One of the major trends on display with the 2025 crop of Super Bowl ads was the focus on changing the narrative about women, as a means to empower more women.
A major hallmark of effective inclusive marketing is changing the narrative of incomplete stories, limited perceptions, and harmful stereotypes that run rampant in society and are reinforced through advertising. Brands have power to not only influence what consumers do when it comes to what they buy, but also the way we think about and view both ourselves and others.
Four brands stood out during the big game for ads that changed the narrative for the better about women. These ads rank well because not only do they empower women, but they inspire others, including those who aren’t women to think and behave differently. They also do a good job of representation with casts that include women who are part of traditionally underrepresented and underserved communities, in an authentic manner that doesn’t feel like boxes were being checked.
1. Nike’s ‘So Win’ Super Bowl ad
This had hit a nerve with so many because it named a persistent problem women have, not only in sports, but for any achievement they set out to accomplish. Too often, people set limitations on women and girls with expectations about how they are supposed to behave, what they shouldn’t expect to be able to do, what even what it means to be a woman.
In naming the problem, the brand laid the foundation to inspire women and girls to lean in direct opposition to what those prevailing narratives that seek to dim their shine.
The ad also featured an intentionally diverse cast of sports stars from various different sports, including gymnast Jordan Chiles, track sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, soccer star, Sophia Smith, tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, and basketball players Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and JuJu Watkins. The ad was also narrated by Grammy award winning rapper Doechii.
2. Dove’s ‘These Legs’
The personal care brand has a long history with women’s empowerment, with a notable campaign over the years focusing on “real beauty.”
This Super Bowl ad that featured a little girl running, highlighted the harmful impact words, (and I’ll ad the prevailing imagery that informs people’s opinions that lead to criticizing words) have on the ways in which people, particularly young women feel about themselves.
At the end of the ad, Dove highlights that at age 14, body image issues run rampant in young women, causing 1 in 2 girls to quit sports. It is implied that criticism about their body type plays a role.
Not only does the brand do an effective job of acknowledging a real problem, it empowers us as viewers to change this story and the unfortunate statistics, with a call to action to “change the way we talk to our girls.”
3. NFL’s ‘Flag 50’
Another fun ad came from the NFL as it promoted flag football, and the league’s quest to make girls flag football available in all 50 states in the U.S.
The ad featured a diverse cast including former NFL players Marshawn Lynch and Pat McAfee, along with high school flag football star Ki’Lolo Westerlund.
The premise of the story is when a jock says “girls don’t play football,” and Ki’Lolo’s character proves him wrong with flair, skill, and a confident power that showcases girls can play football in a manner that makes football fans want to watch.
The spot has received some backlash, in the sense that some feel that campaigns to promote women’s sports don’t need to do so by comparing women to men. Despite some of the negative comments, there are plenty of women who say they were inspired by it.
One Redditor wrote on a thread about the ad, “I’ll tell you that it made my 4yo daughter happy. She really liked ”seeing the girl win.” Another on the same thread wrote, “I had to leave the room because that commercial legitimately made me TEAR UP. I LOVED it.” She went on to add, “And my kids thought it would be amazing for girls flag football to be everywhere, and my daughter shared that in PE class when they played flag football, the boys never pass to girls, so she was glad all the boys were going to see that commercial while they watched the Super Bowl.”
4. Novartis’ ‘Your Attention Please’
The pharmaceutical company leaned into society’s obsession with women’s breasts. It featured a diverse cast of women of different ethnicities, different body sizes, and even different breast sizes.
It even included what can sometimes viewed as a controversial practice of women breast feeding their babies in public.
The message was universal, all kinds of women, and men who are into women, have an obsession with women’s breasts. But the twist that made the ad and the effectiveness of it so strong, was that we don’t give enough attention to breast health, specifically getting screened for breast Cancer.
The ad ended with comedian and breast cancer survivor Wanda Sykes encouraging others to get screened, after a sobering message that more than 6 million women watching the Super Bowl could be diagnosed with the disease.