Super Bowl 60 saw the Seattle Seahawks claim victory over the New England Patriots, but there were plenty of other winners — and losers — off the field during the game, with some brands scoring with their commercials and others fumbling their attempts for a loss.
The stakes are high for advertisers, with 30 seconds of airtime fetching as much as $10 million in Sunday’s game. Brands pay additional millions to craft their commercials, hire celebrity spokespeople and market their ads before the game.
The most effective Super Bowl ads this year delivered an emotional or humorous punch while also clearly conveying the importance or utility of their products, according to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The annual post-game ad breakdown ranked Google’s spot for its Gemini artificial intelligence service as the best this year because it tugged at the heartstrings while also showing how the platform could be used to picture a newly bought home with fresh paint, a redecorated child’s bedroom, and a cozy garden.
“Google’s ad was really a product demonstration more than anything — most of the successful companies really communicated something about the brand,” Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing and co-lead of the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, told CBS News.
AI-related products also dominated Super Bowl 60 commercials, with nearly a quarter of the game’s pre-released ads dealing with artificial intelligence in some way, according to an analysis from ad research firm iSpot.
Coinbase, meanwhile, earned a failing grade from Kellogg’s ad review for using a Backstreet Boys song with karaoke-like lyrics. The ad failed to show viewers what Coinbase does or why they might want to use it, the business school said.
“It wasn’t clear what they were advertising or what the benefit was,” Calkins said. “Ultimately, a Super Bowl spot is about building the business and building the brand — you have to be clear about what the product is and why someone should buy it.”
The Super Bowl 60 commercials leaned heavily on themes of kindness and community, with the ads ranked as the most heartwarming in more than five years, according to an analysis by Daivid, an AI-based advertising company. It adjudged the Rocket commercial, featuring Lady Gaga singing Mr. Rogers’ theme song, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” as the most emotionally engaging Super Bowl ad this year.
Best: Google Super Bowl ad
New Home | Google Gemini SB Commercial 2026 by
Google on
YouTube
Google’s ad, titled “New Home,” touted the tech giant’s AI capabilities, showing a mom and young son using its Gemini app to depict what their new house would look like with a new garden and different colored walls. The ad oozes cuteness, featuring an adorable baby, a charming house and a faithful family dog.
The Kellogg panel, which ranks the ads with grades from A to F, gave the Google ad an “A.”
Best: Pepsi Super Bowl commercial
The Choice | Pepsi | Super Bowl by
Pepsi on
YouTube
Pepsi’s commercial had a “very simple premise,” with a polar bear — an icon associated with rival Coca-Cola — picking Pepsi in a blind taste test, Calkins told CBS News.
Later in the ad, two polar bears are captured drinking Pepsi Zero Sugar sodas on a kisscam, referencing the infamous Coldplay kisscam moment from 2025. Rather than shrinking from the spotlight, the bears embrace the moment, lifting their Pepsi cans for all to see.
“The ad makes people feel good about Pepsi — that is really the goal, for people who drink Pepsi to feel good,” Calkins noted. “Some might debate if it helped Coke as well because the polar bears are so associated with Coke, but it brought you into the spot, and it had that great Coldplay moment.”
Worst: Coinbase Super Bowl ad
Everybody Coinbase by
Coinbase on
YouTube
Coinbase’s ad got a failing grade from the Kellogg review panel because the pared-down commercial was unclear about what the crypto exchange does — or even that it has anything to do with cryptocurrency.
Worst: Ai.com Super Bowl commercial
Introducing ai.com – Your Private, Personal AI Agent by
Ai Com on
YouTube
Ai.com’s ad earned a failing grade from the Kellogg review because its panelists said they were left unsure of what the service could do — a weakness when other AI-related ads provided strong messaging about the value of their products, Calkins said.
“Anthropic did a good job with differentiating its message — it was clear what it was and why you should use it,” Calkins said. “Ai.com was a super confusing spot because it wasn’t clear what the product is, or why you should go and use it.”
Full ratings for Super Bowl 60 ads
Below is the full list of Super Bowl commercial ratings from the Kellogg panel, which rates the commercials on their marketing effectiveness.
A-rated adsGoogle
Bosch
Novartis
Anthropic (Claude)
Michelob ULTRA
NFL
Pepsi
TurboTax
Levi’s
B-rated Super Bowl adsFanatics Sportsbook
Lay’s
Ring
Xfinity
T-Mobile
Uber Eats
Hellmann’s
Microsoft Copilot
Squarespace
Grubhub
Wix
Budweiser
Pokémon
Meta
Liquid Death
Red Bull
C-rated Super Bowl adsApartments.com
Homes.com
Liquid I.V.
Toyota
Dove
Universal Orlando Resort
Pringles
Blue Square Alliance Against Hate
Hims & Hers
Wegovy
Nerds
Base44
Ro
Dunkin’
Bud Light
Toyota
Genspark
State Farm
DraftKings
Boehringer Ingelheim
Cadillac
Kinder Bueno
WeatherTech
Amazon (Alexa)
OpenAI
D-rated Super Bowl adsRitz
The MAHA Center
Poppi
Instacart
Redfin/Rocket
Salesforce
He Gets Us
Svedka
Volkswagen
F-rated Super Bowl ads
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