The Best, Worst, and Most WTF Super Bowl Ads of 2025
A big game in the Big Easy calls for big commercials, and this year’s roster delivered. From the snack brands (Lay’s and Taco Bell) to the streamers (Disney+), and a generous sprinkling of Matthew McConaugheys thrown in for good measure, here’s our annual rundown of the cream of the crop to the cringe.
Best: Jeep, “Owner’s Manual”
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective. Here we have the world’s crankiest, frankest, and frankly coolest actor, Harrison Ford, with a humble soliloquy for our divided times. Sure, sometimes it seemed like a saccharine campaign speech (“Our differences can be our strength”), but there was a lot to like. Jeep reportedly eschewed major creative agencies, with the folks behind its parent company Stellantis producing the spot all on their own.
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Worst: WeatherTech, “Whatever Comes Your Way”
Not all octogenarians made the grade last night. No offense to the adorable older women in his spot, but WeatherTech opted for a tired trope. Grannies behaving badly has been the concept behind a litany of ads (including one just last year) as well as movies ranging from 80 for Brady to last year’s Thelma. Extra points off for the most generic of backing tracks with “Bad to the Bone,” too.
WTF: Pringles, “The Call of the Mustaches,” and Little Caesars, “Whoa!”
Somehow, two separate creative agencies working on Super spots for major food brands had the same idea this year: flying facial hair. Kinda funny, kinda … gross?
Best: Dunkin’, “Dunkings 2”
Last year, Dunkin’ blessed us with “Dunkings,” a cameo-drenched commercial as energetic as an extra-large iced coffee, hold the milk. For Super Bowl LIX, the caffeinated company again recruited its now-regular pitchman Ben Affleck for a spot that this time includes his brotha Casey and spoofs fellow Bostonian Jeremy Strong’s penchant for Method acting. Our boys are wicked smaht.
Best: Taco Bell, “The Fans”
This straight-to-the-point Taco Bell spot goes down as easy as a Chalupa Supreme with extra sour cream. LeBron James and Doja Cat get laughs, but the real fun, as intended, is in the supercuts of actual Taco Bell customers (many of them photographed, apparently, at the drive-thru) that flash on the screen. Some of these folks even appear to be sober!
WTF: Totino’s With Tim Robinson
Let’s face it, much of the country probably doesn’t know who the hell alt-comedy hero Tim Robinson is. But the SNL writer vet turned Netflix niche-comedy staple cameos in this fun ad for Totino’s, armed with one of the funniest lines of the night. It was a tall order, considering actual SNL spins on Totino’s grip on the games are just as memorable. Good on Totino’s for leaning into the funny for real, even if a lot of football fans might’ve been scratching their heads.
Worst: Mountain Dew, “Kiss From a Lime”
See, it’s Seal, the singer, as a seal, the animal. Changing the lyrics to one of his biggest hits, the sweeping romantic ballad “Kiss From a Rose.” Do we get it? Yes. Do we like it? Not one bit. Creepy af.
Best: Stella Artois, “The Other David,” and Bud Light, “Big Men on Cul-de-Sac”
They’re the kind of guys you wanna grab a beer with. Beer companies Stella Artois and Bud Light had similar ideas by pairing up beloved bro-lebrities for their respective ads. For Stella, Matt Damon and David Beckham joined forces to play long-separated brothers for a spot directed by Dun-king Ben Affleck. On the other end of the tap, Bud Light boasts Post Malone and scrapped SNL cast member turned bro-comedy star Shane Gillis for a fun spot which also features leaf blowers and Peyton Manning. Cheers to both brews.
Best: Lay’s, “The Little Farmer”
Lay’s could have gone the typical route with a commercial full of celebrities and oodles of silliness. Instead, the powers that be at Frito-Lay decided to tug at America’s heartstrings by taking us straight to the heartland. There might be plenty to root against off the field right now, but when it comes to the rolling fields of the farmers who work 10 times harder than the rest of us, there’s no argument. If you weren’t captivated by the passion of a little girl and her potato, then maybe you need to grow a bigger heart, Grinch-style.
Worst: Reese’s, “Don’t Eat the Lava”
Deep beneath the abyss of Earth’s crust lies a layer of stupidity that must have gushed upward to provide the inspiration for this Reeses’ ad. The idea is that since the candy is now boasting a chocolate lava flavor, people are somehow now attracted to eating … actual lava? If you’re trying to follow the logic, give up: There’s none to be found.
Best: Skechers with Andy Reid
Football coaches are usually as stoic as they come. For evidence, look at any postgame or pregame interview with any sort of high school, college, or professional football coach in the history of the sport. They’re men of few words, with blank stares and nary a gin. Let’s put a smile on that face, courtesy of Kansas City Chiefs chief Andy Reid, who not only shed the typical demeanor for similar folks of his ilk, but got downright silly. Good on you, Coach Reid.
WTF: Hellman’s, “When Sally Met Hellmann’s,” and H?agen-Dazs, “Not So Fast, Not So Furious”
What would Nora Ephron have thought of this sequel to When Harry Met Sally? It was nice, if a little lame, to see Billy Crystal in his signature sweater, Meg Ryan doing her signature orgasm, and New York’s landmark Katz’s Deli back on our screens (with Sydney Sweeney bringing things into the modern era). America was also treated to the millionth sequel of the Fast and the Furious franchise in a spot for ice cream behemoth H?agen-Dazs. Now, a truly super feat would have been if star Vin Diesel squashed his beef with the Rock in this ad instead, but we’ll take this witty spin on the franchise out for a joyride nonetheless.
Worst: Disney+, “What If”
It’s an ad that comes off like the equivalent of using ChatGPT for writing a term paper. For a company known for its ingenuity, Disney seemed to phone it in this year by spending their precious millions on a dull ad that imagines a universe without their iconic IP. Along the way, they zap their most familiar characters out of old footage in a gimmick Back to the Future did first and better 40 years ago.
Best: Instacart, “We’re Here”
There’s something inherently fun seeing some of America’s most beloved brand mascots join forces. Maybe it’s the kid in us.
Best: Salesforce, “Dining Alfiasco” and “Gate Expectations”
From one American acting icon to another, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson had their own kind of bro rom-com going in these spots. From enjoying a cafe during a rainstorm to raising hell in Heathrow Airport, these two lovable movie stars reminded us that Salesforce … um … Well, we don’t really know what Salesforce was selling here, but they were fun to watch nonetheless.
WTF: Uber Eats, “A Century of Cravings”
Uber Eats ordered cameos, and they delivered! For their litany of Super Bowl ads that rolled out before and during LIX, the ride service’s food-ordering platform trotted out a clown car’s worth of names, including Charli XCX, Martha Stewart, Greta Gerwig, and, hey look, it’s Matthew McConaughey again. Wait. Did all of our surge pricing fees go toward lining the pockets of some of America’s favorite celebrities?
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