“Well, this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen” – Mountain Dew Ad
We agree, Mountain Dew. We agree.
Superbowl 2025 was full of silly ads. Not “funny”. Silly. I mean, there were 3 ads with facial features flying through the air. These spots cost approx. $8M to “air”.
After watching Superbowl 2025, our POV is the ads fall into 3 categories:
- 42% Silly
- 26% Funny
- 25% Inspiring
Though we don’t have sales data, initial social reactions suggest that silly didn’t land.
When incumbents zig, Challenger Brands zag. So we’re ranking 20 Superbowl Sunday ads on our very own “silly spectrum” to uncover the Challengers that went beyond to give us something more.
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Our Least Fav 5
These seemed silly for the purpose of being silly. It’s like someone asked “What if…” and got more & more ridiculous.
Coffee mate – “Tongue meet Cold Foam”
What if his tongue danced so hard it went flying?
What if he was so excited his eyebrows went flying? PS – we don’t get any pleasure from disliking an ad featuring a Canadian legend.
Pringles – “The Call of The Mustaches”
What if ALL of their mustaches went flying?
Tubi – “He was Born to Love Westerns”
What if his head was shaped like a hat?
What if Seal was a Seal that liked Mountain Dew?
Our Fav 5
Featuring real customers – V cool. As a Youtube comment says “Making it into a Taco Bell Super Bowl ad is the new American dream”.
Just read the comments to see the reaction to this female empowerment message. “You can’t win. So win.” Goosebumps!
Mustard X Mustard#mustaaaaaaaaaard
Straight from a Youtube comment “This. This is how you reference pop culture without making it corny. Thank you Heinz ”
HÄAGEN-DAZS – “NOT SO FAST, NOT SO FURIOUS”
Feels like a continuation of the movie rather than an ad. Also grounded in a real truth about mental health being a priority for Americans. “Not today.”
Verges on silly, but genuinely funny, grounded in the truth that often older people are just WAY better at pickleball. The people agree, ranking it at #3. "Play you for an ULTRA?"
BONUS: Regional Ad Science Moms – “By the Time”
A heartfelt story about a child growing up and what the world may look like by then. “Our window to act on climate change is like watching them grow up. We blink, and we miss it.”
Other ads we loved included Michelob – “The ULTRA Hustle”, Dove – These Legs, Lay’s – “The Little Farmer”&NFL – “It Takes All of Us” – Somebody. ♥️
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Our Takeaway
When the 5&V team did our Monday morning huddle (sorry!) we shared similar thoughts. The combo of AI + "What if?" may not be the winner. Winning ads are steeped in core truths and know how to dip a toe in social culture without being cringe. They can be silly, just not “silly for silly’s sake.”Ready to challenge the status quo of advertising? Let’s start rewriting the rules together.
Superbowl 2025 Ads on our "Silly Spectrum"
These are ranked, not by how much we like each ad, rather how silly each ad was with a correspoding category from our POV.
Silly scale (10=ridiculous, 0=serious)
Fetch – “The Big Reward” Giveaway 0
Coffee mate – “Tongue meet Cold Foam” Silly 9
MSC Cruises – “Lets Holiday” Funny 5
Duracell – “Brady Reboost Funny 5
Jeep – “Owner’s Manual” Inspiring 0
Angel Soft – “Potty-tunity Silly 4
Tubi – “He was Born to Love Westerns” Silly 9
Poppi – “Soda Thoughts” Funny 3
Taco Bell – “The Fans” feat. Doja Cat and LeBron Fans 3
Homes.com – “Still Not Saying We’re the BestFunny 5
Nike – “So Win” Inspiring 0
Liquid Death – “Safe For Work” Funny 6
Google Pixel – “Dream Job” Inspiring0
OpenAI – “ChatGPT – The Intelligence Age” Inspiring 0
T-Mobile Starlink – “A New Era in Connectivity” Inspiring 0
Dunkin Doughnuts – DunKings Funny 6
Meta Ray-Ban – “Hey Meta, Who Eats Art?” Silly 7
He Gets Us – “What is Greatness” Inspiring 0
Doritos – “Abduction” Silly 7
TurboTax – “Now Taxes is So Sweet Inspiring 5
Michelob – “The ULTRA Hustle” Funny 4
Pfizer – “Knock Out” Inspiring 0
Ritz – “RITZ Salty Club” Funny 5
Bosch – “The More You Bosch” Silly 7
DoorDash – “DashPass Math” Silly 7
Cirkul – “You Got Cirkul” Funny 4
Ram Trucks – “Goldilocks and the Three Trucks” Silly 7
GoDaddy – “Act Like You Know” Silly 5
NerdWallet – “Genius Beluga” Silly 6
MTN DEW – Kiss From A Lime Silly 9
Totino’s Pizza Rolls – “Chazmo Finally Goes Home” Silly 5
Uber Eats – “A Century of Cravings” Funny 4
Lay’s – “The Little Farmer” Inspiring 0
Stella Artois – “David & Dave: The Other David” Funny 4
Squarespace – “A Tale As Old As Websites” Funny 5
NERDS – Ad ft. Shaboozey Silly 6
What’s Up With Hate – “No Reason to Hate” Inspiring 0
Little Ceasars – “Woah” Silly 8
HÄAGEN-DAZS – “NOT SO FAST, NOT SO FURIOUS” Inspiring 1
Pringles – “The Call of The Mustaches” Silly 8
Coors Light – “Slow Monday” Silly 7
Booking.com – “Get your stay ridiculously right” Silly 6
Reese’s – “Don’t Eat Lava” Silly 8
Bud Light – “Big Men on Cul-De-Sac” Silly 8
HexClad – “Unidentified Frying Object” Silly 7
Instacart – “We’re Here” Silly 7
WeatherTech – “Whatever Comes Your Way” Silly 7
Hellmanns – “When Sally Met Hellmann’s” Funny 5
Hims – “Sick of the System” Inspring 0
NFL – “It Takes All of Us” – Somebody Inspiring 0
Rocket – “Take Me Home” Inspiring 0
Budweiser – ‘First Delivery” Inspiring 0
