The De-Influencing of the Super Bowl: What Brands Can Learn From 2026’s Top-Performing Ads

Since its beginnings, the Super Bowl has been advertising’s most extravagant red carpet. I mean, look at Bad Bunny’s stellar half-time performance. 

A-list celebrities and cultural royalty are flown in at eye-watering advertising expense, with this year averaging $8 million for a 30-second slot.

However, this year, the data tells a different story.

According to news from System1, a creative effectiveness platform that measures emotional response to advertising, the Super Bowl is quietly undergoing a reset. 

While 59% of this year’s commercials featured celebrities, seven of the top ten highest-scoring ads did not rely on famous faces at all. Instead, they leaned into something far less glamorous yet far more powerful: relatability.

Welcome to the de-influencing of the Super Bowl

System1 found that ads driven by heartfelt, human stories consistently outperformed those led by big celebs.

The top performers of the night included the NFL’s You Are Special and Champion, Budweiser’s American Icons, Universal Orlando Resort’s Lil’ Bro and Michelob ULTRA’s The Ultra Instructor. None of these needed a Hollywood headline act to connect, but instead relied on storytelling, warmth and cultural fluency.

In fact, the NFL’s Champion ad, which came in second place, was inspired by a school coach’s inspirational speech from 2009.

In contrast, many celebrity-heavy spots struggled to translate recognition into emotional resonance. In a world where many are becoming disillusioned by A-listers, is it building long-term growth to plaster them as the face of your brand?

The cost of celebrity status

Celebrity casting has long been justified as a safe bet, but they also come with a creative cost.

When ads lean too heavily on celebrities to do the heavy lifting, storytelling often takes a back seat. Brands become background props, and audiences sense the distance between glossy fame and the realities of normal people.

The data shows what matters: This year’s Big Game ads averaged 2.7 Stars for long-term brand-building potential, down from 3.0 last year. Ads featuring AI messaging averaged even lower at 2.1 Stars. Meanwhile, the strongest emotional responses came from stories rooted in everyday human moments.

Relatability always wins!

We’ve seen this emotional logic time and time again in the creator economy. Audiences trust people who feel like them, not people who feel untouchable. The Super Bowl may be late to the party, but it is finally learning the lesson creators have known for years.