There is no universally accepted greatest Super Bowl commercial, but CBS Sports’ all-time ranking published February 9, 2026, offers a consistent answer. Its top 23 range from catchphrase-driven comedy and cinematic spectacle to celebrity cameos and emotional storytelling. The order below follows that editorial ranking, not a scientific survey or permanent consensus.
The 23 best Super Bowl commercials of all time
CBS Sports’ list mixes ads remembered for immediate laughs with campaigns that changed advertising or entered popular culture. Each entry explains the creative device that keeps it memorable.
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| Rank | Commercial | Year | Why it remains iconic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Budweiser — “Whassup?” | 2000 | A simple phone-call greeting became a real-life trend. The repeated phrase and instantly recognizable social situation made the joke exceptionally easy to imitate. |
| 2 | Snickers — Betty White, “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” | 2010 | Betty White unexpectedly plays badly in a pickup football game, turning the campaign’s hunger premise into an immediate visual gag. |
| 3 | Apple — “1984” | 1984 | Directed by Ridley Scott, the dystopian, movie-like spot introduced Macintosh through cinematic imagery rather than a conventional product demonstration. |
| 4 | McDonald’s — “Jordan vs. Bird” (“The Showdown”) | 1993 | Michael Jordan and Larry Bird escalate a trick-shot contest over a Big Mac until the increasingly impossible wager becomes the entertainment. |
| 5 | Wendy’s — “Where’s the Beef?” | 1984 | The compact joke about oversized buns and a tiny patty gave Wendy’s competitive claim a catchphrase people could repeat outside the commercial. |
| 6 | Budweiser — “Frogs” | 1995 | Three frogs croak the syllables of the brand name. Minimal action, sound repetition and characters who returned in later ads made the idea durable. |
| 7 | Coca-Cola — “Mean Joe Greene” (“Hey Kid, Catch”) | 1980 | A child offers an exhausted Joe Greene a Coke and receives his jersey. The spot aired before Super Bowl XIV and became iconic after appearing during the game; the Museum of Broadcast Communications later placed it first in its own exhibit. |
| 8 | Pepsi — Cindy Crawford | 1992 | The camera appears to feature Crawford, then reveals that two boys are interested in the redesigned Pepsi can. The bait-and-switch makes the packaging the punchline. |
| 9 | E*Trade — “Talking Babies” | 2008 | A baby discusses investing like an adult before the original spot ends with spit-up. The premise supported a long series of follow-up baby commercials. |
| 10 | Reebok — “Terry Tate: Office Linebacker” | 2003 | A linebacker-style enforcer tackles employees who violate office rules. The character became a viral sensation and returned in additional spots. |
| 11 | Volkswagen — “The Force” | 2011 | A child dressed as Darth Vader tries to use the Force around the house; the Passat’s remote-start reveal turns a familiar fantasy into a clear product demonstration. |
| 12 | FedEx — “Cast Away” | 2003 | The commercial spoofs the survival-film setup and imagery of Cast Away, then uses a comic ending to reconnect the premise with delivery service. |
| 13 | Paramount+ — “Mountain of Entertainment” | 2024 | Patrick Stewart, Arnold, Creed, Jeff Probst and Peppa Pig join a self-aware crossover parade that sells the breadth of the streaming service’s properties. |
| 14 | Budweiser — “Instant Replay” | 2003 | Clydesdales recreate a football play, while a zebra and the final line supply the unexpected punchline. CBS identifies Zack Snyder as director. |
| 15 | NFL — “NFL 100” | 2017 | Current and former stars collide during a formal dinner, transforming a league celebration into broad physical comedy. The anniversary chronology is described inconsistently in available summaries, so the creative concept is the safer focus. |
| 16 | Walmart — “Famous Cars” | 2019 | Recognizable vehicles from pop culture converge around Walmart pickup. Spotting the cars rewards viewers while giving the service a functional role. |
| 17 | PopCorners — “Breaking Bad” | 2023 | Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston reprise their roles, with Vince Gilligan writing, to repurpose a familiar television world for a snack-food story. |
| 18 | Hyundai — “Smart Park” (“Smaht Pahk”) | 2020 | John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch and David Ortiz play with Boston pronunciation while demonstrating the Sonata’s parking feature. |
| 19 | Honda — “Yearbooks” | 2017 | Celebrity yearbook photographs speak about ambitions and later lives, using nostalgia and humor to frame Honda’s message. |
| 20 | Tide — “Talking Stain” | 2008 | A stain becomes an embarrassing talking character, turning the everyday laundry problem into a comic reason to care about removal performance. |
| 21 | The Farmer’s Dog — “Forever” | 2023 | A dog and its owner are followed across time in a deliberately sentimental story that CBS characterized as a tearjerker. |
| 22 | Nike — “So Win” | 2025 | Athletes appear in a direct motivational montage narrated by Doechii and set to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” extending Nike’s “Just Do It” identity. |
| 23 | Lay’s — “Last Harvest” | 2026 | A father-daughter relationship supplies the emotional center of this Super Bowl LX commercial, which CBS added to its all-time top 25 after the game. |
See CBS Sports’ full ranking and commentary.
Why “best” depends on the yardstick
Different institutions measure different kinds of impact, so their winners should not be merged into one supposedly objective answer.
Editorial judgment
CBS Sports’ ranking emphasizes creative execution, memorability and pop-culture effect. That is why a repeatable phrase, an unusual casting choice, a cinematic concept and a long-running character can sit together in one list.
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Museum curation
The Museum of Broadcast Communications’ online exhibit covers notable commercials from 1967 through 2024 and places Coca-Cola’s 1980 “Hey Kid, Catch” first. Its published top 20 also includes Apple’s “1984,” Volkswagen’s “The Force,” Budweiser’s “Whassup?!,” Snickers’ 2010 campaign and Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” This is a curated exhibit, not a public vote. Read the museum’s February 2025 release.
Audience voting
In USA TODAY’s 30th-anniversary bracket, more than 100,000 votes gave Budweiser’s 2014 “Puppy Love” the title. The final four were all Budweiser ads: 2008 “Dalmatian Trains Clydesdale” (8.73), 2013 “Horse and Trainer Reunited” (7.76), 2014 “Puppy Love” (8.29) and 2015 “Lost Dog” (8.10). Those figures are reported finalist values, not a final ranking of the four. See the USA TODAY announcement.
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Platform attention
Google and YouTube’s 10-year report analyzes its selected ads released from 2008 to 2016, using January–February views in each release year. It reports more than 440 million minutes of watch time and more than 1.8 million “Super Bowls” for that stated global dataset. Those figures describe platform viewing, not a universal quality score. Read the Google/YouTube report.
What the most iconic ads have in common
- A repeatable hook: “Whassup?” and “Where’s the Beef?” became shorthand that survived beyond the broadcast.
- A fast reversal: Pepsi’s can reveal and Volkswagen’s remote-start payoff reward viewers who understand the setup immediately.
- Distinctive casting: Betty White, major athletes, recognizable actors and familiar fictional characters create instant attention, but the joke still has to work without the celebrity biography.
- Product connection: The strongest spectacle eventually demonstrates something specific, whether that is remote start, stain removal, parking assistance or delivery.
- Emotional memory: Coca-Cola’s gift exchange, The Farmer’s Dog’s time-spanning relationship and Lay’s family story use feeling rather than a catchphrase as the recall device.
- Room for repetition: Frogs, talking babies and Terry Tate could return because their central premise was simple enough to recognize in seconds.
Dave Plier, chairman of the board, interim president and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, described Super Bowl commercials as “much more than entertaining ads” and as cultural milestones reflecting social trends, technological advances and creative storytelling. His statement appears in the museum’s release.
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Where to watch or locate older Super Bowl ads
Availability changes by region, rights and platform. These archives are useful starting points, but none guarantees that every commercial remains online everywhere.
- iSpot’s multi-decade Super Bowl commercial archive organizes spots by advertiser and year.
- Super Bowl Ads provides a year-based archive.
- Google and YouTube’s report documents the selected 2008–2016 set used for its viewing analysis.
How to use this list
Start with the CBS order if you want one coherent all-time ranking. Then compare it with the museum’s curated selection or USA TODAY’s audience bracket to see how editorial judgment, institutional history and fan voting produce different answers. A commercial can be culturally influential without winning a vote, and heavily viewed without becoming an enduring creative landmark.
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