These days, you just can’t escape AI. And now you can’t when it comes to Super Bowl ads either. But hey, there were some good ones. For me, Claude’s spot stood out. It featured a chatbot in human form who, while giving advice to a young man looking to get abs, suddenly veers into an ad read for a fitness product. The message: AI will soon start selling you ads—but not Claude. The chatbot’s acting was spot on, capturing the upbeat yet insincere cadence we’ve all come to know.
What was also refreshing about Claude’s spot was that it was an AI company actually talking about restraining AI. Contrast that with Genspark’s spot featuring Matthew Broderick, which tells the workforce that with AI, they can all take the day off. I don’t know, that kind of sounded like it could lead to a permanent vacation.
The irony is that in a year dominated by the most advanced technology imaginable, the ad that worked best wasn’t about what AI can do, but what it shouldn’t.
And it wasn’t just the spots explicitly about AI. Plenty of brands simply used the technology. That was most apparent in the de-aging techniques used for the cast of Jurassic Park in an Xfinity spot, and for a cast of classic sitcom stars (and Ben Affleck) in a hilarious Dunkin’ spot. Both ads were great.
Special kudos to Xfinity for a clever twist on what might have happened if the power had never gone out at Jurassic Park when Xfinity saves the day and gets the power back on. But in both cases, you could still see the technology at work in the actors’ facial features. Maybe next year the tech will catch up with these great ideas and finally become invisible.
Lastly, a shout-out to Artlist. Their entry was apparently a regional spot, but it may have been the best ad in the entire AI category. Made in just five days using only Artlist AI tools, the ad featured a backstage scenario with the stars of many of the night’s other commercials—a perfect, smart flex of their technology.
For all the hype around AI’s ability to do more, the best Super Bowl ads quietly proved something else: good advertising still depends on taste. And taste, at least for now, remains a human skill.
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Adam Von Ohlen is EVP and Chief Creative Officer at award-winning agency, Two by Four.
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