Don’t tell the football players, but there’s so much more to the Super Bowl than the game.
Last year viewership hit an all-time high, with 202.4 million people, or roughly 60% of the U.S. population, tuning in for at least part of the game on TV or streaming.
While the action on the field is the main attraction, it’s become such a huge pop-culture event — completely dwarfing the Oscars — that it draws viewers in just for the halftime show, which Kendrick Lamar will headline this year, and the commercials.
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It’s an interesting thing how viewers typically hate commercials, but for one night only, we’re glued to them during the big game. A 2022 survey conducted by Advocado, now Veil Global, which analyzes consumer behaviors, found that 42% of people tuned in for the commercials over the game. This isn’t new — a 2010 Nielsen survey found that 51% of viewers preferred the ads to the game.
With so many eyeballs on screens during the Super Bowl, the rate for a 30-second ad during this year’s game costs a whopping $7 million or more, according to USA Today. Last year more than 50% of the ads featured celebrities, which has been a trend for over five years, according to Forbes. As much as people complain about celebrities — yes, we read the comments — stars are familiar and popular and attract an audience, raising brand awareness for companies.
While not every commercial is a win, through the years there have been some delightful celebrity-centric Super Bowl ads. Ahead of 2025’s ads being unveiled and gameday, we look at some old faves, from the couple formerly known as Bennifer to a hangry Betty White…
Ben Affleck and the DunKings rule (2024)
Affleck’s love of Dunkin’ sparked many an internet meme — and landed him an endorsement deal with the coffee brand. While his commercial mocking Sad Affleck made us LOL, the best one featured Affleck, his Boston accent turned up, as frontman of the DunKings, featuring Matt Damon and Tom “Touchdown Tommy” Brady. The supergroup surprised Jennifer Lopez in the studio in hopes she and Fat Joe would put them on her album. Viewers couldn’t get enough of all things DunKings, with the tracksuits featured in the commercial selling out in 19 minutes.
Cindy Crawford pops open a Pepsi (1992)
Supermodels ruled the ’90s, and the queen of the pack was Crawford. On a hot day, she zoomed into a gas station in a red Lamborghini, wearing a white tank top and cutoff jeans, and two young boys were completely awestruck as she slugged back a Pepsi. So were viewers. The commercial is iconic and has been replicated time and again, including with her offspring, but nothing touches the original.
Kate McKinnon and ‘Mayo Cat’ are pure purrfection (2024)
Mayo mania was officially underway when the feline-loving Saturday Night Live alum co-starred with a talking cat. Well, a cat that could say one thing: “mayo.” Kitty went viral — and even dated Pete Davidson — well, briefly, like his many exes.
Ray Charles crooned about Diet Pepsi, baby (1991)
Another early influential celebrity commercial featured the soul legend, surrounded by models, tickling the ivories and singing the jingle “You got the right one, baby.” It was an instant earworm, with the song catching on around the world. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Jennifer Aniston forgets a ‘Friend’ (2024)
There were stars galore in this Uber Eats commercial — including Usher, Jelly Roll and David and Victoria Beckham — and they were dealing with memory loss. The highlight was the Friends reunion that wasn’t when Aniston didn’t recognize David Schwimmer, the Ross to her Rachel. As if.
Betty White was hangry for a Snickers (2010)
At age 88, the Golden Girl launched the candy brand’s winning “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign. The ad centered on a football game, with White, who died in 2021, getting kicked around until she ate a Snickers. Many other celebrities — including Elton John and Willem Dafoe — later starred in the campaign, but the comedy queen was the first and the best.
Britney Spears goes on an eras tour for Pepsi (2002)
The aughts pop princess showed off her range of talents — ’50s diner dancer, ’60s surfer girl, ’70s flower child and so on — in this iconic soda ad. We know she’s retired and doing life on her own terms, but it makes us miss her and her reign.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a good neighbaaa (2024)
A State Farm ad reuniting 1988 Twins co-stars Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito won the hearts of Super Bowl viewers. The most comical bit was the Austrian-born American actor trying to deliver the brand’s tagline and saying “neighbaaa” instead of “neighbor,” never exactly getting it right.
Cardi B and Anthony Hopkins sub for Alexa (2018)
Amazon’s voice-controlled virtual assistant lost her voice in this commercial, and celebrities — including the rapper, Hopkins, Gordon Ramsay and Rebel Wilson — filled in as substitutes. It’s clear pretty quickly that they should keep their day jobs.
The Super Bowl airs Sunday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
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