Look, we need to talk about Bad Bunny's halftime performance first because holy shit. The energy, the staging, Lady Gaga showing up, Ricky Martin bringing the heat. It was everything. Pure spectacle. If you weren't dancing in your living room during "Tití Me Preguntó," were you even watching?
But also, can we give it up for San Francisco, Santa Clara, and the entire Bay Area? The logistics of pulling off a Super Bowl are insane, and they absolutely nailed it. Two weeks of events, activations, fan experiences, and somehow the whole region didn't collapse under the weight of it all. From Levi's Stadium operations to transit coordination to the endless parties across the city—flawless execution. Event marketers everywhere were taking notes.
Now, onto the thing nobody expected: B2B tech companies actually making waves during the Super Bowl.
For years, Super Bowl ads were strictly consumer territory. Beer. Cars. Crypto companies burning VC money. But 2026? Enterprise software decided to join the party.
The Standouts:
Salesforce x MrBeast went absolutely wild with a $1 million puzzle hunt promoting Slackbot. The ad was pure chaos—clues hidden everywhere, a massive online treasure hunt, and a tech glitch that slowed things down. Classic Salesforce: big swings, mixed execution. But getting MrBeast's 466 million YouTube followers talking about Slack? That's a play.
Anthropic came out for laughs. ChatGPT is for building things…fantastic customer stories!
Ramp brought in Brian Baumgartner (Kevin from The Office) to show how their platform can "multiply" what's possible. Very on-brand, especially with that chili pot callback. Finance software meets nostalgia.
Genspark made their Super Bowl debut with Matthew Broderick channeling Ferris Bueller energy, telling everyone to take Monday off and let AI do the work. Pulled together in five weeks after a last-minute slot opened up. Scrappy.
Some fun ones:
The Verdict:
B2B and tech are still young and finding their feet at the Super Bowl. We're excited for what they can do in the years to come.
In the meantime, we'll be dancing to Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga.
Circle back with y’all soon! And go ahead and share with your co-workers! 🥳
