• by Danielle Oster , February 16, 2025

 Lay's "Little Farmer"

This year's crop of Super Bowl ads were more “effective” than any other big game spots this decade, according to data from marketing research company System1.

System1 employs a “Test Your Ads” platform it says measures viewers’ emotional responses to an ad to create a metric predicting short-term sales impact, and long-term brand-building potential -- with the latter given a rating topping out at six stars. This year’s ad scored an average star rating of 2.9, up from 2.7 last year, and well above the 2.3 average rating for all U.S. ads measured by System1.

“With a record-breaking number of 4- and 5-Star ads, 2025 is the best Super Bowl advertising performance of the last six years. Brands leaned into storytelling, like Lay’s, Pfizer, the NFL and WeatherTech,” System1 Chief Customer Officer Jon Evans said in a statement. “This was well balanced with no-holds-barred humor from the likes of Reese’s, Pringles, Mountain Dew and Doritos.

Even in a crowded field, Lay’s “Little Farmer” ad, created in partnership with the Super Bowl specialists at agency Highdive, stood out. The ad, which focused on an enthusiastic young potato farmer, took the top spot with a 5.9 star-rating for its predicted long-term brand-building potential. It was also something of a consensus winner, earning the number-two spot in USA Today’s Ad Meter rankings as well. No ads reached the 5-star milestone last year, with Michelob Ultra’s “Superior Beach” topping the list at 4.8.

The runners-up also scored a star rating above five, with the NFL and 72andSunny’s “ "Somebody" ad for the league’s “It Takes All Of Us” campaign scoring 5.6 stars, followed by WeatherTech and Pinnacle Advertising’s “Whatever Comes Your Way” at 5.2 stars.

Budweiser didn’t crack the top 10, but it did for System1’s list of top performers by “Spike Rating," taking the number seven spot with a score of 1.51. “The Spike Rating predicts short-term sales effects over the 8-10 weeks following an ad's launch,” Vanessa Chin, senior vice president of marketing for System1, explained.  System1 classifies anything above 1.32 as “exceptional.” Reese’s topped the list this year at 1.7, after taking the number-three spot for last year’s Super Bowl spot.

The number of high-performing ads this year meant entire categories closely associated with the big game were pushed out entirely. Nonalcoholic beverage brands, for example, were notably absent from either list. That doesn’t mean their ads were not effective, though.

For example, the 30-second broadcast version of Mountain Dew’s  spot narrowly missing the list at number 13. “Additionally, the 80-second version that the brand released in the weeks leading up to the event was the second highest on Spike Rating,” Chin told Marketing Daily. “It’s important to remember that this was the highest performing Super Bowl of the last six years. Brands really stepped things up, meaning that even a high score doesn’t guarantee a spot on the list.”

Another “excellent example of a beverage brand breaking through during the Super Bowl is Poppi,” Chin said.“Its ad this year scored an ‘Exceptional’ 100% brand recognition – everyone watching knew who the ad was for,” she added. “On average, Super Bowl ads scored 78% brand recognition, meaning ads airing on the biggest, most expensive night of the year risk being misattributed to competitors in the category. Poppi excelled at branding with vibrant, distinctive assets, proving it’s possible for everyone to remember who you are.”

System1's Top ads by “Star Rating” for “long-term brand-building potential”:

1.Lay’s (Highdive), “Little Farmer” – 5.9-Stars

2. NFL (72andSunny), “Somebody | It Takes All of Us” – 5.6-Stars

3. WeatherTech (Pinnacle Advertising), “Whatever Comes Your Way” – 5.2-Stars

4. NFL (72andSunny), “Flag 50” – 4.9-Stars

5. Häagen-Dazs (nice&frank), “Not So Fast, Not So Furious” – 4.7-Stars

6. Stella Artois (Artists Equity), “David & Dave: The Other David” – 4.5-Stars

7. Doritos (Dylan Bradshaw), “Abduction” – 4.4-Stars

8. Pfizer (Publicis Co Lab), “Knock Out” – 4.4-Stars

9. Nerds (Digitas Chicago), “Nerds Big Game Commercial ft. Shaboozey” – 4.3-Stars

10. Reese’s (Erich & Kallman), “Don’t Eat Lava” – 4.1-Stars

Top ads by “Spike Rating” (with equal scores ordered according to System1’s measure of “emotional intensity”):

1. Reese’s, 1.70 Spike

2. Doritos, 1.67 Spike

3. Little Caesars, 1.66 Spike

4. Pringles, 1.58 Spike

5. Taco Bell, 1.55 Spike

6. Bud Light, 1.54 Spike

7. Budweiser, 1.51 Spike

8. Booking.com, 1.49 Spike

9. Stella Artois, 1.47 Spike

10. Hellmann’s 1.46 Spike