Every year, about 60 brands spend millions—in 2026, up to $10 million— to advertise in the Super Bowl. They try to shock, delight, surprise, confuse, and inspire the upwards of 127 million-strong audience in the hopes that they’ll be remembered long after the Big Game ends.
Jon Evans thinks those advertisements have room to improve.
“The average Super Bowl ad on our five-star scale is actually only three stars,” said Evans, chief customer officer at behavioral science research firm System1.
His advice for making a better ad: “Spend the money on making sure that you create emotion and the right memory.”
Ahead of Super Bowl 60, System1 surveyed 60,000 consumers, asking them to look back on all 425 ads from the last five years of Super Bowls to gauge which ones had the strongest potential for long-term growth—which, according to System1’s 25 years of research, is best predicted by emotional resonance.
“What we do is rather than asking people, ‘What do you think about this advert or this brand?’ we ask them how they feel about it,” Evans explained.
Hundreds of responses about a single ad are compiled, then turned into predictions about purchase intent, market share, and memorability. Here’s what works, according to consumers, and how to make it work for your brand.
Happiness is king
The top result—and it wasn’t particularly close—was “Little Farmer” by Lay’s from Super Bowl 59. The ad, directed by Taika Waititi, follows a little girl as she nurtures a potato from seed to harvest.
Evans commended the relatable intergenerational characters, the nostalgic longing for a different way of life, and the simple story that still managed to run a gamut of emotions, from hope and worry to eventual triumph.
“Advertising that has a story that unfolds, like in a movie, is much more powerful than an ad that has lots and lots of scenes, lots of messages bombarding you,” he added. “What most advertisers get wrong is they try and put too much into too short a period of time, and you’re better off saying less and letting people feel that emotion.”
Doing surprise right
“Surprise is very good, and the reason for that is what surprise does is capture your attention and makes it more likely you’ll remember what you’re watching,” Evans said.
The key, however, is what people feel after the surprise. For charities looking to make people do something immediately, surprise can be a way to shock the audience into action. But for those looking to make their brand memorable, skip the zany plot twists and surprise your audience in a way that delights. Bonus points if you can make them laugh: Humor is another major predictor of positive brand sentiment.
