Kaylah Walton
As the Super Bowl nears, attention turns to the highly anticipated ads. These commercials occupy one of the priciest advertising slots worldwide, leading brands to present their most impressive work to attract a huge audience.
Nevertheless, some commercials fall flat and become infamous for negative reasons, often because they are poorly made, offensive, or completely irrelevant, potentially harming the brands associated with them.
Related:
- Super Bowl 2025: date, time, halftime show and everything you need to know
- Where to watch the 2025 Super Bowl? TV channel and streaming where you can watch the game
- Super Bowl 2025 Halftime Show: Everything you need to know about Kendrick Lamar’s show
- Super Bowl Winners List: All the teams that have won the Super Bowl by year
- Gatorade Color Super Bowl: Odds, history and more about the traditional Gatorade bath
A Glimpse at the Most Unfortunate Super Bowl Ads
- Budweiser‘s “Wassup?” overkill: The repetitive catchphrase that lost its charm.
- Old Spice‘s bewildering humor: An ad that relied on confusing random humor.
- Nationwide‘s morbid twist: An unsettling commercial featuring a child discussing death.
- GoDaddy‘s infamous campaign: A terrible ad with model Bar Refaeli that crossed lines.
- SalesGenie and offensive stereotypes: An ad with pandas that perpetuated harmful stereotypes.
- Sony‘s disturbing visuals: A commercial featuring the Android mascot with human body parts.
- Just for Feet‘s bizarre demands: A strange ad where a runner is forced to wear shoes.
- Apple misses the mark with “Lemmings”: An ad compared unfavorably to their iconic “1984” spot.
- Taco Bell‘s lackluster recent ad: A Doja Cat commercial that failed to connect with viewers.
- Planters stages Mr. Peanut’s death: A marketing ploy that involved the fictional character’s funeral.
- Dodge misuses MLK’s legacy: A commercial that leveraged Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech for truck promotion.
- Fiat‘s questionable innuendo: An ad suggesting a car takes Viagra to become more appealing.
- Jeep and Bruce Springsteen’s vague message: An ad featuring a confusing speech from the singer.
- Rocket Mortgage‘s unsettling transformation: An ad with Jason Momoa that displayed a strange physical change.
- Pepsi addresses social issues awkwardly: An ill-timed ad featuring Kendall Jenner amidst protests.
