SAGE, Why Were Super Bowl Ads Less Funny In 2026?

As already covered in this space, Super Bowl LX's ads were significantly less funny in 2026. iSpot Creative Assessment data showed that after three straight years of 70% of ads scoring for humor, "funny" scores declined all the way to 48% in 2026.

But why the sharp downturn?

To find the answer, we actually turned to iSpot's new agentic AI platform, SAGE, to get a deeper (and instant) dive on what drove the stark change in approach.

SAGE, Why were 2026 Super Bowl ads less funny than previous years?

The 2026 ads show a significant drop in humor, with the highest funny scores significantly lower 8 compared to previous years where top ads regularly scored between 8.0-9.7. Half of the 2026 ads scored 0.0 on the Funny Score metric, suggesting they weren't perceived as funny at all.

This represents a clear shift away from humor-driven advertising in 2026, with brands potentially focusing more on emotional storytelling, product features, or inspirational messaging instead of comedy.

Want to know if the 2026 ads perform better on heartfelt messaging instead?

Sure. SAGE, did 2026 ads perform better on heartfelt instead?

The Verdict: No, Not Really

The 2026 ads did not compensate for their lack of humor with heartfelt messaging. The highest Heartfelt Score in 2026 was only 4.0 (NFL's "Belief Is a Superpower"), which is significantly lower than previous years' heartfelt leaders that scored between 5.2-9.1.

The 2026 Super Bowl ads appear to have fumbled on both emotional dimensions - they were neither particularly funny nor particularly heartfelt compared to historical standards. This suggests a potential shift toward more product-focused, informational, or entertainment-driven creative strategies rather than emotional storytelling.