Data: Racy Super Bowl Ads Worth The Risqué?
Data from iSpot Creative Assessment goes back to 2014 to reveal the sharp downward trend in ads scoring for "risqué" among those surveyed.
Super Bowl ads scoring for “risqué” have dipped precipitously from 23% in 2014 to 0% in recent years, reflecting wider shifts in the NFL audience and U.S. cultural norms that have shifted away from perceived and overt sexism/objectification – especially in advertising.
Data from iSpot Creative Assessment goes back to 2014 to reveal the sharp downward trend in ads scoring for "risqué" among those surveyed.
- As recently as 2014, 23% of Super Bowl ads scored for "risqué" in some way.
- But since then, it's been a steady decline to under 10% by 2020 and 0% in each of the past three years.
- Given the growing number of women (and especially Gen Z and Millennial women) tuning into NFL games, the move away from risqué spots is a move to better align with who's watching – so not just straight men in their 20s to 40s.
- The last ad to even score for risqué was Tide's "The Jason Alexander Hoodie" ad in 2021 – which lacks the traditional elements that would suggest racy content beyond a tagline of "dirtier than it looks."
Check out more Super Bowl insights from iSpot and other Measure partners in our special Super Bowl hub.
