AI Killed Big Game Ad Effectiveness: Human-Centric Stories Won the Night

Feb. 10, 2026

In a year when AI messaging dominated Big Game ads, System1, The Creative Effectiveness Platform, reveals that consumers’ favourites were heartfelt and human. This year’s top ads were the NFL’s “You Are Special” and “Champion,” Budweiser’s “American Icons,” Universal Orlando Resort’s “Lil’ Bro” and Michelob ULTRA’s “The Ultra Instructor.”

Comprised of more than 100,000 ads, System1’s Test Your Ad Competitive Edge platform is the world’s largest database of emotional norms. It measures consumers’ emotional responses to creative, assigning a score of 1.0 to 5.9 Stars based on long-term brand-building potential. Ads that make people feel intense, positive emotions like happiness and surprise score high on the scale. 

This year, 18% of the ads featured AI messaging and averaged 2.1 Stars. Altogether, the Big Game ads averaged 2.7-Stars, a decrease from 2025’s 3.0-Star average and the 2.4-Star average for all US ads. 

Despite this downturn, several standouts, all returning advertisers, helped balance the scales, with a record number of 5-Star ads.

Consumers' Favourite Ads

• NFL (72andSunny), “You Are Special” — 5.9 Stars
• NFL (72andSunny), “Champion” — 5.7 Stars
• Budweiser (BBDO New York), “American Icon” — 5.6 Stars
• Universal Orlando Resort (Lucky Generals), “Lil’ Bro”— 5.3 Stars
• Michelob Ultra (Wieden+Kennedy New York), “The ULTRA Instructor” — 5.1 Stars
• Ring (in house, Miniac and Bemo), “Search Party from Ring” — 4.5 Stars
• Pepsi (PepsiCo Content Studio and BBDO), “The Choice” — 4.2 Stars
• Red Bull (Kastner), “Dog Date” — 4.2 Stars
• Lay’s (Highdive), “The Lay’s Challenge” — 4.1 Stars
• Hellmann’s (VML), “Meal Diamond” — 4.1 Stars

Creative Inspiration from the Winning Ads

This year's top-performing ads reveal several key insights:

• Human and Heartfelt Resonates Most

This year’s rankings make one thing clear: the brands that continue to show up and tell human stories are the ones that connect most with consumers. Among the top 10, one AI ad makes the list by finding a human reason to use the product. Ring’s pet finding service uses AI to locate lost pets, bringing a more human and relatable side to tech.

• Star Power is a Shortcut, Not a Strategy

Seven of this year’s top 10 ads didn’t need star power to entertain audiences, yet 59% of the commercials cast celebrities. Often, the ads relied on two, three, four or even more celebrities to do the heavy lifting. Star power can create buzz and short-term sales potential, but it won’t build your brand in the long term.

• Pop Culture Plays Well

Some of the most effective ads are the ones which can tap into a cultural moment or land a nostalgic reference. The NFL’s recreation of a classic Mr. Rogers song is one great example, and Pepsi used its rival’s distinctive assets against it, judo style, with some very familiar polar bears suffering an identity crisis when they realize they prefer Pepsi. Hellmann’s surreal “Meal Diamond” was one of the most effective, and funniest pop culture references.

• Consistency Keeps Entertaining

Red Bull brought back its hand-drawn animation style with a new story centred around two dogs on a date, Hellmann’s continued to solidify its standing as a deli staple and Pepsi revived the Pepsi Challenge in a fresh way. Michelob Ultra once again played into sports to highlight that consumers don’t have to choose between a beer and an active lifestyle. Budweiser continued to invest in its fluent device, the Clydesdales, to land another 5-Star classic.

Room to Improve: Brands Don’t Brand Boldly Enough

What can advertisers improve on to enhance both short-term sales potential and long-term market share growth? Be more distinctive.

This year’s Big Game ads averaged 78% on brand recognition, meaning 22% of viewers couldn’t correctly identify the brand after watching. This is an all-time low across seven years of System1 testing.

Additionally, 76% of the ads used fewer than seven brand codes, System1's proven number for delivering maximum brand recognition. CPG brands like Pepsi, Lay’s and Michelob Ultra featured their logos and packaging front and centre. Yet more often than not, distinctive brand cues were too absent across this year’s ads and featured too late.

Jon Evans, Chief Customer Officer at System1 and host of Uncensored CMO podcast said:

“The most compelling subplot of the night was how AI companies would sell a use case for the tech. Most of these ads lacked storytelling, a character to root for and clarity on who the ad was for. CPG is still the reigning champion. These advertisers return again and again and are well versed in tried-and-true effectiveness principles like narratives featuring real people, humour and distinctive brand cues.”