The buzz of the Super Bowl. The glamor of the Oscars. The awe of the Olympics.
Tentpole events don’t just offer brands millions of eyeballs; they allow them to tap into moments of genuine attention and raw emotion. But whoever said love is free clearly didn’t work in marketing. With a 30-second Super Bowl slot currently setting brands back approximately $8 billion, every millisecond counts.
The problem is, most marketers can’t agree on what separates an ad that works from one that’s just creative. That’s why we’re using data from our Built to Break Through report to set the record straight, and dispel the biggest myths surrounding tentpole advertising.
Myth 1 – Brands Should Focus on Events With the Biggest Audience
It can be tempting to look at event viewership figures and assume your brand should place its advertising budget where the numbers are highest. But just because this year’s Super Bowl had 125.6 million viewers isn’t a reason in itself for your brand to secure its spot for 2027.
Different brands and different creatives are suited to different events. What performs well for one brand at the Super Bowl might not perform for another. That’s because environments aren’t neutral. Each tentpole event has its own history, traditions, and audience, all shaping how advertising is received and understood.
Data from our report shows that at the Oscars, where the audience is self-selected and increasingly niche, narrative sophistication and strong creative are the gold standard. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl’s much larger, broader audience means that ads need to double down on asset strength and distinctive claims (more on that later). Viewers of the Olympics, by comparison, favor creative that ties directly to the sporting events.
Myth 2 – Brands Should Prioritize Creativity Over Being Distinctive
It’s true, a beautiful narrative might capture attention and even create memorability. But without a distinctive asset, viewers won’t be able to remember the brand behind the ad, or worse, will credit it to a competitor.
Distinctive assets allow a consumer to instantly recognize a brand without needing to see a logo or name. Think Red Bull’s consistent use of cartoon-style visuals, Netflix’s “Tudum” sound (arguably one of the most memorable sonic logos), or Microsoft’s beloved brand mascot Clippy.
All these elements trigger instant brand recall without any need for conscious processing. With the asset doing the heavy-lifting (or in this case, the attribution work), the ad is free to focus on the emotional narrative.
Budweiser’s ‘American Icons’ Super Bowl ad is a masterclass in this. The brand’s continuous use of the iconic Clydesdale horse means the ad’s runtime is solely focused on building the narrative and creating emotional resonance.
However, this approach is only available to brands that have done the groundwork and invested in building up their distinctive assets. Brands that don’t have these assets at their disposal need to ensure they balance narrative with attribution, or risk being forgotten.
Myth 3 – Brands Can Buy Ad Relevance
In an industry where so many things can be bought — airtime, production value, celebrity endorsement — relevance remains something that needs to be earned.
Audiences are most receptive to ads that have a clear reason to exist at the event. The easiest way to test this is to ask: If I remove the context, will the ad still make sense? If the answer’s no, it’s a sign that the ad was specifically created for that moment.
Take TurboTax’s The Expert. Starring Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who broke the record for the longest ever Oscar’s acceptance speech in 2025, the ad sees Brody play himself as he tries to dramatize his role as a tax expert for a TurboTax ad. The Oscars’ version of this ad was one of the event’s best performers, because it resonated with the event’s movie-obsessed audience and referenced the emotion of Brody’s typical roles and 2025 speech.
Ultimately, earned relevance requires honest self-assessment. It’s tempting for brands to manufacture connections between themselves and events, but our data shows that when creative has a genuine reason to exist is when it’s remembered and rewarded by audiences.
Myth 4 – Brands Can Use an Ad to Convey Multiple Messages
With so many eyeballs on these events, it can be easy for brands to fall into the trap of thinking that the most effective ad is one that means everything to everyone. In reality, the opposite is true. An ad can have something in it for everyone. But it needs to have what we call claim distinctiveness.
Data from our report shows that ads anchored by a specific, surprising, and credible claim consistently outperform the rest. Among the most impactful are recategorization claims, which shift a product from one mental category to another. This reframing causes audiences to actively reassess what they know, making the message far more memorable than a standard comparative claim.
Lay’s demonstrated this with its 72 Hour Challenge during the Super Bowl. The entire campaign revolved around a single, precise claim: 72 hours from the field to the bag. Being specific helped build believability, giving viewers a clear reason to choose the brand.
Curious About What Sets Breakthrough Ads Apart?
Want to learn more about how brands at the Super Bowl, Oscars, and Olympics differentiate themselves from the crowd? Download our Built to Break Through report today to learn more from our data-grounded framework.
