Super Bowl ads do not live or die on television anymore. They live on phones. They live on X reactions, TikTok stitches, Instagram stories, and delayed YouTube views.
The Super Bowl has never really been about just football. It is about attention. It is about who controls the room, the group chat, the timeline, and the conversation the next morning. This past Sunday’s game played out exactly how modern Super Bowl Sundays usually do, a mix of long drives, defensive tension, momentum swings, and then these strange thirty to sixty second interruptions that somehow matter just as much as the score.
Half the audience sees them early. The other half sees them clipped, subtitled, or argued over.
The brands that win understand this. The brands that lose still think they are making commercials.
This year’s ad slate leaned hard into emotion, nostalgia, celebrity density, and safe storytelling. Some of it worked beautifully. Some of it blended together. And a handful of spots separated themselves not because they were louder, but because they felt like moments people actually wanted to pass along.
This is the Respect My Region ranking of the 10 best Super Bowl ads from this past Sunday, based on cultural impact, internet reaction, rewatch value, and whether they felt like something real humans would talk about without being prompted.
2026 Super Bowl LX Ads Ranked
1. e.l.f. Beauty, “Melísa”
If Budweiser won the Ad Meter ranking by leaning into tradition, e.l.f. Beauty won for me by understanding timing and humor. “Melísa,” starring Melissa McCarthy in a full telenovela style parody, was one of the most shared ads of the night after the game ended, not necessarily during it.
That matters.
The joke landed because it intersected with the broader cultural moment, Spanish language visibility, exaggerated drama, and the way American audiences often misunderstand things before engaging with them. It did not talk down. It did not explain itself. It trusted the audience to get it or want to get it.
LA Times readers consistently ranked this one near the top, and online reactions echoed the same sentiment, funny, sharp, and weird in a way that felt earned. This is the kind of ad that benefits from rewatches, clips, and conversations, which is exactly how Super Bowl ads survive now.
2. Budweiser, “American Icons”
Budweiser understands the Super Bowl better than almost any brand because it does not chase the moment, it reinforces it. “American Icons” did exactly what people expect a Budweiser Super Bowl ad to do, Clydesdales, wide open landscapes, national symbolism, emotional music, and just enough restraint to avoid parody.
What made it work this year was timing. In a media environment full of chaos, irony, and speed, Budweiser leaned into sincerity and let the audience come to it. Social media reactions reflected that. Even people who rolled their eyes at how familiar it felt still admitted it landed. USA Today’s Ad Meter crowned it the top spot for a reason. It played clean in living rooms, it replayed well online, and it did not feel like it was trying to prove anything.
This was not a commercial trying to go viral. It was a commercial reminding people why the Super Bowl still feels like an event.
3. Rocket Companies and Redfin, “America Needs Neighbors Like You”
This was the emotional anchor ad of the night. Lady Gaga covering “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is a risk on paper. It could have tipped into sentimentality. Instead, it stayed grounded by focusing on everyday moments, neighbors helping neighbors, small kindnesses, familiar frustrations, and quiet connection.
Online reaction was largely positive, with many people calling it comforting rather than manipulative, which is not easy to pull off in this format. Gaga’s public comments about kindness and community reinforced the authenticity of the message, and that context matters now more than ever.
This ad worked because it did not try to sell a product aggressively. It sold a feeling that already existed in the room.
4. State Farm, “Stop Livin’ on a Prayer”
State Farm continues to understand that humor ages better than spectacle when done right. “Stop Livin’ on a Prayer,” featuring Jon Bon Jovi alongside Keegan Michael Key and Danny McBride, leaned into a simple premise, halfway solutions versus actual reliability.
The internet loved this one because it was immediately quotable. The song reference did the heavy lifting, but the performances carried it. It replayed well, clipped cleanly, and avoided the overstuffed celebrity problem that dragged down other ads this year.
Sports fans, casual viewers, and music fans all found something familiar to grab onto. That crossover appeal is hard to fake.
5. Lay’s, “The Last Harvest”
Lay’s quietly delivered one of the most emotionally resonant ads of the night. “The Last Harvest” focused on family, legacy, and the passage of time, all framed through something as ordinary as sharing food.
USA Today’s Ad Meter ranked it near the top, and social reactions reflected surprise more than hype. People were not expecting to feel anything from a chip commercial, and that disarmament worked in its favor.
This ad reminded viewers that emotional storytelling does not have to be flashy to be effective. It just has to feel honest.
6. Dunkin’, “Good Will Dunkin’”
Dunkin leaned fully into nostalgia, parody, and absurdity with “Good Will Dunkin’,” stacking cameo after cameo while committing to the bit. The key difference between this ad and weaker celebrity driven spots is that the joke was not the guest list, the joke was the concept.
Social media reactions were split between delight and disbelief, but engagement was high, which is the real metric that matters. Every cameo became its own clip. Every clip became a conversation.
Dunkin understands how internet culture fragments content, and this ad was designed for that reality.
7. Pepsi, “The Choice”
Pepsi’s polar bear themed spot did not dominate headlines, but it quietly ranked high across multiple performance metrics. It was weird without being confusing, funny without being loud, and nostalgic without relying on old characters or reunions.
In a year where many brands leaned heavily on familiar faces, Pepsi chose tone instead. That restraint helped it stand out more than expected.
This was a sleeper hit that benefited from repeat viewings.
8. Instacart, “For Papa!”
Instacart treated its Super Bowl ad like a short film, and that decision paid off. Starring Ben Stiller and Benson Boone, “For Papa!” balanced absurd humor with emotional beats and leaned into long form storytelling beyond the broadcast cut.
Online, the extended version performed significantly better than the televised edit, which reflects a broader trend. Super Bowl commercials are now trailers for content, not the content itself.
Instacart understood that and built accordingly.
9. Poppi, “Vibes Thing”
Poppi’s ad, featuring Charli XCX and Rachel Sennott, felt purpose built for TikTok and short form culture. Fast pacing, bright visuals, and a loose narrative made it ideal for clipping and remixing.
Younger audiences responded immediately. This ad moved faster online than on television, which is exactly what it was designed to do.
Poppi did not try to explain itself. It leaned into energy and let the internet decide what to do with it.
Personally I thought that it was recognizable and fun, but not super memorable at the end of the day.
10. Pringles, “Pringleleo”
Rounding out the list is Pringles and its delightfully strange “Pringleleo” spot starring Sabrina Carpenter. The premise was simple, ridiculous, and visually memorable, which is often all a snack brand needs on Super Bowl Sunday.
This ad did not try to say anything profound. It aimed for memorability, and it achieved it. The image stuck. The name stuck. The internet did the rest.
That is a win.
Stepping back, this year’s Super Bowl ads reinforced a few truths that are becoming impossible to ignore. Artificial intelligence messaging is flooding the space, whether audiences like it or not. Celebrity saturation is reaching a breaking point. And sincerity, when done without cynicism, still cuts through.
The best ads from this past Sunday did not shout. They did not lecture. They did not chase every trend at once. They respected how people actually watch now, half present, half scrolling, fully opinionated.
That is the real takeaway. The Super Bowl is still the biggest stage in advertising, but the winners are no longer decided by volume. They are decided by whether people choose to talk about you when the game is over.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
