Manoj Khimji, Managing Director, The VantageThis year’s annual Super Bowl advertisements’ showcase had a definite change of direction, but is it a sign of things to come or just a coincidence?
Super Bowl LIX (59) drew a record average TV audience on Fox of 127.7 million viewers, up 4 million from last year’s previous record high of 123.7 million. It’s the third consecutive year that the audience record has been broken, signifying continual growth of the Super Bowl’s growing appeal and attraction.
Whilst its worth pointing out that the advertising roster and creative submissions took place prior to the 20 January inauguration of President Trump’s second term in office, it was clear to see that the shift in consumer sentiment was already in effect. Super Bowl LIX saw a drastic return to our screens of appeal-based advertising and magazine-style objectification of stereotypes.
The previous few years had seen a greater adoption of diversity and inclusion in advertisements, with representation numbers evening out across key gender and race metrics. In fact, female representation is up from 34 per cent in 2023 to 44 per cent in 2025, with male representation dropping from 66 per cent to 56 per cent over the same period.
Whilst representation of darker skin tones in advertisements was down this year, the portrayal of different (larger) body types and senior-aged actors was up to 41 per cent this year against a previous high of 37 per cent in 2024.
It was, therefore, with some surprise that the 2025 edition of the advertising industry’s key showpiece saw the return of cheap-shot male comic humour and innuendos from brands who had previously made a conscious effort to move away from this approach.
Can this attributed to the second coming of President Trump, or is it perhaps a more measured reflection of the cultural shift taking place in America? Carl’s Jr, the popular fast food joint, took a ‘burger n bikinis’ approach to their Super Bowl ad; something they had specifically moved away from over the 7-8 years.
Similarly, Bud Light, a Super Bowl staple for many years, went with the bro-humour approach to their ‘Big Men On Cul-De-Sac’ advert thanks to a combination of comedian Shane Gillis, rapper post Malone and a token ex-NFL player appearance from Peyton Manning.
Less than two years after the popular drinks brand had signed a partnership with a transgender influencer (Dylan Mulvaney), they’ve made a return to the values which got them to their market-leading position all those years ago – guys, lawns, and fraternity parties.
Even Stella Artois couldn’t resist the lure of cheap laughs as they roped in Matt Damon and David Beckham in their ‘The Other David’ commercial, combining two of the entertainment world’s more classy actors to appeal to the over-40s white male wannabe bros audience segment.
When you sprinkle data over the creative approaches taken, it becomes clearer to spot the trend taking place. The number of Super Bowl ads which used humour as an element was up to 85 per cent (the highest it’s ever been), and traditional call to action ads were down almost 10 per cent from 2024.
The expectation from brands was quite clear: connect with the largest segment of your target audience, using audience mirroring and humour, and let it ride! Get your existing/potential customers close to your brand through relativity and leave them to their own devices to drive longer-term benefits to your top line.
Even the usual flood of celebrity involvement was far lower than expected. Over three-quarters of 2023 Super Bowl ads used a celebrity endorsement/talent, versus just over half of 2025 Super Bowl ads. Again, quite a significant shift considering the impact that A-listers often have during this extravaganza.
Could it be that President Trump’s election win has opened the floodgates to male-centric messaging in advertisements, resulting in a throwback to 20 years ago when most brands seemed to be adopting ideologies from the ‘manosphere’ to?
Almost all of this year’s Super Bowl ad film directors were white males, thereby reinforcing the belief that brands simply offer what they think their main consumer segment wants.
By Manoj Khimji, Managing Director, The Vantage
