• by Sarah Mahoney , February 9, 2026

Ranking the “best” Super Bowl spots is always a tricky business, with celebrities and nostalgia duking it out against “breakthrough” (and often “huh?”) entries. This year was no different. America’s ad watchers love the legends. USA Today’s 38^th Annual Ad Meter says Budweiser’s “American Icons,” starring horses and an eagle, was this year’s Top Dog, scoring a 4.0 rating from viewers. It marked the 10^th year a Budweiser spot had won the day.

Lay’s, which ran two spots during the game, came in second with the sentimental “Last Harvest,” scoring 3.8. Pepsi’s “The Choice,”  which delighted viewers by hijacking Coke’s polar bear mascots and then Coldplay-ing the happy couple, landed in No. 3. “Good Will Dunkin’’,” which may have broken a record for the number of celebrities crammed in a single spot, all while time-traveling to the 1990s, was fourth. And Michelob ULTRA’s “Instructor,” a spot starring Kurt Russell and snowboarder Chloe Kim, was 5^th.

Insiders rated the ads differently, of course. At Northwestern University’s Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, Google Gemini took home the top spot with “New Home,” an emotional ad that showcased how AI can support life transitions through creativity and human connection. This marks the fourth time Google has claimed the top position in the Kellogg panel’s rankings.

“This ad captures what Google has historically done best: pairing genuine emotional storytelling with a clear illustration of how the product fits naturally into people’s lives,” said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing and co-lead of the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, in the announcement.

Other winners included Anthropic’s Claude with its “Can I get a six pack quickly?” and Novartis’s “Relax Your Tight End,” encouraging men to get a blood test to check for risks of prostate cancer.

Losers, besides the New England Patriots and their despondent fans? Coinbase and ai.com, both leaving watchers unclear about what the products actually offer.

Health-focused advertising also made a splash, with brands enthusiastically tackling bodily functions. Spots ranged from Liquid I.V.’s singing toilet bowls asking people to analyze the color of their pee, to William Shatner cheerfully plugging the benefits of Raisin Bran.

Weight-loss medications were especially prominent, with Novo Nordisk (Wegovy), Ro, and Eli Lilly (Zepbound) all spotlighting their GLP-1 offerings. Hims & Hers tackled access to care, while Liquid Death introduced a lower-caffeine energy drink.