Benito Bowl had so many brand lessons

What brands can learn from Bad Bunny + the ads we loved and those we didn't.

A few things:

1) In no way is this comprehensive. Drop ones you loved and hated in the comments.

2) It goes without saying, but I said it twice just in case: Whatever we say about an ad, or whatever you want to say about commercials as a ‘relevant’ form of advertising, we know teams put a lot into these. And you deserve to pat yourselves on the back and celebrate. It’s no small feat. Well done to all.

3) The timestamps lead to the section in the pod, and the brand names lead to the ads.

Enjoy!

Skip to the bits you fancy

01:28 — BAD BUNNY // Just wow. On every level. Thoughtful, layered, inspiring. From the details he wove into every part of it (talk about lore!), to the Puerto Rican sign language interpreter, to all the Latin American designers represented, to the custom Zara (!?) look, every detail had meaning. And the BTS was engineered perfectly for social. If you’re looking for brand inspiration, unpack this. It does a lot of what we’ve told you is working. And let this Ricky Martin quote bring you to tears while you’re there:

“I know what it means to succeed without letting go of where you come from. I know how heavy it is, what it costs, and what is sacrificed when you decide not to change because others ask you to. That’s why what you have achieved is not just a historic musical accomplishment, it’s a cultural and human victory. You won without changing the color of your voice. You won without erasing your roots. You won by staying true to Puerto Rico.”

07:06 — INSTACART // Great casting. Who doesn’t love Benson Boone, and pairing him with Ben Stiller was genius. The vibe was great. And that’s where it went to pieces. But the message was lost. The short version was confusing, the long version too bizarre.

09:12 — TBNP // A (regional) Super Bowl ad from a ‘new media’ brand is notable on its own. Using logos of past guests to turn the spot into a reach machine, now that was really clever. Brands proudly sharing “Mom, I’m on TV.” was very feel-good, too. Smart, generous, and very made for sharing. Claps.

11:32 — LIQUID IV // Singing toilets are unhinged. But it pays off. Clear insight, catchy song, and an actual aspirational flex people are seeking (no yellow pee) to close it out.

13:34 — COINBASE // A clever sing-along idea, for sure. The issue is that the brand perception for Coinbase gave everyone the ick when they were tricked into singing the brand name. You need brand love for this crescendo to hit.

15:24 — DUNKIN’ // Stacked cast (that made sense together) and packed with nostalgia. Add all the bits of Boston energy, and it just worked.

17:50 — FANATICS // Pulling a fun, real bit of lore like the Kendall curse and then managing to convince her to be in on the joke should get applause on its own. It was also executed very well.

20:23 — MANSCAPED // This felt Dr Squatch adjacent. Certainly appealing to the same audience. Unhinged, weird, slightly provocative on almost-mention of ball hair. Funny and certainly memorable. Well played for a small brand.

21:41 — LEVI’S // A fun, well-executed reminder of how iconic Levi’s is. Ending on Doechii was the icing. And the “Behind every original” was excellent.

23:05 — PRINGLES // Ok, points for putting the product front and center, which is hard with a star like Sabrina Carpenter. But the tone didn’t feel like her. Memorable, but slightly off.

24:41 — PEPSI // With our small group of Alphas, this spot hit. The Coke bear reference was greatly enjoyed. The Coldplay scandal was funny if you got it. But the AI-ness was very distracting.

26:00 — POPPI // Great cast, pure vibes, which might just have been the entire brief. The premise has been done a thousand times. Drink this, enter another world, followed by “Can I have some of that?” Felt too familiar, but perhaps it’s novel enough for the generation they’re targeting.

27:08 — XFINITY // Not a brand either of us had on the bingo card, so claps just for that. The old Jurassic Park footage mixed with new moments to show WiFi speed was genuinely funny. The product made the joke work, which is rare, but when it happens, it’s great.

28:59 — RAISIN BRAN // You can picture this in the pitch room, and it felt like it made it to the screen in its full purity. Which never happens. It was just too good. Shockingly, one of the best, from a category that felt dead in the water.

30:26 — NERDS // It was hard to make sense of this. Andy Cohen makes sense if you know Real Housewives = moms = candy gatekeepers. But the leap was too big. Candy has a perception problem, and this didn’t solve it.

32:15 — RITZ // Jon Hamm, Bowen Yang, Scarlett Johansson, what could go wrong? Apparently, more than you think.

33:32 — KINDER BUENO // The “No bueno” line was sticky. Not much else, but sometimes the line does the job.

34:26 — BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM // This was a PSA for the UACR urine test as an early warning for stroke and heart attack in women. Octavia Spencer and Sofía Vergara made it fun. And shockingly informative.

35:45 — NOVARTIS // If one PSA had to win, though, it would be this one. “Relax your tight end” for colon cancer screening is genuinely funny. Beautifully shot, misdirects before the payoff in a good way, and removes shame. Very well done.

37:16 — SQUARESPACE // Film noir and horror vibes mixed with Emma Stone. Felt threatening, a tad wasteful, and oddly angry. Missed the plot.

38:05 — RO // Clear and functional. Shows how the app works. Does the job. Didn’t inspire, but got the message through on a big stage.

38:56 — SLACK // This didn’t hit with any audience. The overlap wasn’t there. Alphas who like MrBeast couldn’t care in the least about Slack or Salesforce. For Slack users, the Salesforce connection gave us all the ick.

40:25 — RAMP // “Multiply what’s possible” is fine. Generally love what this brand does. But sticking with Kevin from The Office as mascot felt like an old-school advertising model. Not something we associate with this brand.

41:53 — OPEN AI // “You can just build” didn’t land. Tried to borrow warmth without earning it. Boring.

42:58 — GOOGLE GEMINI // Google remains unmatched at heartfelt tech storytelling. Human, emotional, and genuinely moving. Very few brands can balance heartfelt correctly. Many have tried and most fail. Google does it consistently.

43:41 — CLAUDE // Went straight at AI ad anxiety and made it funny. Bold, accurate, and self-aware. Well played.

44:35 — BUD LIGHT // Stacked cast that was odd but worked, the product front and center, and it was actually funny. Traditional Super Bowl energy but done right.

45:26 — BOSCH // Execution was fine. Campaign line was elite: “The more you Bosch, the more you feel like a Bosch.” Made me laugh at least.

46:14 — SVEDKA // AI robots, no story. Felt flat and boring. A theme emerged with AI use, and this pointed directly to it.

46:48 — REALFOOD.GOV // MAHA’s processed food PSA with Mike Tyson deserves its own unpacking one day. The link between food and mental health that MAHA is pushing is getting much louder. But that aside, do we need to ask who wants Mike Tyson as their role model in a PSA? Wow.

47:27 — ELF // Hysterical telenovela with Melissa McCarthy. Timely, specific, and genuinely funny. One of the favorites.

48:18 — GRUBHUB // The line “Grubhub will eat the fees” is smart. Clear product benefit, easy to remember. Why George Clooney, someone else will have to answer that.

49:11 — DOVE // Strong message about girls dropping out of sports due to body confidence (something a few brands have latched onto in the last year). Meaningful, but didn’t hit the emotional heights of Dove’s classics. If they can modernize without losing that emotion, it would be amazing.

50:36 — HERS / HIMS // The “Rich people live longer” opening was tough. Very dystopian. But the access message and pointing to the changing meaning of “the frontier of good health” felt very aligned with where culture is going.

51:11 — AI.COM // Nothing to say. Site crashed. Worst of the bunch. And I couldn’t find the ad for you.

51:42 — THEMES // Lots of unhinged, which might not work next year (we say why). Unexpected winner. Good castings. And a very telling mix of AI-forward and human-forward.

ABOUT

Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning.

Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +16K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack

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