Super Bowl LX is being played in Santa Clara, California, but the battle for advertising attention will play out across hundreds of millions of screens.
OpenAI (OPENAI) and Anthropic (ANTHRO) are using Super Bowl LX to take their escalating product fight to the massive viewing audience, with Anthropic (ANTHRO) openly jabbing OpenAI’s (OPENAI) new ad model and OpenAI countering with its pitch that it is the future of AI.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) will be the largest advertiser for Super Bowl LX on February 8.
The beer giant has locked in about two minutes and thirty seconds of national Super Bowl advertising and 45 seconds of regional advertising. The plan is to use the game as a launchpad for 2026 campaigns behind flagship brands Budweiser (#7 in U.S. volume in 2025), Bud Light (#3), and Michelob Ultra (#1). Budweiser’s advertising spot will be more serious and heritage-driven, explicitly tying into the brand’s 150th anniversary and positioning the beer as made in America. Bud Light will air spots aimed at the mass, party-focused audience with an irreverent, celebrity-led execution. Red-hot Michelob Ultra will lean into performance and wellness themes, using its Super Bowl creative to promote “America’s competitive spirit” and to seed its Team USA partnership ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics later in the month and the World Cup in the summer.
Instacart (CART) is airing a 30-second in-game spot titled “Bananas.” It will mark the company’s second-ever Super Bowl commercial. The Spike Jonze-directed spot features a musical showdown on a 60-foot stage between Ben Stiller and Benson Boone, using a duet about choosing the perfect bananas to introduce the company’s preference picker feature for selecting ripeness.
Rocket Mortgage (RKT) will have a big presence at the Big Game with a 60-second Super Bowl LX commercial featuring Lady Gaga that doubles as a joint showcase with Redfin. Notably, Rocket acquired Redfin last year and is looking to sell consumers on the “full home journey” platform (search plus finance) that it now features.
PepsiCo (PEP) will run ads for Pepsi Zero Sugar, Lay’s, and Poppi as it looks to position itself in the “better-for-you” snacking category. The Gatorade brand will not have its commercial but will have its place on the sidelines as usual.
Direct-to-patient telehealth company Ro is making its Super Bowl debut with tennis legend Serena Williams promoting GLP-1 medications, highlighting her 34-pound weight loss and improved health markers, including reduced cholesterol and joint stress. The spot aims to rebrand weight-loss medication from a cosmetic shortcut to a serious clinical intervention. Novo Nordisk (NVO) plans to run its first in-game Super Bowl spot, a 90-second celebrity-filled ad to promote the new oral Wegovy weight-loss pill.
Liquid Death is returning for its second consecutive Super Bowl with a 30-second national ad airing in the first half. The spot will focus on the brand’s new Sparkling Energy line, using the same irreverent, tongue-in-cheek tone that defined its prior “Safe for Work” Super Bowl ad. Liquid Death is one of the beverage upstarts that is expected to have an IPO in the future.
Sazerac is taking its Svedka vodka brand to the Big Game for the first time in 12 years. The advertisement is expected to be one of the first spots created primarily with generative AI. The creative revives Svedka’s mid-2000s “Fembot” mascot.
Unilever’s (UL) Liquid I.V. brand will make its Super Bowl debut with a spot that attempts to reframe hydration as a “game-winning play” rather than a wellness fad. The brand’s chief marketing officer said the spot is designed to “flip the script on what wellness looks like,” using the Super Bowl stage to normalize electrolyte and performance-oriented hydration.
Meta Platforms (META) is returning to advertise during the Super Bowl. The creative is being used to promote the company’s new Oakley‑branded AI smart glasses line.
Cadillac will use a Super Bowl LX TV spot to reveal the livery of its first Formula 1 car. The ad will serve as a high-profile introduction of Cadillac F1, which is being backed by General Motors (GM) and TWG Motorsports. Cadillac F1 has been formally approved by the FIA and Formula One (FWONA) (FWONK) (FWONB) management to join the World Championship from the 2026 season.