I'm Live-Blogging Super Bowl LIX’s Best Commercials, Featuring Ben Affleck, Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell And More
Join me in critiquing the biggest and best ads from the big game.
The pre-game show has already featured a slew of famous faces, from Taylor Swift (obviously) to Adam Sandler to Kevin Costner and beyond. Brad Pitt popped up to narrate a pre-recorded game intro huddle or something. Jon Hamm popped out in a Chiefs jersey to introduce that team (with a slew of boos indicating how the on-site fandoms balance out), while Bradley Cooper came in to introduce the E-A-G-L-E-S!
As a South Louisiana native, I am all about watching Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle perform "America the Beautiful" and whatever else they want to bring their talents to. In a perfect world, Trombone Shorty would be playing all of the transitional music inside the stadium, as well as playing backing music for Kendrick Lamar later on.
SKECHERS + MARTHA STEWART: Martha Stewart hocking Skechers is funny, but the obviously fabricated sight of her gliding on air and dancing in such an unnatural way is downright frightening.
I still love Skechers, and have admittedly been wearing their slip-on shoes for ages. But it thankfully never caused me to go all electric boogaloo while trying to walk down the street.
GRADE: C+
But others certainly seemed to like it.
So far the Martha Stewart Sketchers commercial has us laughing so hard we’re crying. #SuperBowlFebruary 9, 2025
LILO & STITCH TEASER: Seeing Stitch cause havoc on the NFL field is a cute way to promote Disney’s upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch, down to him crashing the cart into a goalpost. Plus, he’s already kind of streaking, amirite? Love that they included “No dogs or aliens were harmed in the making of this video,” too.
GRADE: B- (since it didn’t actually show us anything from the movie)
Tom Cruise officially introduced the game in the calmest way possible, without jumping off of the moon or eating a speeding train or whatever it is he put his body on the line for in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which aired a 30-second teaser ahead of the actor appearing.
DUNKIN’S DUNKINGS 2025: Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck teased the arrival of a new DunKings ad, and while the commercial maybe wasn’t as big or ridiculous as one might have hoped, it certainly delivered on star power. A short list: Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordan Hudson, Druski, Jeremy Strong, and more.
It’s a bit too scattershot to feel too meaningful, and way too few seconds were spent focused on Jay and Silent Bob. But I can appreciate a good Starbucks slamming, regardless of my own personal coffee choice.
GRADE: B
Check out the full "Movie" version below!
LITTLE CAESARS CRAZY PUFFS: Nothing about watching a man's bushy eyebrows flying around and landing on things should be appetizing in the slightest, and I don't necessarily want to leave my couch to immediately nab some Crazy Puffs. But it's a fun ad, and gets extra points for bringing in famed daughter Sarah Levy.
GRADE: A-
PFEIZER: While I usually stick to pointing out the funniest Super Bowl ads, with the more serious spots coming across as schmaltzy or pandering, I can't believe I felt a few emotions from Pfeizer's latest ad, set to the tune of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." The young boy waltzing around in boxing gloves and trunks was already an intriguing visual to see, but then to learn that he was knocking out cancer? It got me, dammit.
GRADE: B
DORITOS: Created as part of Doritos’ fanmade Super Bowl ad contest, this “Abduction” promo nails it on all fronts, from proving the subject’s love of the project to showcasing slapstick humor and convincing special effects. No marquee celebs or massive locations needed.
GRADE: A-
MICHELOB ULTRA: I love the absurdity of Hollywood fan-favorites Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara being a pair of tennis sharks who destroy everyone they meet on the court, whether they’re normal strangers or pro athletes. All with the goal of attaining their opponents’ beer. They would be a viral phenomenon.
GRADE: A
RITZ: I don't know if I'd consider Michael Shannon and Aubrey Plaza to be among the "saltiest" celebrities in Hollywood, but I like them leaning into those personas, especially when it's countered by Bad Bunny's generally gleeful attitude. I like when happiness gets promoted. I also like Ritz.
GRADE: B-
MOUNTAIN DEW: I cannot believe we made it all the way to 2025 before someone paid Seal enough money to voice a sea creature version of himself for a Super Bowl ad. And yet here we are, and the results are both nightmarish and obsession-worthy. Nothing will creep me out today more than fake Seal-seal's frustration with trying to hold a bottle in its flippers.
GRADE: A-
INSTACART: I’m a sucker for commercials that bring together all kinds of mascots from one form of media or another, including commercial icons. So I’m all-in on this blatantly capitalist Instacart ad with Chester Cheetah, the Pillsbury doughboy, the Jolly Green Giant, Puppy Monkey Baby, the Energizer Bunny and several others. -0.5 points for not having any cereal monsters.
GRADE: A-
COORS LIGHT: With all due credit to Zootopia for making the slowness of animated sloths a wildly funny visual, this Coors Light spot packs all of that hilarity into a quick Super Bowl ad. From a grocery clerk watching items speed over the counter to the slowest spin class possible to the slow-speed chase, I loved it all, and would watch another few dozen scenarios.
GRADE: A+
GOOGLE PIXEL: Another ad that wore its emotional underpinnings right there on its sleeve, Google Pixel delivered a solid heartstrings-tugger that admittedly isn't as effective in the 30-second form as the extended version, which really plays up a bunch of stay-at-home dad moments that play into the theme. I'm a sucker for cute babies and daddy-daughter relationships.
GRADE: B
LIQUID DEATH: Like Dorito's ad, sometimes the most successful spots are the ones with the simplest ideas behind them. Liquid Death's big cans already look like 16-oz. beers, and this ad leans into that comparison with a hilarious "Drinkin' on the Job" jingle. Doctors, school bus drivers, and more.
GRADE: A+
HEXCLAD: Gordon Ramsay selling his pots and pans isn’t inherently funny, but what if he’s doing it in a universe where Pete Davidson is a known alien? It’s slightly funnier.
GRADE: B-
DURACELL: I’ve said a lot of good-naturedly rude and heinous things about Tom Brady over the years as an avid NFL fan, but I do appreciate the way he’s been able to lean into self-reflective humor in recent years. And it’s been handled no better than this Duracell ad, where he stops moving mid-game because his batteries died. Because he’s part-robot! Which makes #deflategate worth revisiting, right? No? Fine, fine. Good on him to reference the headline-making Roast, too.
GRADE: A
COFFEE MATE COLD FOAM: Everything about this commercial made my stomach feel a few degrees more upset than it should be, from the disembodied tongue flying around and playing musical instruments to the very idea of taking a full canister of Coffee Mate to the dome. The back of my mouth is welling up with icky-icky just typing that out, but at least the ad had some kind of effect.
GRADE: B+
RAM TRUCKS: Glen Powell lent his fairy tale-altering talents to this Ram Trucks ad, in which he plays a rugged Goldilocks who gets invested in a number of adventurous truck-centric moments in the extended version, from facing a dragon (and putting it in a giant smoker) to chiseling a statue to jumping a volcano. Driving three different kinds of trucks. I kinda want to see more ads with just Powell's Goldilocks and that Baby Bear.
GRADE: A+
HELLMANN'S: Let it be lost on no one that the Glen Powell ad was immediately followed by the Super Bowl commercial with a cameo from his Anyone But You co-star and fellow headline-maker Sydney Sweeney. But the ad wasn't about her, really, but was a reason for Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan to reunite for When Harry Met Sally's most iconic and quotable scene. All that said, it didn't quite justify its own existence.
GRADE: C+
PRINGLES: With Pringles and Little Caesars' Super Bowl ads, we may officially have the Dante's Peak / Volcano of 2025, in that both of them involve at least one celebrity's facial hair flying off of their face with intentions in mind. In Pringles, it's a bunch of noteworthy mustaches flying off the faces of Nick Offerman, Andy Reid, James Harden and more, all to the tune of the '60s Batman TV theme. Only with "mustache' said instead of "Batman," naturally.
GRADE: B+
It's Halftime, So Let's Share Some Tweets
As Kendrick Lamar's Halftime Show plays out - what up, Samuel L. Jackson! - let's rundown a batch of commercial-related social media posts that were shared during the first half of Super Bowl LIX.
- So far the Martha Stewart Sketchers commercial has us laughing so hard we’re crying. #SuperBowl - @_Redd_Foxx_
- Why wouldn't that cruise line have Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry on that boat? Perry's just as American as Barrymore, and it isn't as weird to have a married man on a cruise with some random woman. #SuperBowl - @trippwhitbeck
- Dunkin' probably paid a ton of money for all of the moving pieces within that ad. I'm not sure if they got their money's worth. #Adbowl #SuperBowl - @DeJuanlWright
- Okay Rayban Meta - nothing extraordinary but I love a marvel reunion - @ManishaDot
- pretty sure I would drink fetid pond water from a rusty culvert if Willem Dafoe asked me. but not Michelob Ultra. - @dwfma
- Michael Shannon in a Ritz commercial. We are entering some sort of event horizon. - @aka_Reynolds
- I gasped so loud at that damn Seal commercial lol - @kcastlem
- Well, @Coffeemate won the coveted "What The F*** Did I Just Watch Super" award for Super Bowl Ads - @jappleby
- Coffeemate really saw the commercial their team made and was like "yeah.. Thats going to increase sales and totally not going to creep people out" - @CloudyOne
- it actually makes me deeply sad that billy crystals and meg ryan allowed their diner scene to be bastardized by hellmans mayonnaise. they got nora ephron rolling in her grave! - @trolololson
- THE LEADING LADIES OF NIKE COMING THROUGH! You Can’t Win—So Win. Great commercial #SuperBowlLIX #SuperBowl - @Nikelodeon2021
NFL FLAG FOOTBALL: This extended ad plays up high school stereotypes to make its central point that female athletes engaging in flag football should not only exist, but should be the norm around the country. Could have been inherently funnier, but I like the message. Not so much "The Brad" though. Pro Tip: Marshawn Lynch should be in the bleachers for all future Super Bowl commercials.
GRADE: B
TUBI: Following up on last year's clever telecast-interrupting ad, Tubi went a different route with its Super Bowl spot this time around, playing up the concept of fans' heads representing their genre of choice, regardless of what they might try to do to hide that natural feeling. It's the strangest way to represent such a positive fandom message, and I'm highly disturbed by seeing any kind of hat shape covered in human skin, but it's a win overall.
GRADE: B+
Is it just me, or has this third quarter been especially light by way of interesting and excellent commercials? Seeing all these real potatoes in a Lay's commercial is cool, but still.
HÄAGAEN DAZS: Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez riding around in a car together with a sweeter goal in mind than anything that’s ever taken place in a Fast and Furious movie? I’ll take it. Especially if I can have one of those ice cream bars as well. I’ll ride shotgun with Ludacris, it’s fine.
GRADE: B
BUD LIGHT: Like most companies with ads airing on Game Day, Bud Light produced a series of no-frills mini-ads that tied into its more attention-grabbing spot, with comedian Shane Gillis and Grammy winner Post Malone helping hype up a cul-de-sac block party by distributing Bud Lights via leaf blowers, as if they were T-shirt cannons. Way more dangerous, obviously, but do you KNOW how long it takes to get drunk just on T-shirts? Wait, I forgot what my point was.
GRADE: B (for Bud Light)
JEEP: The award for "Most Sentimental Super Bowl Ad" may indeed go to Jeep for its extended look at Harrison Ford talking about what freedom means. Would 1923's Jacob Dutton have been a Jeep man? Sure, why not?
GRADE: C
STELLA ARTOIS: Hours after Ben Affleck's DunKings took the screen, Matt Damon arrived as David Beckham's surprise twin brother, Other David, who was left in the U.S. at some point. Not that it impeded his ability to kick a football, an American football, into the next county. Gotta love the dig at Affleck, also:
- Other David: So how famous are you? Like Matt Damon-famous?
- David Beckham: Maybe…Ben Affleck-famous.
- Other David: That’s a shame.
Despite presenting the baffling idea that David Beckham doesn't know what Buffalo wings are, I still liked this one more than most.
GRADE: A-
UBER EATS: The extended 90-second version of Matthew McConaughey's multi-role look back at a century of NFL football is another major Super Bowl ad highlight whose shorter form aired earlier in the telecast. It's almost surprising that Kevin Bacon and Greta Gerwig appeared as themselves in the ad. At least I think they did. But if they were also just Matthew McConaughey in disguise, then I applaud the makeup artists who made it happen. What if he's been playing both of them in real life as well?
GRADE: A
BOSCH: Another concept that sounds both insane and completely natural: Antonio Banderas and someone impersonating Randy "Macho Man" Savage dancing and yelling out appliances, punctuated by an elbow drop through a table. Two weirds do make a right sometimes.
GRADE: B+
TOTINO’S PIZZA ROLLS: Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson might as well just become their Detroiters characters, with both the 30-second ad and the alternate, full-length promo below for Totino’s Pizza Rolls serving as proofs of concept. Not only is this my favorite of all the Super Bowl LIX ads, but they both go into the pool of Best Super Bowl Ads ever. If I didn’t know who either of them were, I might have a different feeling, but I fucking love these dudes. Justice for Chazmo the Nameless!
GRADE: A++
![Totino's Pizza Rolls: Chazmo Goes Home [Full Length] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Zp04IqCZ_n4/maxresdefault.jpg)
GODADDY: For all that the third quarter was a snore, the end of the game is pulling out some great ads. GoDaddy landed Walton Goggins for its ad, which could have been him talking about watching paint dry as it happened, and I still would have given it a base-level grade of C. But instead, this ad is a total banger, with the Fallout star playing up how well he can fake expertise throughout a series of different genres. Two highlight quotes that are made all the better when spoken with the actor's signature drawl:
GRADE: A
- "Houston, I’m observing some debris coming from Uranus."
- "Because if your goggles ain’t Goggins, they don’t belong on your noggins."
Unsurprisingly for anyone who was paying attention between the ad breaks, the Philadelphia Eagles did indeed thwart the Chiefs' attempts to secure a third consecutive Super Bowl victory, and now the post-game show has officially started, which I suppose wraps up this live-blog. But let's first give a quick shout to a few more ads that weren't exactly lower than C-tier, but still didn't quite make the cut for one reason or another.
- NerdWallet: It was fun to hear Succession vet Kieran Culkin voicing a sorta-snarky whale in this ad, but there weren't any signature quips or truly memorable whale-y visuals to cling to.
- Squarespace: Barry Keoghan in old-timey gear delivering laptops with occupation-specific Squarespace sites instead of newspapers is a fun gag, but the ad still feels plodding for whatever reason. I fully bought Keoghan in the role, though.
- Booking.com: I can't think of any other situation where The Muppets would fall short of expectations — well, okay, that's a different conversation — but I thought a Super Bowl commercial would be an ideal place for them to thrive. And for the minimal seconds of Booking.com's ad where they appeared, I was all-in. But they weren't even the full focus of the spot, so in lieu of a longer ad being released, they're at the bottom of the bowl.
Thank you to everyone who followed along with this year's batch of questionable, confusing, and hyper-expensive ads. I hope you all had as much fun as Eagles fans did during the game itself. And I'd also like to thank Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson for clearing the bar for Best Super Bowl Ad Of 2025. The trophy is in the mail.
