• by Danielle Montana , February 13, 2025

In challenging times, humor has the power to bring people together. The Super Bowl remains one of the rare events that unites millions, and its commercials offer a unique opportunity to create a shared experience. This year, some ads nailed it, while others fell flat. Peppercomm’s council of humorists with diverse backgrounds broke down the funniest -- and most disappointing -- ads from Super Bowl LIX:

Luvell Anderson, Professor of Philosophy at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Given major domestic and international tragedies, I was especially interested to see what what approach companies would take with their ads.

Often, humor depends on the mood of the audience. Dark humor can feel too insensitive if not well-placed. Light humor, on the other hand, can come off Pollyannaish when an audience edges towards despair.

From my little corner of the world, “When Sally Met Hellman’s” was one of the commercials I thought best used comedy to reach its audience. The commercial uses nostalgia and humor to call back fond feelings with its shout-out to the restaurant scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” For those audience members too young to appreciate the film reference, Sydney Sweeney’s appearance is a contemporary introduction to make the cross-generational connection. I think this can effectively introduce a legacy product (Hellman’s) to a younger audience.

One of the worst commercials of the night was the Skechers ad with Andy Reid. I don’t know whether the writers phoned in the script or Reid was just comically stillborn, but the humor  -- all about Andy being a hand model -- just didn’t come through.

David Horning, founder, Water Cooler Comedy

This year, advertisers had a chance to unite us through humor about shared experiences -- parenting, growing up, family -- but many leaned on celebrity cameos that felt more forced than funny. (Seriously, when every ad has a star, do any stand out?)

One ad that did tap into the humor of a universal experience was YouTube TV’s. By flashing through the historical struggles of missing big moments in sporting events (from cavemen to Roman coliseums to spotty radio signals on road trips), it delivered a relatable “We’ve all been there” moment. And sometimes, that’s funnier than a famous face -- except for Eugene Levy’s eyebrows. That Little Caesar’s ad cracked me up.

Clayton Fletcher, Peppercomm’s Chief Comedy Officer

On a Super Bowl commercial lineup that featured a lot more flying facial hair than anyone could have predicted, a senior citizen underdog story stole the show.

The high-octane ad for Weather Tech features four renegade septuagenarian ladies raising hell. Driving a stylish convertible while sipping tea and knitting, the foursome makes its way as slowly as one would expect down a California highway, holding up traffic to flirt with an eligible bachelor or two along their mischievous way. They tag graffiti on a semi-truck, flash the crowd at a bingo hall, and breakdance on the Santa Monica pier. This ad works because of its effective implementation of the inversion technique. It’s simply hilarious to watch these grandmas act like the youthful badass rebels they are on the inside!

The biggest comedy failure of the night was for an alleged food product called Totino’s Pizza Rolls. The ad features an adorable alien who loves the supposedly edible rolls and two friends he appears to have made during his visit to earth. Just as they’re all involved in a tearful goodbye reminiscent of Spielberg’s “E.T.,” the doors of his spaceship suddenly close on his cute little paranormal head, killing him instantly. Call me old-fashioned, but I guess I’m just not a big fan of blunt force trauma. No one else at the Super Bowl party I attended got the joke either. 

Also, for the record: Eugene Levy’s eyebrows for Little Caesars soared high above that played-out Pringles mustache.