Super Bowl Prediction: Commercials Will Feature Celebrities

With the NFL playoffs down to four teams, the focus on the Super Bowl is intensifying.

Commercials have always been a big part of the Super Bowl experience, and this year will be no exception. Markers got on board quickly. NBCUniversal said it sold out its Super Bowl inventory way back in October. On average, advertisers spent more than $8 million for 30-second spots during the Super Bowl, and some spent as much as $10 million.

A lot of thinking is going into what kinds of commercials to air during the big game.

Measurement and analytics firm iSpot looked at the trends scene in recent games and has found a few things that viewers should be looking forward to when the game stops for a commercial break.

The three big trends highlighted by iSpot are the use of celebrities in Super Bowl ads, a greater emphasis on the type of products viewers are urged to “buy now,” and ads designed to be funny.

Commercials in the Super Bowl featuring celebrities hit a high of 78% in 2020 and have stayed above 65% every year since. 

In last year’s game many advertisers had multiple memorable faces in their commercials. Hellmann’s reunited Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe teamed up for Michelob Ultra, Bad Bunny and Post Malone were in a Bud Light spot and Chris Pratt and Kris Jenner pitched Meta. Also appearing in spots were David Beckham, Martha Stewart, Matthew McConaughey, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford, Shania Twain and Eugene Levy.

Already set for this year’s big game are singer Sabrina Carpenter for Pringles and Bravo-lebrity Paige DeSorbo for Kinder Bueno.

Also See: Celebrity, athlete pay rising for appearing in commercials

Brands that can be bought either from delivery services or online are also taking a large share of Super Bowl ads (as opposed to brands looking to burnish their long-term image). These brands can also get an immediate read on the payback they’re getting for their large investment in the big game.

“Buy Now” brands accounted for a high of 36% of Super Bowl ad time, while automakers' participation in the game has steadily fallen from 40% in 2012 to 7% last year.

Already confirmed to appear in Super Bowl LX are Pringles, Raisin Bran, multiple PepsiCo brands, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Kinder Bueno.

Fans and casual viewers alike are tuning into the Super Bowl to be entertained and to enjoy the spectacle, so it’s probably smart for sponsors to aim to be entertaining. Ads harnessing humor are often remembered long after the game. Who can forget Betty White appearing for Snickers or Budweiser's “Wassup!” catchphrase? 

Last year, according to iSpot data, 71% of the commercials were categorized as being funny (it was 70% in 2024 and 72% in 2023). 

At the same time, the volume of ads that iSpot characterized as “heartfelt” has been declining, from 47% in 2015 to 20% in 2025.

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Streamers found huge viewership under the tree during December. With NFL games on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video on Christmas, December 25 saw the most streaming minutes in history with 55.1 billion, according to Nielsen’s monthly report.

Overall, streaming had its largest share of television usage ever in December with 47.5% of the total. 

In addition to its football game, Netflix had Stranger Things generating more than 15 billion viewing minutes in the month, powering it to a 9% share. Streaming usage was up 3% in December from November, and four streamers–Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel and Paramount—had record shares.

Broadcast represented 21.4% of total TV watch time in December. Football games were the most viewed programs on broadcast. The most watched non-sports programs were Tracker and 60 Minutes on CBS.

Cable generated 20.2% of viewing time, with ESPN football telecasts accounting third of the four most watched programming.