Did These Super Bowl Ads Make You Cry?

Super Bowl ads are created to make us laugh, drool, scratch our heads, and yearn for our youth. But some of the most memorable ones are the ones that tug on our heartstrings.

Budweiser’s puppies and horses; that tear-jerker from The Farmer’s Dog (at least for dog owners); or Toyota’s 2021 spot starring Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long, for example. 

While the ads that ran during Super Bowl 2025 mostly went for laughs, there were a few designed to get some deeper feelings stirring in the hearts of viewers. 

Here are all the tear-jerkers—or at least those that tried to be—from Super Bowl 59.

Dove: “Keep Her Confident”

The ad: Dove’s Super Bowl spot continues a theme that the Unilever-owned personal care brand kicked off back in 2004 with its “Campaign for Real Beauty.” 

In “Keep Her Confident,” a young girl smiling hugely runs down the sidewalk. “At 3, these legs are unstoppable,” flashes across the screen, followed by the looming, “At 14, she’ll think they’re unbearable.”

How it aimed to touch hearts: Half of girls who drop out of sports say it’s because of low body confidence, according to Dove. The call to action is for everyone to “change the way we talk to girls.”  

Lay’s: “The Little Farmer”

The ad: A young girl lives on a potato farm. When a potato falls off a truck, she plants it in the ground, waters it, and protects it from storms until it becomes a potato plant. She then harvests her potato, and contributes it to the next big potato harvest. 

How it aimed to touch hearts: It’s a play for American-grown agriculture—but it wasn’t the original plan. 

Lay’s originally intended to air an ad highlighting the Canadian favorite All Dressed flavor, but swapped it out for a more U.S.-centric message. The brand claimed it didn’t have anything to do with declining U.S.-Canadian relations after President Donald Trump announced tariffs against the country’s northern neighbor. 

Come Near’s “He Gets Us” campaign: “What Is Greatness?” 

The ad: “He Gets Us,” a campaign run by Christian nonprofit Come Near, debuted at the Super Bowl in 2023. For its third year in a row, the group dropped down from two ads to just one. This year’s ad starred some of the people that Come Near has been working with in New Orleans since it began meeting with local groups two months ago. 

The format of the 60-second “What Is Greatness?” ad was familiar to those who’ve seen previous ads from “He Gets Us.” First, it poses a question, and then flashes through a series of still images that demonstrate the response they want people to ruminate on. 

How it aimed to touch hearts: The Super Bowl 59 ad aimed to equate simple, quiet acts of kindness with Jesus’ example of greatness. That includes things like donating organs, caring for strangers, supporting immigrants, or caring for people experiencing homelessness. The soundtrack, a Johnny Cash cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” added to the emotive vibe.

Google Pixel: “Dream Job”

The ad: Google’s first Super Bowl ad of the 2025 game starred its Pixel smartphone. In it, a man seems to be answering mock interview questions for a potential job. After initially hesitating over a question about his most significant job, he describes his experience as a father—but using corporate language. At the end, he begins a real job interview, thanks in part to Google Pixel’s Gemini AI features.

How it aimed to touch hearts: Playing on parenthood-related themes is a pretty safe bet given there are about 63 million parents in the U.S., according to the last census, though that number is going down (it was 66 million in 2010). 

And while Google’s no stranger to heartwarming spots, this one probably worked better on parents than it did on everybody else. 

Rocket: “Own the Dream”

The ad: The mortgage company Rocket has gone for laughs in the past, but this year took a more serious tone. It shows scene after scene of families enjoying intimate moments in their homes or moving into them. A cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” plays in the background, and the spot ends with a play for unity, saying that “everyone deserves their shot at the American dream.”

How it aimed to touch hearts: Given the divisiveness of the political and cultural moment, anything that sounds like a call for unity has an emotional tinge to it. The brand told ADWEEK that it was a “complete departure” from its previous work. The Super Bowl ad also included an IRL singalong moment: After the ad aired, Rocket organized a singalong to “Country Roads” inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 

Foundation to Combat Antisemitism: “No Reason to Hate”

The ad: Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism aired its first Super Bowl ad last year, with a more pointed message about standing up to hate. This year’s ad went more vague, with Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady trading insults until they agree that things are “so bad, that we have to do a commercial about it.” 

How it aimed to touch hearts: Similar to Rocket’s spot, FCAS aimed to address the divisiveness of the political and cultural moment we’re living through. And while that’s likely to touch the hearts of many Americans who’ve faced the challenge of trying to relate to a family member or neighbor with differing views, some argued that FCAS chose the wrong ambassadors for the message.