Category: In the News

Benson Boone and Ben Stiller for Instacart. Adrian Brody for Intuit TurboTax. Emma Stone for Squarespace. Odd-couple pairings between celebrity talent and consumer brands aren’t a novelty for Super Bowl ads, but the sheer number of brands relying on a famous face to help them cut through with viewers at home this year was notable. 

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Super Bowl ads featured one or more celebrity talents this year, according to data from TV measurement company iSpot. Back in 2011, only around a quarter of ads included an A-lister, but a reliance on Hollywood names has been typical of Big Game ads since the start of this decade.

It’s part of a broader pattern. The “built-in affinity” a top name can bring means it’s “an easy place to go,” said Mike Hayward, chief creative officer at agency Copacino Fujikado.

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If this year’s Super Bowl commercials made one thing clear, it’s that companies are still trying to sell Americans on AI. As public sentiment wanes, however, brands are recalibrating how they position themselves in the era of AI.

There’s a mounting distrust, and the numbers prove it. While 82% of ad execs feel Gen Z and millennials feel positively about AI-generated ads, only 45% of those consumers actually feel that way, according to recent research from the IAB and Sonata Insights, a custom research and advisory service. That gap has only widened since the 2024 study.

The growing trust deficit 

Some brands are taking notice that technology now carries emotional weight, signaling messages about ethics, morals and trust. Even brands that aren’t offering AI services are careful about campaign language, brand voice and positioning around AI usage.

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