By Sydney Donovan, EGC’s Director of PR, and Jonathan Baker The ‘Big Game’ is all about the ads, but the unsung heroes are the PR teams who make sure one of the biggest nights in advertising doesn’t all rest on one single day. These PR teams work behind the scenes for months preparing for the announcements of each client’s ‘Big Game’ ads, often comprising of a phased rollout to maximize media attention ahead of game day. From announcing participation to unveiling celebrity spokespeople, the PR machines behind these ads deserve just as much attention as the ads themselves (in one PR person’s opinion, that is😉). As for the 2026 ‘Big Game’ ads that we are most looking forward to… Instacart: Still Going Strong From its First Year Instacart is back for a second year in a row to top last year’s running of the brand mascots. AdWeek exclusively announced this brand would be back, after its app saw a 72 percent traffic spike from new users last year. The PR powerhouses working behind the scenes leveraged the momentum of last year’s ad spot and data, proving the success of the push to land early media coverage and rolled out details of the creative as we approached big game weekend. Best believe we won’t be taking a snack break during this year’s Instacart commercial as it promises to be bananas (literally and figuratively). Fanatics Sportsbook and Hellmann’s: Going for the Laughs This year seems to be dominated by comically driven spots. These include Kendall Jenner poking fun at her reputation with ex-boyfriends for Fanatics Sportsbook, and a Hellmann’s ad that bridges the gap between Neil Diamond and Weird Al. Anheuser-Busch: Tugging at Heartstrings Changing course, let’s look at Anheuser-Busch, which is the top advertiser in this year’s game, and is spotlighting three of its brands with dedicated spots. Instead of comedy, Budweiser chooses to focus on the heartfelt. We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on the final creative that comes with it, as well as the promotion during pre-and post-Sunday’s festivities. Cheers and standing ovations to the PR people whose jobs don’t end when the ad airs. That’s because the media monitoring for public sentiment around those ads begins right after the ads end. Learn more about EGC’s PR division, Suade.
