Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022 — Los Angeles Rams over Cincinnati Bengals 23–20 at SoFi Stadium — produced one of the most-cited ad slates of the past decade, anchored by a first-year crypto cohort spending Super Bowl money for the first time, a Coinbase spot that broke its own app on air, and a Toyota "Jones-family" thirty-second that reset the traditional automotive lane.
Published Mar 2022
A 30-second spot cleared $6.5 million this year, up from $5.5 million in 2021. NBC sold out the inventory by early January. Rating was 112.3 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and NBC Sports platforms — the largest Super Bowl audience since 2017.
The crypto cohort — the story of the game
Coinbase's 60-second QR-code ad — a floating, color-changing QR bouncing across a black screen like the old DVD-player screensaver — drove enough traffic in the minute it aired to crash the Coinbase app. Chief marketing officer Kate Rouch confirmed more than 20 million hits on the landing page in one minute. The spot was reportedly bought on a discount off-broadcast last-minute buy — the highest ROI single ad of the game by any credible measure.
FTX's "Don't Be Like Larry" thirty-second, directed by Jeff Schaffer and starring Larry David refusing every major innovation in history, closed on David dismissing crypto — trading firm CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's bet on a mainstream-comedy pitch to non-crypto audiences. eToro ran a spot on the promise of retail trading. Crypto.com extended its LeBron James campaign. The four crypto spots collectively signaled that the category had cleared the marketing-legitimacy bar for the largest advertising surface in U.S. television.
The traditional-brand slate
Toyota's "The Joneses" — a family riding around town in a hybrid Tundra doing outsized good deeds — is the reference automotive ad of the game. BMW paired Arnold Schwarzenegger as Zeus and Salma Hayek as Hera in a spot for the iX electric SUV. Kia ran a robotic dog spot for the EV6. Polestar bought its first Super Bowl inventory with a text-only anti-competitor spot.
Salesforce's Matthew McConaughey "Team Earth" spot rejected the metaverse framing that had dominated 2021 tech marketing — a positioning bet the company staked to the Super Bowl surface. Amazon's Alexa spot with Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost ran the mind-reading gag. Michelob Ultra put Serena Williams in a bowling alley with Peyton Manning, Jimmy Butler, Alex Morgan, and Nneka Ogwumike. Rocket Homes bought Barbie for a whole-house-hunt spot.
Halftime and the cultural surround
The halftime show — Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent — was Pepsi's last Super Bowl halftime under the ten-year sponsorship the company confirmed would not renew after 2022. Apple Music takes the halftime sponsorship starting 2023. Eminem's kneeling moment during his set drove the largest single social spike of the game window.
What the slate signals for the year
Three things. First, the crypto category has cleared the Super Bowl bar and every subsequent tier-one ad buy will price against it. Second, the metaverse framing peaked as a marketing category the week Salesforce ran counter-programming against it — brands with metaverse commitments should read the Team Earth positioning as a warning shot. Third, category-first creative — Toyota, Coinbase, Polestar — outperformed celebrity-stacked traditional creative on measurable engagement metrics, which will inform the 2023 brief cycle already being written.
Approximately $6.5 million, up from $5.5 million in 2021. NBC sold out the inventory by early January 2022.
Which brand had the highest-ROI single ad of the game?
Coinbase, by most credible measures. The 60-second QR-code spot drove more than 20 million landing page hits in the minute it aired and crashed the Coinbase app.
Why were there so many crypto ads at Super Bowl LVI?
Four crypto brands — Coinbase, FTX, eToro, and Crypto.com — bought major inventory as the category made its first coordinated push to mainstream U.S. audiences. The category cleared the marketing-legitimacy bar for the largest ad surface in television.
Who performed the Super Bowl LVI halftime show?
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent — the last Pepsi-sponsored halftime under the ten-year sponsorship deal.
What was the viewership?
112.3 million across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, and NBC Sports platforms — the largest Super Bowl audience since 2017.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
