Super Bowl LIX: A Million-Dollar Moment in Front of Millions of Viewers, Is It Worth It?
Almost six decades later the allure and legacy of the Super Bowl continues to attract brands across the globe, all vying for a share of the spotlight on TV’s biggest night of the year
NEW YORK, NY – March 10, 2025 – It’s the biggest game on television, and the biggest night in advertising– the Super Bowl. For the most-watched event of the year brands offer up advertisements ranging from the hilarious and ridiculous, to the inspiring and tear-jerking, eager to make an impression and to tell a story. Tied to both short- and long-tail impact, being a part of the big game garners premium press coverage, lift in brand awareness, consideration, and ultimately, a healthy bump in sales potential. More powerful than your standard commercial, securing a spot in the Super Bowl transcends run-of-the-mill campaign strategy, eliciting top-talent and top-dollar creative alike for a chance to reach hundreds of millions of viewers and the largest audience of the year.
Creating a Super Bowl commercial is every marketer’s dream, but the stakes are high. We’ve been on a brand-building journey these past three years, and I couldn’t be prouder of our team for bringing us to advertising’s biggest night and making sure we were ready for our Big Game debut. With Tinuiti’s partnership, we secured the right placement during the game to entertain and showcase our brand promise to an audience of over 120 million viewers. Our TV commercial and 360-degree campaign underscored how Instacart is here to take care of the groceries so you can focus on what really matters in life.
Jasmine Taylor
Head of Consumer Marketing, Instacart
Always a high-visibility opportunity, Super Bowl LIX set the bar even higher.
A record-setting game, the showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs was the most-watched US TV broadcast ever, topping last year’s then record of 123.8 million and reaching 126 million viewers on FOX, Tubi, FOX Deportes, Telemundo, and NFL properties according to FOX Sports. The numbers climbed higher still for the much-anticipated halftime performance by Kendrick Lamar, which delivered a projected 131.2 million viewers from 8:30-8:45p to rank as the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance in history. Also the most-streamed Super Bowl ever with 14.5 million viewers across Tubi and NFL properties, on Tubi alone, the telecast averaged 13.6 million viewers across CTV, Mobile, Web, and Tablet.*
Tinuiti, the largest independent full-funnel marketing agency across the media that matters most, added a record to the list this year too, bringing the agency’s most-ever clients to the Big Game, including: e.l.f., eos, Instacart, Poppi, and ramp.
The true value of premium media isn’t only about reach–it’s about strategy before, during, and after an event like this one. Tinuiti’s agility and creativity is possible because we’re unburdened by legacy buying traditions. We know how to leverage emerging options and which doors to knock on to find the right opportunities for any client objective, delivering innovation and results year after year.
Shasta Cafarelli
SVP Media Investment, Tinuiti
For Tinuiti’s clients, whether it was their Super Bowl debut or third appearance at the Big Game, securing a piece of the most-coveted media property in the world was an opportunity to lean into a fully-customizable strategy, creating a bespoke path forward to best complement each brand’s unique goals, target audiences, and budget.
For such a critically important new category launch, our team wanted to accelerate consumer awareness as quickly as possible. So a Super Bowl activation was part of our go-to-market strategy from the beginning – there’s no other single cultural moment that delivers such high impact so immediately.
Soyoung Kang
CMO, eos
eos: A Super Bowl first-timer, eos wanted to shine a spotlight on the launch of their new body wash product line. To do this, eos worked with Tinuiti to maximize visibility leading up to, during, and after the Big Game by securing a Local Linear TV spot including both pre-game and in-game units, as well as a supporting media push post-Super Bowl across Streaming, YouTube, and Paid Social.
e.l.f.: Back for their third year at the Big Game, the disruptive cosmetics and skincare brand e.l.f. first shattered norms with their first-ever spot in 2023 featuring Jennifer Coolidge as the newest face for their Power Grip Primer, the No. 1 SKU in mass cosmetics. With 24 consecutive quarters of net sales and market share growth, e.l.f. is always on the lookout for new ways to disrupt norms, shape culture and connect with their community. The Big Game presented the perfect platform, ensuring a massive, diverse audience and bringing the magic of e.l.f. to millions of new eyeballs. This year’s strategy included a digital spot during the Big Game in addition to “hacking the big game the e.l.f. way” with a star-studded livestream event running parallel titled, “The E.l.f. Time Show”. Always the first mover, they approached the game in a modern way, garnering millions of views across e.l.f’s social and digital platforms.
Instacart: The leading grocery technology company in North America, Instacart created its first-ever Super Bowl commercial along with a 360-degree campaign geared toward reinforcing the message that Instacart brings iconic brands together to deliver the care you need. With multiple channels in play, Instacart pursued maximum exposure, leveraging National Linear TV, OTT, YouTube, Paid Social, and Audio. Pre-game teaser content led up to the 30-second spot which united iconic brand mascots for one epic delivery that is only possible with Instacart.
poppi: Back for another Super Bowl, poppi debuted a 60-second spot in 2024 and returned with a 60-second spot for Super Bowl LIX. Creative centered on “Soda Thoughts,” the internal dialogue people have when deciding to drink a soda – before realizing poppi is the better choice. The spot featured influencers Alix Earle, Jake Shane, and Rob Rausch. With a focus on driving revenue and raising awareness poppi also took a multi-channel approach leaning into National Linear TV, OTT, Commerce Media, and Paid Social to create buzz before, during, and after the big game. According to YouGov’s Super Bowl Report**, which ranked over 60 advertisers for Advertiser Score Impact (AIS), poppi received a top score of 25 for AIS, holding the first place position by over 6 points.
Ramp: For their official Super Bowl debut, financial operations company Ramp tapped Philadelphia Eagles’ star running back Saquon Barkley. The 15-second spot leveraged both National Streaming and a Local Linear TV buy, ensuring strategic brand exposure to target audiences for maximum ROI.
Everyone sees that big sticker shock number. The average cost of a national Super Bowl spot this year was $8 million– certainly a heavy investment. And, for some advertisers, that makes sense, but for other advertisers who are earlier in their journey, maybe that doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean the Super Bowl is completely closed off to you. Thanks to channels like Tubi’s simulcast, local linear opportunities, and different OTT and digital options in and around the game, it has never been easier to get into this kind of content and to surround this really impressive moment—and the effects really speak for themselves.
Harry Browne
VP of TV, Audio & Display Innovation, Tinuiti
While there are now several different entry points beyond national linear television, brands might wonder, is the investment required to participate in and around the Super Bowl still worthwhile?
According to e.l.f. – now with three Super Bowl spots to their name – the answer is simply, yes. For their first-ever spot the e.l.f. team put its viral Power Grip Primer in the spotlight and tapped cultural icon Jennifer Coolidge as the face of the commercial. Notably, Coolidge, already a fan of e.l.f.’s products and anti-animal cruelty ethos, shared in a recent interview that she’d always wanted to play a dolphin. As a result, the memorable commercial included Coolidge achieving her dream thanks to Power Grip Primer’s #dolphinskin effects. The spot, which aired shortly after halftime, eclipsed expectations and demonstrated short-, long-tail, and halo-effects.
- 57 billion – total number of global impressions
- #1 – e.l.f.’s ranking for brand sentiment among all 2023 Big Game commercials
- 8K – number of mentions, of which 89% were of positive sentiment
- 21 million – number of TikTok views garnered by the #dolphinskin hashtag TikTok trend which generated a staggering +429% growth MoM
- +64% WoW – percent increase of e.l.f.’s purchase consideration post-game
Perhaps the most impressive result, Power Grip Primer sales skyrocketed. Before the Big Game, e.l.f. Cosmetics was already selling approximately one Power Grip Primer every 8 seconds. After their Super Bowl commercial, that already-impressive metric reached one Power Grip Primer being sold every 3.5 seconds, with a halo effect on their entire business.
So, does it make sense for advertisers to get into the space as they look forward to Super Bowl LX in 2026?
The current landscape presents an opportunity that brands simply cannot afford to overlook. We’re seeing a marked increase in female viewership, and there’s a noticeable influx of DTC and performance marketing brands entering the arena. And that’s before we account for the ancillary content like social media platforms– the momentum that’s tied to being a part of the conversation surrounding the game is also incredibly powerful. The takeaway here is that there’s room for everyone, regardless of budget constraints. Whether you’re a large established brand or a smaller emerging one, there’s a strategic fit for you within this evolving space.
Rachel Costanzo
Senior Director, Media Strategy and Operations, Tinuiti
*These claims based on first party data collected by Tubi and NFL Media
** Source: YouGov BrandIndex (US gen pop: Feb 3-9 vs. Feb 10-16)
