Super Bowl 2026 Ads are Memory Engineering Devices
Super Bowl LX was the year's most expensive memory-building opportunity for brands.
Absurd production costs, high media investments, expected high celebrity mix, with a single goal. To seduce and/or build distinctive memory structures in the minds of many current and future consumers, one brand logo at a time.
Some brands treat the Super Bowl like a creativity festival. Big stunts. Big laughs. Big noise. Average branding.
I disagree. If people remember the joke but forget the brand, you just burned $7M.
Branding matters.
I watched last night's ads through a simple lens: Attention. Emotion. Memory.
Because great ads do these things well:
1️⃣ A daring attempt that grabs attention, before, during, and after the game.
2️⃣ A highly intense emotional narrative, nostalgic for some, and intriguing for others.
3️⃣ An easy-to-understand story with impossible-to-miss branding to trigger DMS creation.
If one is missing, the ad fails.
Here are my winners. No research this time. Just instinct and 20 years of looking at what sticks.
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WHO WON
Pepsi - Shock and outrage before kick-off. Emotional rollercoaster, nostalgic for some and puzzling for others/ Branding everywhere, even in the details. Hard to miss what the therapist was drinking. Hard to forget the ad. Hard to not pick a side.
Pizza Hut - Never underestimate the power of Tom Brady yelling something that is both half the brand name & product feature. If this doesn't become sonic branding for the "huuut", I don't know what else they need. Pizza Hut logo isn't missing in any frame - textbook.
Franck's RedHot - Music is the easiest shortcut for brand encoding. With doorbell scenes that remind me of "Whazaaap" and goats as my favorite animal in commercials (sorry, Budweiser), Ludacris is ludicrous in a superbly 100% branded video.
... and here are few that felt expensive but forgettable.
Hyunday - Beautiful film. High craft. I finished it and couldn’t recall the brand. That’s a problem.
Instacart - Was it a banana ad, or something else? Fun idea. But what was the brand story? Style over memory. I know it was Spike Jonze, but the 80s production didn't warm me.
Claude - Yes, I know you probably liked it. It's a great ad when you watch it all the way to the end. Weak branding for a comparative ad. Pepsi showed us how to do that better.
The Super Bowl is about building distinctive memory structures at a scale unique to the world.
Next week, most people will remember only a few ads, and if they also remember your brand, that's the real win.
What was your favorite ad and why?