Platinum Rye’s 4th Annual Super Poll
Annual Survey of Viewers’ Habits and Preferences for Big Game Ads Offers Insights to Advertisers
This year’s Super Bowl will be carried by NBC and Peacock on February 8, 2026. Advertisers in the game are paying around $8 million per 30-seconds of air time, up from around $7 million last year, and spots have reportedly been sold out since September. After all, the Big Game remains singular in its audience size and in the viewers’ enthusiasm for watching ads. In fact, 18% of viewers watch the game “mostly for the ads” and 80% watch every commercial in the game, according to Platinum Rye Entertainment’s 4th annual PRE Super Poll.
Platinum Rye Entertainment (PRE), procurers of talent, music and IP for brands and agencies, fielded a survey in September of 1,000+ viewers across a representative sample of genders, ages and ethnicities. Questions covered the viewing experience, what people look for in Big Game ads, the role of celebrities in the ads, and more.
New this year is a focus on music. The Super Bowl continues to grow as a platform for connection to, and discovery of, music—with brands spending heavily to license popular songs and cast musical artists in ads, and with intense attention on the NFL’s choice of halftime performer. This year the league is even introducing a two-day concert series in the host city. PRE therefore added a set of survey questions focused on the role of music, yielding some intriguing findings.
Respondents said the use of a favorite song in a Super Bowl ad was more memorable than a favorite movie character/scene or a favorite celebrity. After music, women find a celebrity more memorable than a movie, while men say the opposite, favoring a movie.
Q: Which is more memorable to you in a Super Bowl ad?
Super Bowl ads are vehicles for discovering or rediscovering music, with 44% of respondents having hunted down a song after hearing it in an ad. This behavior is correlated with youth.
Q: Have you ever gone to stream/download a song after hearing it in a Super Bowl ad?
Music helps to open wallets. Most respondents have purchased or would purchase something after seeing an ad with a musician or song they love. Millennials are the most likely to do so.
Q: Would you/have you ever purchased a product after seeing a Super Bowl ad with a musician or a song you love?
When it comes to favorite musical decades, there is—not surprisingly—an age factor. Conventional wisdom holds that people are deeply fond of music from their adolescence. However, the 2010’s are not any generation’s favorite decade (yet), with Gen Z preferring the 2000’s of their childhoods.
Q: Which decade’s music would you most like to see featured in a Super Bowl ad?
When ads use nostalgic songs, original artists and recordings have more appeal than updated versions. A majority of Gen Z want to see the original artist perform.
Q: When a Super Bowl ad uses a nostalgic song, which of the below matters most to you?
When asked which celebrity they would most like to see in an ad, the reigning queen of pop topped the chart for a second consecutive year. This was an open-ended question.
Q: What celebrity would you most like to see in a Super Bowl commercial this year?
- Taylor Swift
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- Kevin Hart
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Beyonce
- Ryan Reynolds
- Tom Cruise
- Sydney Sweeney
- Cardi B
- Peyton Manning
These advertisers have used music to most memorable effect. Open-ended question.
Q: Which brand(s) make the most memorable use of music in Super Bowl commercials?
- Budweiser + Bud Light
- Pepsi
- Coca Cola
- Doritos
- Nike
- Apple
Brands remembered for their music have strong overlap with viewers’ favorite ads from the last Super Bowl. This question is also open-ended, indicating memorability to an extent.
Q: Which brand had your favorite Super Bowl commercial last year?
- Budweiser + Bud Light
- Doritos
- Pepsi
- Coca Cola
- Dunkin
- Nike
Viewing habits and preferences are largely consistent in recent years. The favorite type of commercial is a funny one, with “throwback” a distant second.
Q: What is your favorite type of Super Bowl commercial?
The game itself is the biggest draw for all viewer groups. The percentage of women watching “Mostly for the game” has been rising in recent years and now stands at 34%, compared with 20% three years ago. It still lags behind the males’ 60%. And viewers watching “Mostly for the commercials” continue to skew female.
Q: What do you watch the Super Bowl for?
Across the board, most viewers watch every ad.
Q: Do you tend to…
Given a choice, viewers would prefer to see the commercials for the first time during the game.
Q: Do you prefer to see the ads for the first time…
Regardless of that preference, half of viewers are “Very likely or somewhat likely” to engage with content before the game, as many brands release teasers or the full ads in advance.
Q: How likely are you to engage with a brand’s Super Bowl content (non-TV) before the game?
That figure goes up to 55% during the game, reflecting “second screen” behavior.
Q: How likely are you to engage with a brand’s Super Bowl content (non-TV) during the game?
And it climbs to 61% after the game. Advertising works.
Q: How likely are you to engage with a brand’s Super Bowl content (non-TV) after the game?
Most viewers would rather not see social media influencers/creators in the ads, but it depends on their age. Gen Z and Millennials like them.
Q. Would you like to see social media influencers/creators in more Super Bowl ads?
Every group would like to see more fan-generated ads in the game.
Q. Would you like to see more fan-generated Super Bowl ads?
Every group says celebrities make ads more entertaining…
Q. Are Super Bowl commercials with celebrities more entertaining than those without?
…And more effective, too.
Q. Are Super Bowl commercials with celebrities more effective than those without?
Ads with nostalgic IP, reviving characters or casts from bygone TV shows and movies, have been trending in recent years. “Friends” tops the wish list.
Q: Is there an iconic movie/TV character or cast that you would love to see in a Super Bowl ad? (Open ended.)
- Friends
- Superman
- Batman
- Happy Gilmore
- Indiana Jones
Nostalgia even runs through athletes. Of the ten favorite quarterbacks, only two, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, are current players.
Q: Who is your favorite Super Bowl quarterback of all time?
- Tom Brady
- Joe Montana
- Peyton Manning
- Patrick Mahomes
- Jalen Hurts
- John Elway
- Joe Namath
- Terry Bradshaw
- Troy Aikman
- Dan Marino
Implications For Marketers
Advertisers continue to see ROI from Big Game campaigns, but the required investment is massive, starting with the air time and ballooning into a 360-degree campaign that has to break through. After all that, it pays to be memorable.
Findings from this year’s PRE Super Poll offer insights into what viewers want and what they remember: humor, nostalgia, celebrities, and music.
About Platinum Rye Entertainment
Platinum Rye Entertainment are experts in the procurement of talent, music, and IP for brands and agencies, with decades of experience in Super Bowl deals. Strictly brand-side and talent- agnostic, PRE is a division of TMA.
