There is no established, definitive all-time bottom ten for Super Bowl commercials. This ranking instead takes its candidates from the 2024 Super Bowl Advertising Review by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, as reported by CBS News: 11 brands received the review’s lowest grade, a D. The order below is editorial, not an official Ad Meter ranking. It weighs message clarity, the fit between creative idea and product, story and payoff, repetition, and the available published criticism.
Those are different measures from USA TODAY’s Ad Meter, which records panelist sentiment. Its rules and rating scale have changed over time, so a low expert grade should not be mistaken for a public vote—or a universal verdict on what viewers disliked.
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How this ranking defines “worst”
The entries are ranked by how clearly and effectively the commercial connects its creative idea to the advertiser’s offering, with published criticism informing placements where available. This is a critical editorial judgment, not a calculation from a common scoring formula. The Kellogg review supplies the candidate pool; CBS’s reporting gives specific critiques for some ads but not all, so the ranking does not invent explanations for entries with little documented criticism.
Nor is this a list of the ten lowest Ad Meter scores. USA TODAY describes Ad Meter as a way to measure panelist sentiment, while the Kellogg review assigns expert grades. An audience score, an expert assessment, and an individual viewer’s reaction answer different questions.
#1 Best Overall
The 10 worst Super Bowl commercials in this ranking
1. Temu — repeated animated price pitch
Temu lands at the bottom because repetition is the clearest documented weakness in the group. CBS reported that its animated low-price-shopping commercial ran several times during the game; the Kellogg panel gave it a D. The same CBS report quoted a viewer objecting to seeing the spot repeatedly. A bargain message can be simple and memorable, but repeated exposure can make the pitch feel more tiresome than persuasive.
2. Homes.com — Dan Levy spots that missed the service benefit
Celebrity presence did not resolve the basic communication problem identified by the Kellogg panel: CBS says it found that the three commercials featuring Dan Levy failed to convey the benefit of Homes.com’s service. That is a serious weakness for an ad whose job is not only to entertain but to make the service understandable.
3. Squarespace — alien invasion without a clear service connection
The commercial’s alien-invasion premise and Martin Scorsese cameo supplied spectacle, but CBS reported that the connection to Squarespace’s service was unclear. When the idea dominates the product, viewers may remember the strange story without knowing why the company belongs in it. This entry’s placement rests on that reported clarity and connection problem, not a published audience score.
Rank #2
- Factory sealed DVD
4. FanDuel — “Kick of Destiny 2”
FanDuel’s Rob Gronkowski “Kick of Destiny 2” ad drew a particularly blunt outside reaction: CBS quoted the New York Times’ assessment, “Lame right.” That is an attributed critical quip, not a poll result. It supports a lower placement here as evidence of a weakly received execution, but does not establish that viewers broadly agreed.
5. Bass Pro Shops — affordability over artistry
CBS described the spot as highlighting boat affordability and reported criticism that it did not win fans for artistry. The trade-off is visible in the creative premise: a practical price message may tell viewers what is being sold, but the reported artistic criticism suggests the commercial did little to transform that pitch into a memorable Super Bowl story. The artistry judgment is attributed criticism, not an established consensus.
6. He Gets Us — a provocative image that invited jokes
The ad showed people washing other people’s feet. CBS reported that it became the subject of social-media jokes about foot fetishes, and linked the campaign in its report to the nonprofit Come Near. The image is striking, but the reaction described by CBS shows how a visual metaphor can invite an unintended reading that competes with the intended message.
Rank #3
- Officially Licensed
- Highest Quality Recording
7. American Values 2024 — borrowed legacy in a political spot
CBS reported that this 30-second ad from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s super PAC used slogans, clips, and a jingle drawing on his uncle John F. Kennedy’s legacy. The report also said use of family imagery prompted complaints from some relatives. That controversy makes the spot a poor fit for a ranking based only on conventional brand clarity, so it sits below the ads with documented communication failures but remains among the lowest-graded commercials in the review.
8. Progressive — a D grade, without a documented specific critique
Progressive is one of the brands CBS listed among the Kellogg review’s D-grade commercials. The available reporting does not give a specific reason for that grade, so it would be misleading to claim that the ad failed because of its story, joke, or product connection. Its placement here reflects its inclusion in the lowest-grade group, not an invented diagnosis.
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Snap also appears in the D-grade list reported by CBS. The report does not establish a particular flaw in the spot, and the grade alone cannot tell us whether the panel objected to clarity, execution, or something else. This ranking therefore treats the grade as evidence of expert disapproval, not proof of a specific failure.
10. Drumstick — a D grade, but no detailed rationale in the cited account
Drumstick rounds out this selection from the 2024 D-grade pool. CBS reports the Kellogg grade but provides limited criticism of the commercial itself. There is not enough in that account to explain why the panel scored it poorly or to compare its creative execution confidently with the other entries; its position is the least certain in this editorial ordering.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why this is not an official Ad Meter bottom ten
USA TODAY’s Ad Meter and the Kellogg review should not be collapsed into one ranking. Ad Meter collects ratings from registered panelists for eligible in-game commercials; the Kellogg exercise reported expert grades. The official releases also show a change in Ad Meter’s scale:
| Edition | Rating scale and scope | Registration figure |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Registered panelists rated eligible commercials shown from kickoff through the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter on a 1–10 scale; the highest average won. | Over 160,000 registrations |
| 2025 | Eligible in-game spots were rated on a 1–5 scale. | Over 173,000 registrations |
These registration totals are not stated as completed ratings or as a nationally representative sample. Because the scale changed, 2024 and 2025 raw scores cannot be compared directly. The official releases report the winners and top five, not a verified all-time bottom ten: see the 2024 Ad Meter release and the 2025 Ad Meter release.
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What makes a Super Bowl ad fail?
These examples point to distinct ways a high-profile commercial can fall short, rather than one universal definition of a bad ad:
- Unclear benefit: Homes.com’s spots were criticized for not conveying what the service offered viewers.
- Weak product connection: CBS said Squarespace’s alien story did not clearly connect to its service.
- Repetition that wears out the pitch: Temu’s repeated spot became part of the criticism reported by CBS.
- An image that takes on a life of its own: The He Gets Us foot-washing scene prompted jokes that competed with its intended meaning.
- Memorability without a satisfying story: A celebrity or unusual premise alone does not guarantee a coherent commercial.
Bruce Horovitz, a former lead writer who oversaw much of USA TODAY’s Ad Meter, argues that a strong Super Bowl ad needs “a compelling story with a beginning, middle, and an unexpected ending.” That is his professional view, not a scientific rule for judging every ad; his TIME commentary makes the case for narrative over star power or cute animals alone.
Recent creative patterns should also be kept separate from evidence of failure. The Associated Press described 2025 commercials as leaning on easy laughs and nostalgia, but that observation is context about the edition’s advertising—not proof that any particular spot was poorly rated or belongs on a worst-of list. See the AP’s 2025 coverage.
