Left Hand Agency CPG High Five: 5 Things I’ll Be Watching (and Side-Eyeing) in Super Bowl Advertising 🏈

Every year, the Super Bowl is sold as the holy grail of advertising, the night when brands pull out all the stops, flex their budgets, and remind us they matter. And every year, the same patterns show up: celebrity overload, shiny gimmicks, clever stunts that may or may not actually sell anything, and a whole lot of expensive optimism.

So instead of ranking my “favorite” ads, I’m watching for something more interesting: which brands are actually doing effective advertising versus which ones are paying the ego tax.

Below are the five things I’ll be watching this Sunday through the lens of what we know works, what keeps getting repeated anyway, and why those two things are often very different.

1. Celebrity Endorsements: The Ego Tax on Advertising

Let’s start with some data before I get spicy.

According to new creative effectiveness research from System1, shared by Andrew Tindall, campaigns featuring celebrities are 50% less likely to grow trust and show a reduced likelihood of improving brand equity and brand image.

So why does it feel like every Super Bowl ad is packed with A-listers?

Because ego. Not strategy. Ego.

Celebrities make brand leaders feel like they’ve arrived. Slapping a Kardashian or Matt Damon into a spot is the corporate equivalent of buying a sports car during a midlife crisis. It signals status internally — even if it weakens the actual advertising.

And to be clear: celebrity ads can work. Some absolutely do. But more often? It’s like placing a disco ball next to a compact mirror and asking viewers to remember the shape of the mirror. 

In 5 years will you see Flo from Progressive and marry her with the brand? Yes. Will the same be said for Sabrina Carpenter and Pringles? Probably not.

The celebrity becomes the takeaway. The brand assets fade. The messaging gets fuzzy.

Distinctive brand cues — the things that actually help people recognize and choose you later — get drowned out by star power. And then everyone wonders why the brand lift didn’t follow the buzz.

2. QR Code Ads: Performance Brain in a Brand Channel

Will we see QR codes this year? Probably. Will they recreate the Coinbase moment? Almost certainly not.

The Coinbase QR ad worked because of novelty, not because QR codes are secretly an incredible TV mechanic. In reality, QR codes in advertising tend to produce underwhelming results, especially in lean-back environments like TV.

Here’s the core issue: When people are leaning back, they are not in an interactive mindset.

They’re watching. Not shopping. Not scanning. Not clicking.

QR codes on TV are performance advertising desperately trying to bleed into a channel it doesn’t understand.

There’s a reason you don’t see QR codes on highway billboards and it has nothing to do with creativity and everything to do with restrictions. (Trust me, advertisers would absolutely put them there if they could. I once saw an FDA RFP for trackable QR codes on billboards. Highway safety be damned.)

TV works because it builds memory structures. Asking people to do something mid-game misses the entire point.

3. Borrowing Competitors’ Distinctive Assets: Snark ≠ Strategy

I love good snark. Truly. And yes, the new Pepsi ad with the conflicted polar bear is entertaining. I actually really like it a lot. But liking an ad doesn’t mean it’s effective. 

But… is it effective?

Despite decades of stunts, Pepsi is still, in many ways, a challenger brand. And this is a textbook challenger move: acknowledging the category leader by borrowing or referencing their most iconic assets.

The problem? Advertising science is pretty clear here.

When you nod to the “top” brand, you’re not stealing share, you’re reinforcing loyalists’ existing choices. You’re reminding Coke drinkers why they drink Coke.

The verdict’s still out, but I lean toward no. Clever doesn’t always equal effective, especially when it props up the very brand you’re trying to beat.

4. When the Ad Is More in Love With The Concept Than the Product

This one happens shockingly often.

Even the new Benson Boone / Ben Stiller Instacart ad — which is clever — leans heavy on schtick and lighter on the actual product. It tries to thread the needle… but it’s still flirting with danger. Could you have subbed in Uber Eats to that ad with no one noticing? 

I see so many ads that are deeply in love with the concept and barely interested in the brand.

Here’s the litmus test I wish more brands used: If I walk into a store after seeing your ad and can’t instantly match what I saw on screen to what’s on the shelf — you failed.

Full stop.

Entertainment without brand clarity is just expensive content. And this is where I see most ads fall short.

5. The Real Winners Started Weeks Ago

This is the biggest one.

The brands that actually break through aren’t relying on one very expensive Sunday night moment. They’re fueled by PR machines that activate far earlier — teasing the campaign, dropping hints, seeding storylines, and running media before the game.

No brand has ever been built on an ad frequency of one. Ever.

Does the Super Bowl drive massive awareness in a single moment? Absolutely. Does that awareness stick on its own? Nope.

Memory decay is real. It’s been studied to death. One exposure doesn’t cut it.

If you have $8M total to spend, I would not put you in the Super Bowl. If you have $25–30M and can support that $8M spot with a sustained national awareness campaign? Now we’re talking.

The Super Bowl doesn’t work in isolation. It works when it’s amplified, repeated, and reinforced.

My Final Thoughts on Super Bowl Advertising

Super Bowl Bowl advertising isn’t broken, but our expectations of it might be. One night, one ad, and one massive spend won’t build a brand on their own, no matter how famous the face or how clever the concept. The brands that win are the ones that understand advertising as a system, not a stunt, grounded in memory, repetition, and distinctive assets that actually show up when it’s time to buy.

So as the ads roll this Sunday, enjoy the entertainment. Laugh at the cameos. Appreciate the craft. But if you’re a marketer, watch with a sharper eye. The real lesson isn’t who made you laugh, it’s who made you remember them on Monday.

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We’re Left Hand Agency. We help CPG brands grow by making people remember you and buy you. We believe in marketing science over BS dashboards—and in incrementality over just velocity. Because moving faster isn’t growth if you’re just chasing the same customers. Let's grow together.