rp Reacts: Touchdowns & Fumbles from the Big Game (Ads, of course)

The Super Bowl isn’t just about football—it’s the biggest night in advertising. Every year, brands battle for attention, hoping to score a viral moment, tug at heartstrings, or just make us laugh. Some ads deliver a championship-worthy performance, while others fumble under the pressure.

This year was no different. From big-budget spectacles to unexpected misfires, the game was full of creative highs and lows. So, which brands made the highlight reel, and which ones are heading back to the locker room? Our team breaks it all down.

‍

The MVPs

These brands brought their A game. Whether they made us laugh, cry, or question a trend of flying facial hair, they were memorable for all the right reasons.

Novartis 'Your Attention Please'

• ‍“Okay, now I’m crying.” - Samara Anderson, CXO‍
• "The breast cancer ad was great!" – Spencer Watson, Graphic Designer‍
• "Women's sports going right into breast cancer — someone enjoyed planning that schedule." – Karla Jackson, Creative Director

Duracell 'Brady Reboost'

• ‍"Paying for talent that makes sense — congrats to Duracell." – Karla‍
• "Okay, Duracell - that was pretttty good." – Jesse Spear, Sr. Business Development Manager 

Mountain Dew 'Kiss From A Lime'

• ‍"Seal Mt. Dew is going to be hard to beat for me." – Drew Beamer, Creative Director‍
• “Seal as a seal…kind of funny." – Caroline Meyer, Account Director

Pringles 'The Call of the Mustaches'

• ‍"Pringles makes no sense, but I don’t really care. Love it. Especially Mr. Potato Head." – Drew ‍
• "Pringles was one of my faves so far." – Spencer‍
• “TWO mustache flying spots?” “WHAT ARE THE ODDS” - Samara and Caroline

Liquid Death 'Safe for Work'

• ‍"Liquid Death FTW." – Drew ‍
• "You got your Liquid Death ad, Drew." – Karla

But if there can only be one winner, Nike's 'So Win' takes it.

• ‍“You can’t win. So win. Damn that was good.” - Samara‍
• “You can’t win so win was a clear winner.” Matt Weber, Director of Production‍
• “I am finding it hard to find one better then 'So Win' by Nike. Just so so good.” - Tim, CEO

And we can’t forget the Jordan 'Love Hurts' ad that aired after the game…

• ‍“Late entry: Nike Air Jordan ‘Love, Hurts’ ad. This one wins the timeliness award.” - Karla‍
• “That Jordan ad was a perfect end of game ad.” - Jacob Wheeler, Account Supervisor

‍

The Ads that Missed the Mark

Not everyone can be a winner. Here are the head scratchers — the ads that felt like a missed opportunity or just didn’t quite land.

Coffee Mate 'Cold Foam'

• "Jail to the Coffee Mate ad." – Caroline
• "Coffee Mate — an ad as unnatural as its taste." – Karla. 
• "The tongue ad had everyone at our party closing their eyes and screaming for it to stop. Feels off-brand for Coffee Mate." – Samara. 
• "Coffee Mate was weird and delightful." – Spencer (a questionable outlier)

Jeep 'Owner's Manual'

• ‍“Harrison! Such possibility — so poorly done.” - Karla
• “Under impressed by a lot of brands that typically do better.  Jeep was trying to recreate the Dodge magic from the Dodge Farmer spot from years ago but even Harrison Ford couldn’t get it there.” - Matt Weber

Dunkin' 'DunKings 2'

• "The Dunkin' ad was mid at best." – Spencer
• “Matt Damon skipped out on the Dunkin ad for the Stella ad. Smart!” - Jacob Wheeler, Account Supervisor

Taco Bell 'The Fans ft. Doja Cat and LeBron'

• "Boo to Taco Bell using celebrities to say they're not using celebrities." - Karla

RITZ 'Salty Club'

• "The Ritz ad just wasn’t funny enough. These are too expensive not to be at least very funny." – Spencer
• “I kept waiting for it to get funnier...and it didn’t.” - Jesse

‍

Honorable Mention to all the ads we don’t remember and to Fetch — whose app crashed after their spot aired.

‍

A Few That Were Too Close to Call

A few spots sparked debate or had our team split. The jury's still out on whether these nailed it or failed it (and the jury's definitely still out on what exactly verklempt means).

Rocket 'Take Me Home Rocket'

• "Rocket Mortgage had the feels, but honestly could have been any brand." – Drew. 
• “Ok yes rocket was pulling on my heart strings but could have been anything agree. However kudos to the media buyer for connecting with the song in the stadium with on premise ads." - Samara
• "Fully agree, Drew." – Caroline. 
• "Especially since they’re just ‘Rocket' now — how many people watching don't know it's Rocket Mortgage?" – Karla.
• “Country Roads got me verklempt.” Matt Reed, Creative Technologist

Pfizer 'Knock Out'

• ‍“Pfizer was a winner for me.” - Matt W.‍
• “Pfizer made me cry 5 mins into this game. I’m not sure if that makes it a good ad or not.” - Jacob‍
• “I cried too and then was mad it was a pharma ad.” - Samara

Angel Soft 'Potty-tunity'

• ‍“That toilet paper break was a great idea though - it was so damn strategic” - Samara‍
• “Who takes a bathroom break in 30s? Thanks Anglesoft…” - Drew

Doritos 'Abduction'

• ‍"Doritos felt like a rip off of the old Pixar short. Still funny." – Drew
  
  

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

There you have it—our fan favorites, fumbles, and everything in between. At the very least these ads got us talking, and that’s really what it’s all about. Feel free to drop us a line with your thoughts. We’ll run it back next year.