10 Super Bowl LIX ads that won with consumers

This year's Super Bowl ad lineup was filled with flying facial hair, endless celebs, some feel-good nostalgia, and of course, lots of laughs.  

But which ones stood out from the rest? We used Zappi Amplify Advertising System, a modern research system that fuels agile, iterative ad development with continuous consumer feedback to analyze this year’s ads.

Developed in partnership with leading global brands, Zappi Amplify Ad System combines the best of advertising research approaches to predict how well an ad will deliver ROI, via both short-term sales and long-term brand equity.

Read on to get our analysis of ten favorite ads from Super Bowl LIX across categories, backed by consumer data.

Before we dive into this year's winning Super Bowl ads, let’s cover the five metrics we used to determine success:

1. Sales impact: How likely is the ad to deliver ROI via short-term sales uplift? 

2. Ad distinctiveness: Is this ad different from other ads viewers have seen?

3. Brand recall: Did viewers identify and remember the brand in the ad?

4. Overall emotion: Did the ad make viewers feel anything?

5. Top scoring emotion: What emotion did the ad make viewers feel?  

Now let’s get into the ads!

Bringing back the brand’s iconic Clydesdales, this sweet ad shows a baby Clydesdale — deemed too small to participate in a Budweiser delivery — rescue a loose keg and prove his worth. The ad uses the tagline “The Bud’s For You” which the brand brought back in last year’s big game.

The beautiful storytelling, music and visuals create a heartwarming and touching ad. 50% of people spontaneously said that the Clydesdales made them realize the ad was for Budweiser, and viewers praised the determination of the baby Clydesdale. The result is an all-around great ad people love!

Hims & Hers serves up a rebellious ad that calls for viewers to join in the fight for a healthier America. “Sick of the System” shows a montage of fast-paced images of stats, headlines and vintage footage with a voiceover on how America’s healthcare system was designed to keep us “sick and stuck,” followed by a message on the refreshing type of weight loss care Hims & Hers provides.  

Hims & Hers’ fight-the-system ad really caught attention and took audiences on an emotional journey. Viewers were surprised at the stats presented describing the state of the system and loved the Hims & Hers solution. Many commented on the realistic models in the ad and the biggest driver of likes was the messaging. Viewers saw Hims & Hers as an ally. It’s a great example of the brand/product as the hero in the story!

This ad tells the tale of David Beckham discovering he has a twin brother in America called “Other David” over a pint of Stella Artois with his parents. Naturally, Beckham travels over to meet “Other David,” who turns out to be Matt Damon. When he arrives at his house, there’s a backyard BBQ party where the two bond over similarities, including the fact that they can both kick — and they both drink Stella Artois. 

The classic combination of celebrities and humor! Viewers found the jokes in the ad — especially the dig at Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s football kick — to be hilarious. The two finding common ground in their love of Stella Artois helped land the branding too!

Nerds released a nostalgic ad with a wonderful local nod to the host city of the big game featuring “A Bar Song” singer, Shaboozey, strolling down a street in New Orleans. As soon as he takes a bite of some Nerds Gummy Clusters, he starts singing “What a Wonderful World” as bright colors and “living” nerds and a giant gummy (originally introduced at last year’s big game) appear all around him to join in song.

The use of nostalgia, music and a trending celebrity resulted in a wonderful ad for Nerds! Viewers were left with positive feelings of love and happiness, with both Overall Emotion and Love reactions far surpassing the norms. And with Nerds Gummy Clusters fuelling the color-filled streets, viewers couldn’t help but remember who the ad was for. 

Part of the brand’s “What joy tastes like” campaign and set to the tune of Barry Louis Polisar’s “All I Want Is You” this heartfelt ad follows a determined young girl who sets out on a mission to grow something on her own, while her family heads out to plant potatoes on their farmland. From rainstorms to grasshoppers to nights in a nearby tent, the girl keeps watch to protect her little spud. In the end, she proudly adds her fully grown potato to the massive load on a Lay’s truck — with the message that they use real potatoes on family farms across America.

Love wins the day with this pure and joyful ad from Lay’s. Viewers were hooked on the story, which elicited strong feelings of love and togetherness; with many viewers noting how lovable and family-oriented it was. 

Dove delivers another powerful message with “These Legs,” which shows a little girl running down a sidewalk to Bruce Springsteen's “Born to Run” with the message, “At 3, these legs are unstoppable.” As she continues running and laughing, the message changes to “At 14, she’ll think they’re unbearable.” Part of their #KeepHerConfident  campaign, this ad raises awareness that 1 in 2 girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type, and the desperate need to change the way we speak to young girls.

The music, the message and the visual of the young girl, freely and confidently running down the sidewalk certainly struck a chord with viewers. Their consistent messaging made it easy for viewers to know who the ad was for, which again delivered high feelings of Love and Overall Emotion that surpassed the norms. 

Michelob Ultra’s “The ULTRA Hustle” stars actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara as pickleball court “hustlers” that challenge others (including NFL‘s Randy Moss, Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser and WNBA Champion Sabrina Ionescu) to competitive games of pickleball for some Michelob Ultra.

The combination of celebrities, from actors to sports players, and humor make for a highly enjoyable ad. Unsurprisingly, the ad surpassed all norms for Laughter and Overall Emotion, with viewers noting how funny it was. Plus, with the goal of Dafoe and O’Hara’s matches being a fresh pour of Michelob Ultra, it was easy for viewers to recall just who the ad was for!  

Pringles’ hilarious ad spot features actor Adam Brody at a house party that’s run out of Pringles. The can whispers for him to blow into it, which lets out a call for all the mustaches — from the likes of Nick Offerman, James Harden, Andy Reid and of course, the iconic Mr. Potato Head. The mustaches fly off their faces and take to the skies in flocks to deliver new cans of Pringles to the party. 

What a great insight on Pringles’ part to connect their own Mr. Pringles mustache with the likes of other celebrity ‘staches! Viewers immediately recognized the connection, finding the ad to be very distinct to the brand and absolutely hilarious. 

Doritos brought back their famous Crash the Super Bowl contest this year after nearly a decade-long hiatus! Crash the Super Bowl invites Doritos fans the chance to land their own ad into the lineup (and $1 mil) by consumer vote. “Abduction,” created by Ohio-native Dylan Bradshaw, features a man fighting to save his precious bag of Doritos from being abducted by aliens. At the end, the man and alien share a bag of Doritos together.

What better way to engage fans than to have them participate in the making (and selection) of the ad itself? Doritos’ ad resonated very well with consumers, kept the product at the heart of the story and delivered lots of laughs — making it a truly distinct and hilarious spot.  

NFL’s “Somebody” is a heartwarming ad that shows football players Demario Davis, Arik Armstead and Adam Thielen speaking to groups of kids across New Orleans to support, inspire and tell them that they are somebody, no matter what they look like or where they come from. The ad helps shine a light on the NFL's ongoing dedication to supporting programs that positively impact the lives of kids everywhere.

This real and heartfelt ad from the NFL had viewers feeling the love right from the start, with above average scores for Overall Emotion, particularly eliciting very strong feelings of love. This ad helps showcase the power of love versus humor and uses celebrities to deliver a positive message to such a precious part of our world: the kids.

Super Bowl LIX had a great lineup of ads that made viewers feel the love, chuckle with laughter and even make them do a double take. 

For our complete list of winning ads from this year’s big game, as well as learnings that can help you fuel winning advertising, download our report below.