The Super Bowl remains one of the few cultural moments where sport, entertainment and brand storytelling collide at true global scale. In 2026, the event once again extended far beyond the stadium, unfolding across press, social and celebrity-driven moments in the 48 hours surrounding game day.
This analysis looks at celebrity-led brand activations across FMCG, fashion, entertainment and lifestyle, ranked by Earned Media Value (EMV), to understand how attention was generated, and what that reveals about modern Super Bowl strategy.
Rather than focusing on tactics alone, the data highlights a broader shift: the most effective Super Bowl activations no longer rely on a single commercial or moment, but on ecosystems of influence spanning press, talent and owned content.
The New Super Bowl Playbook: From Ad Spot to Cultural Footprint
While broadcast reach remains immense, Super Bowl 2026 reinforced a key reality for marketers: impact is now cumulative, not singular.
Celebrity-led activations performed best when they:
- Extended beyond a single placement or appearance
- Activated multiple media pillars simultaneously
- Allowed talent to create culturally relevant, native content
- Generated press moments that travelled organically
In the first 48 hours alone, the top-ranking brands didn’t just “show up” – they embedded themselves into the wider cultural conversation surrounding the weekend.
Top Performing Celebrity-Led Activations (48-Hour EMV Snapshot)
Fanatics – $17.3M EMV
Fanatics once again demonstrated how experiential influence can outperform traditional media buys.
Michael Rubin’s Super Bowl Party has evolved into a cultural institution, one that media outlets actively anticipate rather than merely cover. The guest list itself became the content engine, with high-profile appearances from Jay-Z, Kendall Jenner, Tom Brady, Cardi B and Alix Earle driving sustained visibility.
@usatoday Kevin Costner reveals his Super Bowl LX prediction on the red carpet at an exclusive Fanatics party in San Francisco. #Sports #Hollywood
What stands out is not just the scale of EMV®, but where it came from:
- Entertainment and fashion press like Vogue, E! News and Page Six captured arrivals, interactions and atmosphere
- Red-carpet style coverage blurred the line between event, fashion moment and celebrity news
Levi’s – $6.1M EMV
Rosé’s owned content wearing Levi’s at the Super Bowl accounted for $5.4M in EMV, underscoring the continued impact of globally recognised talent activating through native, non-scripted moments rather than traditional placements.
Alongside this, Levi’s Super Bowl campaign Behind Every Original benefited from a deliberate pre- and post-game speculation cycle. In the lead-up to the ad airing, social and press conversations focused on guessing which cultural figures would appear, extending attention well beyond the spot itself.
The reveal of Doechii as one of the featured stars reinforced Levi’s® positioning at the intersection of music, youth culture and originality.
Notably, this marked Levi’s return to Super Bowl advertising after more than 20 years — a strategic re-entry that leaned on cultural relevance and talent alignment rather than scale alone.
Uber Eats – $4.8M EMV
Uber Eats generated $4.8M in EMV from a celebrity-led Super Bowl campaign structured to capture multiple demographics.
The core broadcast ad featured Matthew McConaughey and Bradley Cooper, anchoring broad, mass-market reach. This was reinforced through owned content from Addison Rae and Amelia Dimoldenberg, extending the campaign into creator and Gen-Z-leaning audiences.
@addisonre Build Your Own Super Bowl commercial feat. me! Head to the @Uber Eats app and pick Addison’s Diet Pepsi to see me in your version #uberpartner ❤️💎
By combining established Hollywood talent with digitally native creators, Uber Eats drove conversation across age groups and platforms within the 48-hour Super Bowl window.
DoorDash – $2.6M EMV
DoorDash’s Super Bowl activation was anchored by a celebrity-led commercial featuring 50 Cent, using cultural recognition and humour to drive immediate post-game conversation.
The activation performed strongly in press-led amplification, with outlets and social-first publishers driving the majority of EMV. Notably, Mashable’s Instagram coverage alone generated $1.83M in EMV, highlighting how entertainment commentary and meme-adjacent content can outperform traditional article formats in the Super Bowl window.
Rather than relying on volume of talent, DoorDash focused on a single, culturally resonant figure, enabling the creative to travel organically across music, entertainment and pop culture media.
Poppi – $1.5M EMV
Poppi generated $1.5M in EMV in the 48 hours following the Super Bowl, driven primarily by press coverage and creator amplification tied to its Charli XCX commercial.
Charli XCX’s involvement contributed to the campaign’s performance by inviting cultural and editorial interpretation, increasing the likelihood of press pickup beyond standard ad coverage. Her established presence within music and internet culture positioned the creative as commentary rather than a standalone brand message.
Billboard was the leading EMV® driver, with coverage of the ad generating $1.23M in EMV and helping extend visibility beyond the broadcast window.
@nssmagazine Vibes?🗣️ Poppi’s new SuperBowl commercial star Charli xcx and Rachel Sennott. #superbowl #commercial #charlixcx #rachelsennott #poppi
T-Mobile – $1.3M EMV
T-Mobile generated $1.3M in EMV in the first 48 hours, driven primarily by press coverage of its Backstreet Boys-led Super Bowl commercial. The nostalgia-led creative resonated strongly with entertainment media, with Billboard generating $624.9K in EMV and USA Today contributing $562.4K through commercial roundups and post-game analysis.
@usatoday Exclusive! The #backstreetboys tell @ralphieaversa how they refreshed “I Want It That Way” for the new @tmobile #SuperBowl commercial and describe the process behind the jingle.
Rather than relying on creator ecosystems, T-Mobile’s performance highlights how culturally recognisable talent can convert a single broadcast moment into high-impact, press-driven visibility.
What the Data Tells Us About Celebrity-Led Super Bowl Strategy
Across categories, the top performers shared several common characteristics:
1. Celebrity Was the Medium, Not Just the Messenger
Talent wasn’t simply endorsing products; they were the distribution channel. Their owned content often outperformed traditional placements in sustained EMV.
2. Press Still Matters, But Only When It Feels Earned
High-value press coverage was driven by moments that felt culturally relevant, exclusive or visually compelling, not by brand messaging alone.
3. The 48-Hour Window Is Critical
The majority of EMV was generated immediately around the event, reinforcing the importance of pre-planned amplification and rapid response strategies.
The Bigger Picture
Super Bowl 2026 reinforced a shift already underway: success is no longer about “winning” the Super Bowl, it’s about owning a meaningful share of the cultural conversation around it.
For brands investing at this level, the opportunity lies not in louder activations, but in smarter orchestration, where celebrity, press and owned channels work together to create momentum that outlives the final whistle.
At WeArisma, we continue to see that the most effective celebrity-led strategies are those designed for cultural impact first, with EMV as the outcome, not the objective.
Super Bowl 2026 Celebrity Activation FAQs
1. Why do celebrity-led campaigns perform well during the Super Bowl?
Celebrity-led campaigns perform strongly during the Super Bowl because they generate earned reach across social media, press and owned channels at peak attention. In 2026, the highest-performing activations used celebrities as content distributors, driving EMV through posts, appearances and media coverage rather than relying solely on TV exposure.
2. What is Earned Media Value (EMV) in Super Bowl marketing?
Earned Media Value (EMV) is a metric used to quantify the value of organic brand exposure across social platforms, online media and creator content. In Super Bowl marketing, EMV measures impact beyond broadcast ads, capturing post-game press coverage, celebrity content and social amplification within the 48-hour performance window.
3. Are Super Bowl TV ads still effective for brands in 2026?
Super Bowl TV ads remain effective for reach, but data from 2026 shows they are most impactful when supported by celebrity-led content and press amplification. Brands that relied solely on a broadcast ad generated lower sustained EMV than those that activated talent before and after game day.
4. How can brands increase EMV around the Super Bowl?
Brands can increase EMV by activating celebrities across multiple channels, including owned social content, experiential events and press-driven moments. Planning for pre-game speculation, post-game coverage and creator amplification is critical, as most EMV is generated within 48 hours of the event.
5. What does Super Bowl 2026 show about the future of celebrity marketing?
Super Bowl 2026 shows that celebrity marketing is shifting toward integrated influence ecosystems. Performance is driven by cultural relevance, talent alignment and coordinated media activation, with EMV reflecting execution quality rather than media spend alone.
