For nearly as long as the Super Bowl has existed, the commercials have been part of the main event. In fact, a recent report shows that about 48% of Super Bowl viewers tune in specifically for the commercials and the halftime show—not the football. That’s nearly half the audience watching for the ads alone.
And when you look at the numbers, it’s easy to see why advertisers go all out.
The Biggest Audience on Television
Super Bowl games regularly dominate U.S. television viewership. Last year’s Super Bowl set an all-time record, pulling in an average of 127.7 million viewers across all platforms. That made it the most-watched non-news television broadcast in American history—breaking a record that had been set just the year before.
In fact, of the top 20 most-watched television broadcasts in U.S. history, only one isn’t a Super Bowl: the 1983 series finale of MASH*. When brands buy Super Bowl airtime, they’re buying attention on a scale that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else.
The Price of 30 Seconds of Fame
That massive audience comes at a massive cost. At Super Bowl I in 1967, a 30-second commercial cost just $37,500 (about $353,000 in today’s dollars). Fast-forward to today, and advertisers are paying an estimated $8 million for the same 30 seconds.
That eye-watering price tag is exactly why companies now treat Super Bowl commercials as full-blown marketing campaigns. Teasers, early releases, and extended cuts often drop days—or even weeks—before kickoff to stretch the return on investment.
One of the earliest and most successful examples came in 2011, when Volkswagen released its Star Wars-themed commercial ahead of the game. By the time it aired during the Super Bowl, the ad had already racked up 11 million views online and ultimately became the most-shared Super Bowl ad ever.
The Commercials That Changed the Game
Some Super Bowl ads didn’t just sell products—they changed advertising history.
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1970 (Super Bowl IV): Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus appeared in a Prestone antifreeze commercial, delivering the line, “Because plugging holes is my business.” It became the first truly successful celebrity endorsement in Super Bowl advertising.
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1977 (Super Bowl XI): Xerox aired its now-legendary “Monks” commercial, featuring a monk discovering a Xerox photocopier. It’s often described as the first “viral” TV ad, with viewers actively requesting to see it again. The company even released a modern remake in 2017 to mark its 40th anniversary.
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1984 (Super Bowl XVIII): Apple aired its iconic “1984” Macintosh commercial, directed by Ridley Scott and inspired by George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The ad redefined what commercials could be and is still widely considered one of the greatest Super Bowl ads of all time.
Budweiser and the Clydesdales
No brand is more closely tied to the Super Bowl than Budweiser. Beginning in 1975, the company featured its beloved Clydesdales in at least one Super Bowl commercial every single year through 2017. For decades, their ads became emotional touchstones—sometimes funny, sometimes patriotic, sometimes tear-jerking—but always unmistakably Budweiser.
The Most Expensive Super Bowl Ads Ever
As of 2026, the title of most expensive Super Bowl commercial belongs to Amazon’s 2022 ad “Mind Reader,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost. The 90-second spot reportedly cost $26 million just for airtime.
Other record-setting ads include Cadillac and General Motors spots in 2021, each costing around $22 million.
More Than Just Ads
Super Bowl commercials have become cultural events in their own right—shared, debated, ranked, and remembered long after the final whistle. For advertisers, it’s not just about selling a product; it’s about creating a moment that sticks in pop culture history.