This year’s best ads ranged from Super Bowl spectacle to meta marketing that blurred the lines between advertising and reality.
While Coors Light turned the collective hangover of Super Bowl Monday into a nationwide joke, Mountain Dew leaned into pure absurdity by transforming Seal into a literal seal. Outside the Big Game, On went to space, AXA reshaped the insurance category, Apple TV pulled commuters into the eerie world of Severance, and Gap made a denim ad that won over Gen Z.
The brands on this list broke through with humor, cultural insight, and ideas that extended far beyond a screen. Keep reading for ADWEEK’s favorite ads of 2025.
20. Coors Light | “Case of the Mondays” by Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Mondays are hard, but none are worse than the day after the Super Bowl. For its third consecutive Big Game campaign, Coors Light ran ads in high-profile places like The New York Times and Times Square that purposely misspelt “refreshment” as “refershment.” The brand blamed the misspelling on “a case of the Mondays.”
On Super Bowl Sunday, a humorous commercial followed a cast of anthropomorphic sloths struggling through mundane office jobs and life admin. Coors Light built buzz weeks before the game and sold 1.8 million cases of beer. – Brittaney Kiefer
19. Xbox | “Wake Up” by Droga5
Xbox’s global brand campaign brings the so-called rat race to life through the story of an anthropomorphic rat. Made by Droga5 and produced by acclaimed filmmakers David Fincher and Romain Chassaing, the nearly two-minute film follows a burnt-out rodent through his commute and mindless workday. When he arrives home and picks up his Xbox controller, he’s transported into a world of possibilities—and becomes human again.
Craig McNary, head of global platform and brand at Xbox, said the work demonstrates the “emotional power of play” and signals where the brand is “headed next.” — Alison Weissbrot
