In Rippling’s first Super Bowl ad, the software firm makes its point quickly: even devious plans can be undone by bad software.
The 30-second spot, which the company debuted Tuesday, stars Tim Robinson as a would-be corporate mastermind whose grand ambitions are derailed by a cascade of small but maddening operational failures.
What begins as a plan for world domination devolves into frustration as routine tasks—onboarding employees, provisioning laptops, managing finance, and benefits—refuse to cooperate.
The ad marks Rippling’s debut on the Super Bowl stage and the official reveal of its new brand campaign, “Rule Your Business,” which introduces the enterprise software company to a mass audience for the first time. The spot will run in the third quarter of the game.
Created in partnership with Tombras, the spot positions Rippling as the antidote to fragmented workplace systems, framing disconnected tools not as a mild inconvenience but as a force capable of sabotaging even the most ambitious leadership.
Robinson’s character is central to that message.
Known for portraying figures pushed to emotional extremes by trivial obstacles, the actor plays the role of an executive whose authority and vision are no match for outdated technology. The humor intensifies as the gap between intent and execution widens, an exaggeration of the everyday frustrations Rippling aims to eliminate.
For Rippling, the Super Bowl appearance represents a shift from performance-driven marketing to mass awareness, according to vice president of brand Nick Wiesner. While the company already counts roughly 30,000 customers across industries ranging from manufacturing to fitness studios, the Big Game offered an opportunity to introduce Rippling’s value proposition to a broader set of business leaders.
The Super Bowl spot serves as the opening chapter in a five-ad campaign starring Robinson, with additional sketches rolling out across streaming, social, and linear TV throughout the year.
Later executions will drill into specific products like payroll, IT management, and global HR, while the hero spot focuses on the most universally relatable pain points: those moments when software, rather than competition or strategy, becomes the biggest obstacle to getting work done.
