Google Gemini took home the top spot in the 22nd Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review with its ‘New Home’ ad, an emotional spot that showcased how AI can support life transitions through creativity and human connection. This marks the fourth time Google has claimed the top position in the Kellogg panel’s rankings.
Other brands that earned top marks included Anthropic’s Claude with its ‘Can I get a six pack quickly?’ and Novartis’s ‘Relax Your Tight End.’ Not every advertiser hit the mark, including Coinbase and ai.com, which received low grades during this year’s Ad Review.
Google’s top-ranked ad stood out for balancing emotional resonance with a clear demonstration of product value. The ad echoed the spirit of Google’s iconic ‘Parisian Love’ spot from 2009, offering a nostalgic reminder of what has long defined the brand while updating it for a new era of AI-powered tools.
“This ad captures what Google has historically done best: pairing genuine emotional storytelling with a clear illustration of how the product fits naturally into people’s lives,” said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing and co-lead of the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review. “It feels like a modern evolution of that approach rather than a departure from it,” added Derek Rucker, the Sandy & Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies in Marketing and co-lead of the Ad Review.
AI on the main stage
Artificial intelligence took center stage during this year’s Super Bowl, both as a subject of brand storytelling and as a creative tool. Several brands, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Genspark, used the Super Bowl stage to define how their technologies fit into everyday life, ranging from emotional narratives to more functional demonstrations of performance and productivity.
Meta returned with two spots highlighting its AI-powered eyewear, this time emphasizing the product’s “athletic intelligence.” AI also played a role behind the scenes, as Svedka’s spot featuring dancing robots was primarily created using AI, according to the brand.
Anthropic also made its first appearance, with a spot promoting its ad-free AI platform. “Anthropic’s message stood out because it was simple and clearly differentiated,” said Rucker. “In a crowded environment of AI brands, that clarity made the ad especially effective.”
Getting it wrong
While brands like Google and Anthropic delivered strong performances, others fell short on advertising’s biggest stage. Coinbase, for example, aired a spot built around a karaoke-style use of a Backstreet Boys song, but the creative failed to establish a clear connection to the brand or its value proposition, resulting in a low rating from the Kellogg panel. ai.com also received a low grade, with panelists left unclear on what the product actually offered.
“When you’re advertising new technologies, there’s a lot to learn from classic brand building,” said Calkins. “ai.com is a good example of what can go wrong—after watching the ad, people were still left wondering what the product was.”
As has become tradition, celebrity power was on full display, with brands stacking household names to break through the clutter. This year’s spokespeople included the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper, and Parker Posey for Uber Eats, Danny McBride, Hailee Steinfeld, Keegan-Michael Key, Bon Jovi, and KATSEYE for State Farm and Peyton Manning, Post Malone, and Shane Gillis for Bud Light.
The Kellogg pedigree
The Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review uses an academic framework known as ADPLAN to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of Super Bowl spots. The acronym helps viewers grade ads based on Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification, and Net Equity. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the experiential event, which has become a longstanding tradition in the Kellogg marketing community.
Steve is an award-winning editor and copywriter with more than 20 years’ experience specialising in consumer technology and video games. With a career spanning from the first PlayStation to the latest in VR, he's proud to be a lifelong gamer.
