"At this point in the Super Bowl ad post-mortem, a pattern has emerged: AI - both the companies selling it and the brands leaning on it - did not resonate as strongly as more familiar creative territory. Viewers gravitated toward the tried and tested, from nostalgia plays to celebrities in deliberately oddball scenarios, while many AI-centered spots struggled to make an emotional connection."
"And even that tally may be conservative. Not every use of AI is signposted. In some cases it sits in the production workflow rather than the storyline, embedded in editing, effects or optimization. Few marketers have much incentive to spotlight that. "I think advertisers are a little bit afraid of what kind of impact that has on consumers and their image with them," said Nada Bradbury, CEO of AD-ID."
Super Bowl viewers preferred familiar creative approaches like nostalgia and celebrity-driven oddball scenarios over AI-focused spots, which often failed to create emotional resonance. About 15 of 66 ads (23%) explicitly promoted or relied on AI, though unseen uses likely increased that share through production workflows such as editing, effects, or optimization. Many marketers avoided signposting AI due to reputational risk and limited branding upside, favoring discretion. Broader cultural narratives linking AI with job displacement, industry upheaval, and surveillance intensified audience skepticism. Industry surveys indicate widespread experimentation with AI across brands and agencies despite cautious public messaging.
Read at Digiday
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