Super Bowl 60 proved that when it comes to advertising during major cultural events, creativity and relevance matter more than ever.
From ads leaning on nostalgia to those drumming up excitement about the future, there was no shortage of content to get audiences buzzing. But did they?
Our Explore+ analysis of social media conversations from February 8-9, 2026, shows that brands that teased their commercials ahead of the Super Bowl won audience attention long before kickoff. However, those same ads (and some new ones) shown during the game failed to generate the same enthusiasm. Meanwhile, AI emerged as a contentious flashpoint, with ads leaning on the technology facing heightened scrutiny.
Teaser Ads: The New Must-Have for Brands Touching Down at the Super Bowl
Brands teasing their Super Bowl ads (or even sharing them in full) ahead of the big game is nothing new. In 2026, however, this practice seemed to become the standard, with just a handful of ads taking a chance on surprising viewers during the live broadcast.
For many brands, teaser or fully released commercials ahead of high-profile, televised events are opportunities to extend the lifespans of their extremely costly ad spots and campaigns. Plus, they are highly effective in capturing audience attention and engagement, more so than their on-air counterparts.
Our Explore+ analysis found that from January 1 to February 7, 2026, engagement with social media posts about this year’s Super Bowl commercials was 3.5x higher on average than those during and just after the live event.
Part of this discrepancy can be chalked up to the very different time periods analyzed — more than a month of conversation compared to just two days. However, with upwards of 135 million people watching the halftime show alone, according to early reports, ads that aired live had plenty of opportunity to make an impact during and after the game.
And yet, they didn’t. As our previous analysis found, only about 1% of Super Bowl 60 conversation and engagement centered on the ads.
Which brands had the most successful Super Bowl 2026 ad teasers?
Budweiser and Squarespace emerged as the “winners” of the pre-Super Bowl deluge of commercials this year.
First, Budweiser’s Americana-embracing spot starring its famous Clydesdales led in share of voice (SOV), capturing 17% of the overall ad-related conversation. It also achieved 41% positive sentiment, higher than any other brand at the big game.
Users on X, where 40% of the Budweiser commercial conversation occurred, were especially taken with the ad. Highly engaged mentions praised the American symbolism appearing throughout, as well as the usage of “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
This TikTok from MrBeast helped Squarespace rack up more engagement than any other sponsoring brand ahead of Super Bowl 60.
Meanwhile, Squarespace “won” the Super Bowl 60 teaser race with high audience interaction, thanks largely to the starpower of internet phenom MrBeast. The brand’s teaser ads achieved an impressive 24.2% of overall pre-game, commercial-focused engagement, despite only having about 1% SOV in terms of mentions. About 99% of that audience interaction came from TikTok, where a single sponsored post from MrBeast generated about 945,000 engagements. However, that engagement didn’t necessarily result in emotional resonance with social media users — sentiment about the ad was 99% neutral.
Super Bowl 2026 Commercials: The Brands That Got Viewers Talking for Better or Worse
Overall, 2026 wasn’t a favorable year for audience reception to Super Bowl commercials, with about 52% negative sentiment towards them on social media.
Which brands had the most successful ads broadcast during Super Bowl 2026?
Dunkin’s commercial focused on 90s nostalgia “won” the Super Bowl 60 ads conversation with 15% SOV. Mentions of stars Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, and Tom Brady collectively accounted for about 57% of those mentions. But while the celebrity cameos drove visibility, engagement lagged at less than 10% of overall related engagement actions.
Conversely, Levi’s, which didn’t release a teaser ad, came out on top in terms of audience interaction, achieving about 21% of overall engagement. As the sponsor of the Super Bowl 60 stadium, the brand was already set to achieve major reach during the game. However, its “cheeky” ad showing Levi’s jeans on the backsides of regular people and cultural icons alike positioned the brand as an exciting mainstay of American pop culture.
This X post showing the last eight seconds of Levi’s Super Bowl 60 ad drove significant social media engagement for the denim brand, highlighting the power of online fandoms.
Over 20% of Levi’s total engagement came from a single X post from a fan account dedicated to Doechii, who appeared at the tail end of the ad. As we saw with the highly discussed cameos during Bad Bunny’s halftime show, unannounced celebrity appearances drove significant buzz during and after the game. So while teaser ads took the spotlight, Levi’s ad proved that surprise moments from familiar faces are still effective ways to capture audience interest and investment.
How did Super Bowl 2026 audiences feel about AI ads?
Perhaps the biggest difference between this year’s Super Bowl ads compared to previous years was the increased presence of AI-focused, -generated, or -enhanced commercials.
From the day of to the day after the big game, about 6% of total mentions of the commercials were focused on AI. Close to 50% of those mentions were negative, largely critical of AI-generated commercials for being uninspired or low-quality, i.e., “AI slop”.
Dunkin’, which used AI to make its stars look younger in keeping with the 90s nostalgia theme, dominated the AI slop conversation with 37% SOV and 42% negative sentiment.
Not all AI-generated ads caught the ire of viewers. Svedka, which promoted the role of AI in creating its commercial, captured 63% of AI commercial-related engagement during and after the game. However, sentiment was largely neutral, suggesting attention was driven more by novelty than outrage.
Takeaways from the Social Media Discussion of Super Bowl 2026 Commercials
The biggest brand wins happened before game day, not during it.
Super Bowl ads captured focused attention during the live event, but the lead-up to the game is where brands scored big. With teaser ads achieving 3.5x higher engagement per post than in-game ads, Super Bowl 2026 made it clear that early narrative-building and social media distribution were key to campaign success this year.
Cultural resonance, not visibility, drove audience engagement.
Levi’s and Salesforce emerged as two of the most successful brands in this year’s battle of the Super Bowl ads, and their success is thanks to cultural relevance. As netizens flock to social media to participate in big cultural happenings, both brands tapped into that desire by inviting viewers (and customers) to be part of a capital M moment. Levi’s did so by highlighting their jeans as stars of iconic pop culture happenings, from Toy Story to Doechii’s current popularity. Salesforce did so with the help of YouTube king MrBeast and his massive, interactive treasure hunt offering a $1 million prize. In both cases, viewers were positioned as active participants rather than just passive prospects.
AI in Super Bowl ads became a flashpoint, not a creative advantage.
AI-driven advertising represented a relatively small share of ad conversation, but it attracted outsized negativity and perceptions of creative hollowness. Brands perceived as using AI to replace creativity—most notably Dunkin’—faced backlash, while novelty-first executions like Svedka generated attention without a strong emotional response. Overall, AI triggered more skepticism than admiration, signaling that the sparkle of new technology is not a substitute for creativity and emotional resonance.
FAQ: Social Media Buzz About Super Bowl 2026 Commercials
What drove the most engagement around Super Bowl 2026 advertising?
Meltwater’s Explore+ analysis shows that pre-game teaser ads drove the strongest engagement, outperforming in-game commercials by a wide margin. Brands that built anticipation early saw significantly higher social media interaction than those relying solely on the live broadcast.
Did teaser ads outperform commercials aired during Super Bowl 2026?
Yes. Meltwater found that teaser ads achieved 3.5x higher engagement actions per post ahead of Super Bowl 2026 compared to during it.
Which brands performed best in pre-game Super Bowl 2026 conversations?
Meltwater analysis identified Budweiser and Squarespace as standout performers before kickoff. Meltwater’s social listening data showed Budweiser leading in share of voice and positive sentiment, while Squarespace generated outsized engagement driven by creator-led distribution on TikTok.
Which brands stood out during the live Super Bowl 2026 broadcast?
According to Meltwater’s engagement and share-of-voice metrics, Levi’s emerged as the top performer during the game despite skipping a teaser strategy. Meltwater data revealed that surprise celebrity appearances and strong cultural positioning helped the brand outperform more heavily promoted ads.
How did audiences respond to AI-driven Super Bowl ads in 2026?
Meltwater’s analysis found that AI-focused ads generated disproportionate negativity on social media. Meltwater data showed nearly half of AI-related ad mentions were negative, suggesting audiences remain skeptical of AI when it appears to replace human creativity.
What can brands learn from Super Bowl 2026 advertising trends?
Meltwater insights highlight the importance of early narrative-building, cultural relevance, and authentic creativity. Meltwater helps brands identify these signals in real time, enabling marketers to optimize campaigns before, during, and after major cultural moments.
