Novartis Wins at the 2025 Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review
Tubi and Squarespace Fumble during the Big Game
EVANSTON, Ill., Feb. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis took home the top spot in the 21st Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review with its "Your Attention, Please" ad putting a spotlight on breast health and encouraging cancer screening – the first time a pharmaceutical company has come in first in the two decades of the strategic advertising review. Other brands that earned top marks included Michelob Ultra's 'The ULTRA Hustle' and Google Pixel's 'Dream Job.' Not every advertiser hit the mark this year, including Tubi and Coffee-Mate, which received low grades during this year's Ad Review.
"Novartis took a risk to really break through the clutter with its unexpected focus on breast cancer screening," said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing and co-lead of the school's Ad Review. "The ad started out with a playful tone to then deliver a serious message," added Derek Rucker, the Sandy & Morton Goldman professor of entrepreneurial studies in marketing and co-lead of the school's Ad Review.
Nike made a triumphant return to the Super Bowl after nearly 30 years with a 90-second spot entitled "So Win" and featuring WNBA stars Caitlin Clark, A'ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu and Olympic gold medalists Jordan Chiles and Sha'Carri Richardson. Nike was one of several ads targeted towards women and girls, capitalizing on the recent increased popularity of women's sports. Dove, which earned top marks last year with its spot on body confidence, ran an ad focused on keeping girls in sports, while the NFL ran its own spot advocating for girl's flag football to be made a varsity sport in all 50 states. "Nike and Dove both championed women's sports and female empowerment, consistent with the equality-focused messaging these brands have had in the past," said Calkins.
While brands like Michelob Ultra and Google Pixel had strong showings with their ads, others fumbled a huge opportunity and a multi-million-dollar investment, like Tubi, which aired three spots over the game and failed to deliver a compelling benefit resulting in a low rating from the Kellogg panel. Coffee Mate's ad for cold foam, which featured a dancing tongue voiced by Shania Twain, also received a low grade. "Coffee Mate broke one of the often-golden rules of advertising – don't be off-putting when people are trying to enjoy an event," said Rucker. "You can see the creative pitch behind it – but the moving tongue provoked a visceral and negative reaction from our panel."
Following the trend of recent years, many ads featured celebrity spokespeople, with likes of Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck and Jeremy Strong (Dunkin'), Orlando Bloom and Drew Barrymore (MSC Cruises), Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt (Meta/Ray-Ban), and Matthew McConaughey pulling double duty and appearing in ads for both Salesforce and Uber Eats. Michelob Ultra, which saw a top ranking from the panel, featured Willem Dafoe and Catherine O'Hara. "Michelob Ultra saw a strong use of celebrity in what was a classic Super Bowl beer ad," noted Rucker.
Several candy and snack brands made appearances tonight, including Reese's, Pringle's, Doritos and Ferrara's Nerds, the latter of which made its second consecutive Super Bowl appearance spotlighting the Nerds Gummy Cluster. Lay's also aired a heartwarming ad featuring a little girl nurturing a potato plant.
After Coca-Cola's AI-generated holiday ad sparked discussion in December, there was speculation among viewers and the panel that advertisers might rely on artificial intelligence for their Super Bowl spots. While AI-generated art wasn't overtly apparent this year, there was a noticeable increase in ads that promoted AI tools. Salesforce promoted their Agentforce AI platform while Open.AI made its Super Bowl debut with a 60-second spot promoting ChatGPT. Meta also ran two commercials demonstrating usage of its AI glasses, a collaboration with Ray-Ban, while GoDaddy returned to the Super Bowl after eight years to debut GoDaddy Airo, its AI-powered platform for entrepreneurs.
"There was a lot of excitement for Open.AI to run its first Super Bowl ad, but our panel was left wondering what the goal was, and it came across as lackluster," said Rucker.
The Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review uses an academic framework known as ADPLAN to evaluate the strategic effectiveness of Super Bowl spots. The acronym helps viewers grade ads based on Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification and Net Equity. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the experiential event which has become a longstanding and cherished tradition in the Kellogg marketing community.
A full list of the rankings is available here.
To learn more about the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, visit https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news-events/super-bowl.aspx.
For more information about the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, visit www.kellogg.northwestern.edu.
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