Under the Influence with Terry O’Reilly

Episode: Terry Ranks The Super Bowl 60 Ads

Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Terry O’Reilly

Episode Overview

In this special episode, Terry O’Reilly gives his annual breakdown and ranking of the most notable Super Bowl 60 commercials. He explores industry trends, standout ads, celebrity ensembles, and the cultural undercurrents driving this year’s Super Bowl advertising. Terry weaves together humor, industry insight, and his signature storytelling to deliver a comprehensive snapshot of both the creative highlights and deeper marketing strategies showcased during one of the world’s largest annual advertising stages.

Key Themes and Insights

The Business of Super Bowl Advertising

• Escalating Costs:
  • This year, a 30-second national Super Bowl spot averaged $8 million, with some sold at $10 million due to limited availability. Production and celebrity talent can raise all-in costs to $12–20 million per spot.
    • “Some advertisers paid $10 million instead of eight… there might have been a bidding war.” (05:08)
  • Since 1967, Super Bowl ad rates have risen over 21,000%.
• Audience Size & Composition:
  • 2026’s game broke records with 133–135 million viewers tuning in for the game and halftime (Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin).
  • The NFL is seeing a broader, multi-generational audience, now at least 50% female, influenced in part by the “Taylor Swift effect.”
    • “Over 50% of the audience is female… I think the Taylor Swift effect is at work there.” (09:56)
• Shift in Adspend:
  • Fewer auto and junk food ads; health, tech, and especially AI brands had more presence. Many legacy brands are redirecting funds to the Olympics and World Cup.
  • 40% of advertisers were new to the Super Bowl.
• Cultural Trends:
  • An increase in emotional and health-focused ads, less diversity, and a continued celebrity overload.
  • Celebrity-led ads often have a lower ROI than non-celebrity creative—“celebrity saturation” may be at a tipping point.
  • Lots of toilet humor and bodily function jokes dominated, arguably to mixed effect.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Super Bowl Ad Economics

• "Brands paid $8 million for a 30 second ad. Some of the ad time went for $10 million... A single Super Bowl commercial can be as much as 12 to 20 million dollars as an all-in investment."
  Terry O’Reilly (04:14–06:10)

On Industry and Culture

• “The Super Bowl is the only time of the year when viewers don’t skip the ads. They actually turn up the volume.”
  (06:58)
• "Diversity is such a big part of an advertiser’s target market, so not to reflect them is risk.”
  (13:32)

Trends and Trivia (05:30 - 13:50)

• AI Commercials: Over $1.7 billion spent on AI-related ads; some focused on making AI less scary or more accessible.
• Notable Oddities:
  • William Shatner, age 94, starred in an irreverent Raisin Bran ad full of puns about his name and digestive regularity:
    • “Will Shat in the house, Will Shat on a car, Will Shat every day. I think you get where that was going.” (16:15)
  • Pepsi trolled Coke’s polar bears by showing one choosing Pepsi in a blind taste test, then requiring therapy.
  • The Ritz ad, heavy on celebrity (Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson, Bowen Yang), was panned by Terry:
    • “It wasn’t funny. The jokes are bad. I wonder what the celebrities thought when they saw the script for this one. I’m sure they loved the checks...” (17:54)

Terry’s Top 5 Super Bowl 60 Ads

1. Uber Eats (27:30 – 28:30)

• Premise: Matthew McConaughey tries to convince Bradley Cooper that football is only about selling food, playing on football-related food puns.
• Quote:
  • McConaughey: “When a quarterback runs, they call it a scramble. You want a morning Scramble. … Field goal post—designed after a fork.” (27:30)
• Terry's Commentary:
  “Matthew McConaughey is very funny in these commercials. He nails the whole thing.”
  (28:36)

2. Hellman’s Mayonnaise (28:50 – 30:41)

• Premise: Andy Samberg as “Meal Diamond” (a Neil Diamond parody) sings a wacky, mayonnaise-centric version of “Sweet Caroline.”
• Memorable Lines/Singing:
  • Samberg: “Touching ham, touching cheese, touching you—sweet sandwich time. … If you marry me the curse is broken and I can leave. No, thank you.” (29:58–30:41)
• Terry's Take:
  “It’s just the craziness of Samberg that really makes the spot funny.” (30:43)

3. Budweiser: “American Icons” (32:37 – 33:59)

• Premise: A heartwarming friendship between a Clydesdale colt and a baby bird, which grows into a bald eagle, set to the song “Free Bird.”
• Quote:
  • “The ad is titled American Icons because of the Clydesdale and of course the eagle. … It’s this wonderful little buddy story, really done well.” (33:50)
• Historical Note:
  • Budweiser’s Clydesdale tradition dates back to Prohibition’s repeal.

4. Xfinity: Jurassic Park Parody (34:48 – 35:56)

• Premise: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum (digitally de-aged) recreate a Jurassic Park crisis—solved comically by an Xfinity tech plugging in broadband.
• Notable:
  “They even used AI technology to make [the cast] look young again… So you saw a little AI at work there.” (35:54)
  “It was done well, but I didn’t really love the execution.” (35:50–36:03)

5. Rocket Red Finn: Lady Gaga – “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (37:00 – 37:59)

• Premise: Lady Gaga records an emotional version of Mr. Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” for a real estate/mortgage company, symbolizing unity and community.
• Terry's Analysis:
  • “I think it was a message of unity in a time where there’s a lot of divisiveness going on. … They were tapping very gently into a wonderful sentiment.” (37:59)

Most Memorable and Outrageous Ads (16:00 – 21:50)

• Toilet Humor Abounds:

  • Manscaped ran a spot with singing hair clumps lamenting their removal:
    • “Since you chopped me from between your eyes and that bridge between your thighs…” (21:18)

• Emotional Standouts:

  • NFL’s “I Am a Champion” (21:50–23:10):
    • “Belief is a superpower. … Who am I? I am a champion.”
    • Based on the real pep talks of Coach Jonathan Flowers, used as a youth empowerment message.

• Ring “Find the Lost Dog” (25:06–25:37):

  • Uses AI to help reunite owners with missing pets—a tech twist on the classic lost dog poster.

    • “Ring Lost Dog ad ranked first for emotion out of all the ads.” (25:37)
    • Terry: “I thought that was not only an interesting idea, but an interesting piece of technology.” (25:37)

USA Today’s Super Bowl 60 Ad Rankings (38:00–39:59)

According to viewers:

1. Budweiser (Clydesdale & Eagle “American Icons”)
2. Lay’s (“Last Harvest” – retiring potato farmer hands off to daughter)
3. Pepsi (Polar bear taste test)
4. Dunkin’ Donuts (“Good Will Hunting” sitcom spoof with Ben Affleck & ensemble)
5. Michelob Ultra (Kurt Russell teaches skiing, set to “Eye of the Tiger”)
6. Xfinity (Jurassic Park parody)
7. Novartis (“Relax your tight end” with real football players, finger-free prostate test)
8. NFL (“I am a champion”)
9. Bud Light (Keg rolls down hill at a wedding—celebrity-packed)
10. Ring (Lost Dog AI-powered search)

Terry notes his own favorites largely aligned with USA Today’s.

Fun Facts & Cultural Observations

• Super Bowl halftime performers—including this year’s Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin—are unpaid but receive immense exposure.
• Each participating NFL player receives use of a Cadillac during Super Bowl week.
• Food/drink stats: 1.47 billion chicken wings and 325 million gallons of beer consumed Super Bowl Sunday; over 50% of Canadian viewers use food delivery apps that day.

Terry’s Final Thoughts

• “I didn’t love any of the Super Bowl ads this year. Same feeling as I had last year. I like some ads, but I didn’t love any of them. My criteria always… is do I wish I had written it… I did not have that feeling this year.” (25:52)
• The pressure and over-involvement (“a lot of fingers in that pie”) often stifle truly great creative work.
• Despite sophisticated strategies and immense resources, Terry believes memorable advertising ultimately still comes down to originality, wit, emotional punch, and sometimes just a risk well taken.

For a deep-dive into Super Bowl ad history, evolving trends, and plenty of ad-world anecdotes, this episode is peppered with Terry’s warmth, candor, and gently comedic tone—making it the perfect post-game play-by-play for ad lovers and industry pros alike.