Denton, Texas, February 7, 2026
Dr. Rama Yelkur from Texas Woman’s University shares insights on successful Super Bowl commercials, highlighting key elements like humor, nostalgia, and celebrity appearances. As brands invest millions for ad spots, understanding audience connection and emotional engagement is crucial. Companies like Dunkin’ and Budweiser utilize nostalgia and childhood memories, while others embrace new market entrants. With costs skyrocketing, effective advertising strategies are more important than ever for capturing viewer attention during the big game.
Dr. Rama Yelkur Analyzes Winning Super Bowl Ad Strategies
Denton, Texas – Dr. Rama Yelkur, Executive Dean of Texas Woman’s University Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship, has been hosting a live Super Bowl research panel with her business students for 25 years. Together, they analyze the ads as they air, studying what makes certain spots go viral, which ones are a dud, or which ads become instant classics.
According to Dr. Yelkur, most successful Super Bowl commercials check these key boxes:
- Humor
- Animals
- Kids
- Tugging heart strings
- Great music
- Celebrities
One trend is especially powerful again this year: nostalgia. Dr. Yelkur notes that companies would be remiss if they don’t use it. However, she points out that nostalgia only plays to specific parts of the audience. In the last two years, she has noticed some ads that bring in surprise celebrities from 1990s or early 2000s pop culture aren’t clicking with the Generation Z audience. For example, last year, Hellman’s Mayonnaise used the actors from “When Harry Met Sally,” and the students were asking, “What movie was that?”
With artificial intelligence becoming more common in advertising, Dr. Yelkur cautions that relying on it too heavily could backfire – especially when brands are spending millions. She emphasizes that AI cannot capture emotions. A good commercial creates laughs and heart. While AI can assist, the human element has to be part of it.
The stakes are high. A 30-second Super Bowl spot costs about $8 million this year, with longer ads reaching into the tens of millions – not including production costs. That’s one reason many brands now release their ads early on TV, streaming, or social media. Dr. Yelkur observes that more than 50% of the commercials have been released one way or the other. It’s great for the companies because if you spend millions of dollars on a 30-second commercial, you want to leverage it. You want that exposure.
Brands like Dunkin’ Donuts are returning with Ben Affleck and a heavy dose of nostalgia, featuring stars from NBC favorites “Friends” and “Seinfeld,” including Jennifer Aniston and Jason Alexander. Comcast Xfinity is also tapping into nostalgia, re-imagining scenes from the original “Jurassic Park” movie with the film’s iconic cast and special effects to make them look just as they did in the 1993 movie. The commercial asks the question: What if “Jurassic Park” had fast, reliable internet?
Budweiser is bringing back its beloved Clydesdale horses to celebrate the brand’s 150th birthday alongside the 250th birthday of the United States. This year, they’re pairing a baby Clydesdale with a baby bald eagle in a touching story showing a lifelong friendship. Dr. Yelkur notes that this is absolutely cute, heartwarming, and tugs at the heartstrings. The Clydesdales themselves are iconic. Once you see the Clydesdale, you know what brand they represent. She believes this will be one of the top commercials.
Dr. Yelkur also notes a shift in the types of companies entering the Super Bowl ad arena for the first time, including several GLP-1 medication makers, a growing industry targeting a broad audience. She observes that there are like three or four GLP-1 commercials this year. The target audience is a large percentage of women and also men. It’s interesting that industries that were thought to never reach the Super Bowl platform are now advertising there.
Additionally, Levi’s is running its first Super Bowl ad in more than 20 years, taking advantage of a brand boost with the game being played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Super Bowl 60 is scheduled to air on NBC 5 and stream live on Peacock this Sunday.
Key Features of Successful Super Bowl Commercials
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Humor | Incorporating humor to entertain and engage viewers. |
| Animals | Featuring animals to add charm and appeal. |
| Children | Including children to evoke innocence and relatability. |
| Emotional Appeals | Creating emotional connections to resonate with viewers. |
| Great Music | Utilizing music to enhance the ad’s mood and impact. |
| Celebrities | Featuring celebrities to attract attention and credibility. |
| Nostalgia | Evoking past memories to connect with viewers. |
| Artificial Intelligence | Using AI to assist in ad creation, while maintaining human emotional elements. |
| High Cost | Recognizing the significant investment required for Super Bowl advertising. |
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