RIP, Brand Purpose

by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, February 10, 2025

Booking.com was just one Super Bowl advertiser that escaped to the 1980s.

Some of us ad fans have a hard time saying goodbye to Super Bowl week. But before turning the page -- as I’m sure the losing Kansas City Chiefs would like to do -- it’s worth noticing what a difference eight years has made to marketing's conventional wisdom.

In 2017, just weeks after Donald Trump’s first inauguration, many brands used the Super Bowl to loudly and proudly proclaim their purpose and their values, protesting the brewing storm of anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and racist policies to come. And America loved it!

Anheuser-Busch ran “Born the Hard Way,” an ad telling the hard-knock immigrant story of Budweiser co-founder Adolphus Busch. Audi’s “Daughter” made a heartfelt plea for gender equity. Both finished in the top five of that year’s USA Today’s Ad Meter.

And 84 Lumber’s powerful 90-second ode to a Mexican mom and her daughter coming to America was such a forceful rebuke of Trump’s proposed border wall that Fox balked at airing the spot. Airbnb, too, used the Big Game as a way to speak out against controversial travel bans.

Not this year, when ads went from “woke” to “What?” Many focused on sweet animals, funny aliens and adorable tiny humans.

“Brands played it safe,” says Nicole Greene, vice president and analyst at Gartner. “It reflects our current cultural climate. Marketers focused on what we know to be true about successful Super Bowl advertising, using nostalgia, humor, iconic music, and storytelling.”

There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Given the tumult of recent months -- fires, storms, politics -- “people just wanted some escape, and that’s what these big sports moments are all about.”

Who doesn’t love a good laugh? Or a baby horse? The lack of political messaging may have pleased many if not most, consumers. Those on the conservative side of the spectrum have long wished ads would lay off the “woke” messaging, and even people who once loved big-budget ad spots' liberal spin may welcome a little relief. If Hulu rebooted “Mr. Ed” right now, it would probably be a smash.

The ones who are lost are marketers themselves. Since purpose-based branding took over the marketing universe around 2006, brands have spent tens of millions building “brands that stand for something.” They’ve often linked that purpose to their beliefs about target consumer segments, noting that to grow, they needed to embrace the values of millennials and Gen Z: committed to the environment, human rights, reproductive rights and LGBTQ issues. And if they are unwilling to make those connections any longer, either because of their fears of conservative backlash or the belief that purpose just isn’t selling anymore, what comes next?

While the Super Bowl makes so much sense for smaller, younger brands looking for new audiences, legacy advertisers are milling around, trying to figure out this new landscape, where purpose has morphed into cultural minefield.

“Some iconic brands are rethinking their strategies because they don't need awareness,” Greene says. Done right, “those companies can still deliver a brand message in a largely celebratory environment.”

Done wrong or just done dull, though, brands will struggle to justify an $8 million investment.

Nike’s “So Win” ad, with a message about the double standards women athletes face, and the NFL’s “Flag 50,” advocating for girl’s flag football teams in every state, struck Greene as soft. “There wasn’t a lot of complexity,” she tells Marketing Daily.

And at a moment when women’s sports are hot, and both Nike and the NFL are eager to expand female audiences, both smelled more like “we want your money” than “we’ve got your back.”

This Super Bowl may have marked the funeral for purpose-driven advertising — or at least a moment of recalibration. Some marketers are ditching their values, but many more are just recalculating risk. In a world where cultural landmines shift daily, many brands opt for the safest bet: humor, nostalgia, and uncontroversial entertainment. However, as younger audiences continue to expect companies to reflect their values, the real test will be whether brands can find new, more authentic ways to stand for something—without standing in the line of fire.

brand marketing, super bowl

5 comments about "RIP, Brand Purpose".

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Thomas Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, February 11, 2025 at 9:12 a.m.
A "brand's purpose" is to sell more stuff. That's all. That's capitalism. Anything else is propaganda. Anti-capitalists are now being punished for their foolish, selfish, arrogant, abrasive, annoying and asinine attempts to clumsily mold society into their awful (AWFL?) antithesis of the American Spirit. It's extremely satisfying to watch the humilating Bonfire of their Vanities, especially with the percolating Narrative subtext that it's really only just getting started....
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Adam Warren from PTSM replied, February 11, 2025 at 9:52 a.m.

This kind of mindset is exactly why consumers have grown increasingly disillusioned with brands—and why America is facing such a steady decline. If capitalism is the essence of the American spirit, but corporations only focus on selling more at any cost, then they are the ones being short-sighted, self-serving, and out of touch. Fortunately, younger generations are rejecting this outdated approach because they see firsthand the consequences of capitalism without purpose—where only the owners benefit. Instead, they are advocating for a new model, one where brands operate with integrity and follow the Golden Rule.

And as for it “only just getting started”—that’s wishful thinking. The reality is that the Super Bowl's audience skews older, and brands that fail to acknowledge this shift risk being left behind. The future belongs to the youth, and they’re making it clear they expect something better.

Dan C. from MS Entertainment, February 12, 2025 at 2:15 a.m.

It's a bit silly to present the Super Bowl as the barometer for "brand purpose" and promote a brand's ideology. Between the cost of one :30 spot, plus production, that's millions of dollars to present brand purpose. If a brand's purpose is to promote ideology, I would think this is an ongoing effort and not just a :30 blast during the Superbowl where fans are looking to be entertained - not preached at.

Additionally, brand purpose is to make money and sell more product. Not drive an ideology. This overt presentation of ideology in marketing is a new phenomenon, not a long-standing industry practice.

There's a time and a place for everything - nobody gets excited to go to a superbowl party to discuss the "purpose driven ads." Nobody asks co-workers to gather around the water cooler on Monday morning to discuss how a superbowl ad changed their view on social issues.

Jim Meyer from Golden Square, February 15, 2025 at 9:28 a.m.

Amen, Thomas Siebert. The truth of what you said is evident in the smug posture of the article itself - as if all this "recalibration" comes at the hands of the dumb, bigoted and unenlightened. Baloney: America has reaffirmed its faith in the American Spirit and repudiated wokeness with vigor, in spite of what is now clear were massively corrupt attempts to manipulate public opinion. MediaPost would be well served to report on our industry and spare us the Progressive political commentary. No, we aren't all on board.

Anthony Chiaravallo from Vallo Media, February 15, 2025 at 3:03 p.m.

Glad to see brand purpose is finally being laid to rest since it was mostly performative to begin with. Most consumers, especially young people, are not aligning their wallets with "woke" corporate virtue signaling. They are far more concerned with the rising cost of living, wage stagnation, and affording a life that even remotely resembles what they had growing up.

The idea that people will pay 30% more for a values-driven brand sounds great in a survey, but in reality, price and quality drive purchasing decisions every time. Unless a brand is truly built around a cause like Patagonia, they should focus on making great products and leave the activism out of it.