Matt Leblanc. Reminding one of a cross between Al Pacino’s parody ad for Dunkacino and Adult Swim’s Too Many Cooks, aside from what appeared to be some weird de-aging, Dunkin once again brewed one of the most memorable ads of the night. Extra points for a return of Brady, too.

Backstreet’s back, literally. The Nineties boybanders made two appearances in the game: First in a surprise performance for a T-Mobile ad, and then in the form of the karaoke version — blue screen and everything — of their American classic, “Everybody” in which the entire country had a singalong. It was so realistic, it freaked viewers out, thinking a feed was crossed or a channel accidentally changed. But let this be a lesson: the more people complain, the more it’ll happen. Remember the Tubi spot in 2023 when the screen turned into the menu from a smart TV? Now for better or worse, “everybody’s” paying attention to Coinbase.

What do you get when you combine Danny McBride, Keegan Michael-Key, Hailee Steinfeld, and a bona fide Bon Jovi classic? This deeply absurd ad for an otherwise dull insurance company known for their long-running series of ads with spokesperson Jake from State Farm. In years past, they’ve done everything from teaming him up with ‘lookalike’ Drake to Arnold Schwarzenegger. This year, they doubled down on the splash with an all-star sing-along, with help from (cue the screams from their dutiful fan army) KATSEYE. Like a good neighbor, State Farm knows how to deliver the commercial goods. Now, about those premiums…