All the Brands That Took Stands With Their 2024 Super Bowl Ads

Marketers tackled Super Bowl LVIII with a star-studded lineup of ads featuring everyone from Tina Fey and Jennifer Anniston to Michael Cera and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A 30-second spot during this year's Super Bowl set advertisers back around $7 million, and while standard product features with a side of comedy dominated the airwaves, a number of brands took the opportunity to raise awareness for a bigger message. From Dove's short film about empowering girls in sport to Google's take on accessibility for people with disabilities, here are all the brands that took stands in their Super Bowl ads this year. 

Dove 

Unilever brand Dove is at it again with another purpose-driven ad campaign focused on body positivity and empowering women and girls. The personal care brand's short film for the Super Bowl opens with footage of young women athletes falling down and getting back up during sport. Then comes the message: "The knocks don't stop girls playing sports. Low body confidence does." 

The film then shifts to a young girl peering self consciously at herself in the mirror as she tugs on her swim uniform. The spot aims to raise awareness of the role unattainable beauty standards and body image play in 45 percent of girls quitting sports by the time they're 14. "Together we can keep them in the game," the brand declares, with a call-to-action for viewers to get involved in Body Confident Sport, an evidence-based effort to build girls' confidence and keep them playing the sports they love. 

The program was developed over three years in partnership with Nike, the Center for Appearance Research and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, with input from girls and coaches across six countries. The program trains coaches, physical education teachers, and other educators to deliver confidence-building programming to girls aged 11 to 17, and training materials are available for free on its website. 

Google

Most of us love the advanced cameras on our smartphones because they help us snag a better shot for Instagram, but features like these can also serve a deeper purpose. That's the focus of Google's 2024 Super Bowl ad spot, which features the story of a visually-impaired person using the guided frame feature on the Google Pixel phone to snap selfies with his partner and document his life. 

The film contrasts Javier's blurred vision with perfectly framed, crystal clear photographs taken with an artificial intelligence assistant that lets the user know how many faces are in the frame and takes hands-free shots when they're ready. The rapid-fire montage of Javier's trips with his partner, his first completed marathon, his first home and, finally, the birth of his first child make clear how much adaptability features like these mean for people who walk through the world with different abilities — and it's a perfect example of how brands can sell their cool stuff, while making it much bigger than selling their cool stuff. 

The National Football League

The NFL leveraged its own ad space at Super Bowl LVIII to raise awareness for the International Player Pathway Program, launched in 2017 to reach talented athletes around the world with training and an opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL team. The ad spot opens with a young boy running through a crowded outdoor market in Ghana's capital city of Accra, imagining he is playing football with NFL stars. With a little help from a nearby dog, he discovers an NFL training camp and meets former New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who tells him, "It doesn't matter where you're born, as long as you're born to play." It's a heartwarming message that resonates instantly and showcases the program that brought 37 international athletes to the NFL over the past six years. 

The International Pathway Program Class of 2024 includes 16 athletes from around the world. Umenyiora, who has Nigerian-British roots, will spearhead the NFL's outreach program in Africa. "This is only the beginning for these players," he said of the incoming class. Watch the ad on YouTube here.

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism 

This powerful ad spot opens with the voice of Clarence B. Jones, a draft speech writer for civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "Sometimes I imagine what I'd write today for my dear friend Martin," Jones says. "I'd remind people that all hate thrives on one thing: silence." 

Images of Black Lives Matter activists and peace demonstrations against anti-Jewish hate fill the screen as Jones goes on: "The people who will change the nation are those who speak out, who refuse to be bystanders ... When we stand up to silence, we stand up to all hate." 

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism was founded in 2019 by sports executive Robert K. Kraft with $20 million of his own investment. It says it aims to unite Jewish and non-Jewish people to stand against hate and discrimination of all forms. As antisematism rises in the U.S. amidst Israel's war with Hamas, the organization is doubling down on its mission to raise awareness under the call to action, "When one hate rises, they all do." The organization invites viewers to join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #StandUpToJewishHate and #StandUpToAllHate in a poignant message that unites around a common goal of equality for all. 

Microsoft

In another ad focused on the power of artificial intelligence, Microsoft showcases how modern technology can help people realize their dreams. The spot opens with people going about their daily lives, as superimposed text spells out judgements placed on them by others: "They say I'll never open my own business, or get my degree. They say I will never make my movie, or build something. They say I'm too old to start something new, too young to change the world." It shifts to a young woman who stares at the camera defiantly and says simply, "Watch me." 

The film then shows off how Microsoft's AI assistant Copilot can help creators get tasks done and make their visions a reality — from a young woman filmmaker storyboarding with help from AI-generated images, to a student asking the tool to quiz her in organic chemistry. Copilot's response to each query — "yes, I can help" — puts a punctuation on a powerful narrative that advertises the company's technology while delivering a relatable message about overcoming naysayers, obstacles and self doubt. 

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