The 5 Worst Ads of Super Bowl 59

The Super Bowl is great, but we can’t all be winners. Just ask the Kansas City Chiefs.

And that goes with the advertisers as well. A lot of ads fall flat, and tomorrow, we’re going to have some hard metrics that show definitively which ads were winners and which ads were losers.

But for now, you’ll get the opinions of ADWEEK staffers. So after posting the best ads of Super Bowl 59, here are the losers in alphabetical order… at least, as we see it.

Bud Light

Since its 2023 boycott, Bud Light has focused less on marketing to all and more on its “target” audience (see: sports-loving men), said our brand editor Rebecca Stewart. “The casting and plot of its Super Bowl 59 campaign (comedian Shane Gillis, musician Post Malone, and quarterback Peyton Manning rescue a ‘lame’ party with beer and meat) sees the brewer play it safe once more.”

I also was annoyed at how uninspired this ad was. That’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. The ad for Bud Light’s sister company Budweiser also fell back on the usual tropes (animals, jokes), but it did effectively hit the nostalgia buttons. 

The Bud Light ad didn’t seem to hit anything.

Coffee-Mate

Weirdness for weirdness’ sake can be an effective tool for getting people to remember an ad. But not always for the best reasons.

“Coffee-Mate tried to be weird but ended up just grossing me out,” said our creative editor Brittaney Kiefer. “And I wanted more from Shania Twain’s role.”

Our TV reporter Saleah Blancafor agreed. “Have no doubt: Shania Twain is still the one, but maybe being part of this ad isn’t it,” she wrote in her pan of the ad.

Creatives we polled, however, were a little more sympathetic.

Foundation to Combat Antisemitism

It’s hard to believe an ad about fighting against antisemitism would make it on the worst-of list, but the execution here really missed the mark, with Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady screaming at each other really diluting its message. 

Of course, its message is further diluted by the fact that, as many have pointed out, it doesn’t mention antisemitism at all. The ad’s non-specific message about not hating others is so basic, it feels like it should be directed to grade schoolers.

Hellmann’s

“Mayo isn’t exciting, but the job of an ad is to make it seem like it is,” said our production editor Eva Kis. “Hellmann’s not only failed, it was lazy in copying note-for-note the iconic deli scene from When Harry Met Sally, and thought that adding Sydney Sweeney would sell it. Hold the mayo, thanks.”

This is the biggest misopportunity, boasting big stars reuniting. There was an opportunity to surprise people and the biggest surprise was the appearance of a third star that appeals to younger fans who didn’t grow up watching Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.

Creative pros we polled were also disappointed.

Hims & Hers

This was by far the most controversial ad of the Super Bowl. I mean, how many ads rile up industry trade groups and a bipartisan group of senators before it even airs?

But the controversy was well-founded. Some members of ADWEEK’s staff appreciated the message Hims & Hers tried to deliver. But many others in the newsroom found it less than impactful, with our writer Nicole Spector actually getting angry after watching it: “It started out so powerful and then it turned into some horrid Twilight Zone of irony. They’re lambasting the US system and then selling drugs made in the U.S.?”

Ad creatives also panned the ad.