The Most Expensive Super Bowl Commercials of All Time, Adjusted for Inflation

The Super Bowl has long since transcended a popular football game to become a nationwide phenomenon in the United States. There are likely three things that come to mind for the average viewer: the game, the halftime show, and the commercials. Every Super Bowl, companies put forth their latest, greatest, and most expensive advertisements to create a viral marketing hit and bring attention to their newest products. It is one of the few occasions— outside of the movie theater, perhaps—that ads are considered part of the entertainment.

Qualtrics has collected data on the costs behind Super Bowl ads throughout the years to determine the most expensive Super Bowl commercial since its inception in 1967. Given that the average cost of landing a commercial time slot has increased yearly, the payoff is worth the investment.

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In first place, there is Amazon’s commercial “Mind Reader” advertising the Alexa personal assistant. The 90-second commercial, featuring real-life couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost, was valued at $26 million in 2022. That is $28 million when adjusted for inflation. Despite Amazon’s status as one of the youngest companies on this list—having been created in 1994—it has already secured four spots in the top 15 most expensive Super Bowl commercials. Each of these commercials has centered around showing off their latest Alexa technology.

The title for the second most expensive is tied between General Motors’ “No Way Norway” and Cadillac’s “ScissorHandsFree” commercials. Both 90-second ads aired during the 2021 Super Bowl and were priced at $22 million. In 2024, that is nearly $25.6 million. Additionally, both commercials featured notable celebrities like Winona Ryder, Timothee Chalamet, Kenan Thompson, Awkwafina, and Will Ferrel.

Chrysler’s 2014 “America’s Import” commercial comes in fourth place when its cost is adjusted for inflation. Though there may be other commercials with a higher original cost in the past decade, the $16 million spent in 2014 is now worth a substantial $21.3 million. It features a household icon by the name of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.

In another tie, fifth place belongs to 84 Lumber’s “The Journey Begins” and Ford’s “Go Further” ads. Both commercials were $16.2 million at their premiere in 2017, translating to over $20.8 million in 2024. This lavish spending is not exactly new for Ford. The car company is one of the biggest Super Bowl spenders of all time, with a reported $109 million spent on their ads as of 2020.

Why Is Super Bowl Advertising so Expensive?

The reason why companies are willing to dish out so many expenses on advertising when the Super Bowl comes around is pretty straightforward: it isn’t just the most-watched sports program but the most-watched telecast program in U.S. history. The most recent Super Bowl broke the record with 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms. Televised by large networks like CBS, Nickelodeon, and Paramount+, the program is one of the few occasions throughout the year where brands can market their services and products to such a broad audience. For this purpose, the Super Bowl ads have become almost as quintessential to the viewing experience as the halftime show itself.

If you have experienced a game, you may have noticed that breaks may feature just one or two commercials. Though most commercials run 30 seconds, some companies go above and beyond to acquire multiple time slots to air a single commercial. As a result, commercials will have taken up nearly an hour by the time the game is over. In 2024, the average cost to air a commercial during one 30-second time slot is $7 million. For comparison, the average 30-second commercial in 1967 was $37,500, or $354,000 by today’s standards.

Therefore, the reason a single commercial can get so costly depends almost entirely on the length of its run, with many of the companies on this list opting to air 60- to 90-second commercials. The longest commercial belongs to Chrysler’s “Born of Fire” at two minutes, coincidentally putting it in the fourteenth spot on our list. The cost of creating the commercial itself is insignificant compared to the cost of its time slot. However, many of these commercials also feature prominent and well-known celebrities. A-list celebrities are reportedly paid millions to appear in these companies’ commercials.

The hefty price tag means there should be little shock that the revenue brought in by the Super Bowl totals hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. Since the first game, the Super Bowl has attracted big spenders like Budweiser, who has dished out $470.5 million alone from 1967 to 2021. We will likely continue to see increased spending on advertising as companies seek to take advantage of this spectacle to attract more customers. It is, after all, a chance to cement their branding in pop culture history.

The Most Expensive Super Bowl Ads of All Time