Bud light, uber eats, and ram carry “big game winner” to fantasy brands title

February 10, 2025

New Orleans, LA—Alert the cul-de-sac! Big Game Winner is this year’s Fantasy Brands champion.

Crushing the Chiefs like Post Malone and Shane Gillis crush Bud Lights, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles looked dominant during Super Bowl LIX. But the real competition took place during the ad breaks. In a nail-biter that came down to the wire, Big Game Winner (perhaps manifesting his victory through his team name) edged out BRING THE THREEPEAT (whose favorite team did not) on the strength of a tiebreaker prediction.

Both finalists drafted the exact same powerhouse lineup—Bud Light (1st overall), Uber Eats (2nd), Ram (4th), Totino's Pizza Rolls (9th), and Nerds (33rd). With three brands finishing in the top 5 and four in the top 10, it was a recipe for more points (681) than Matthew McConaughey cameos. Only Nerds (a $10 flyer) fizzled, landing in the bottom half of the rankings. Ultimately, Big Game Winner’s tiebreaker prediction—like Glen Powell’s choice of vehicle—proved just right.

“Whoop whoop!” said team owner Blake S. when reached for comment. “It's a privilege and an honor to be a Fantasy Brands champion. To quote the great KG: ‘Anything is possible!!!’” he shouted, presumably arms outstretched, still slightly hungover in his cubicle.

In third place was Bubby's Dream Team (674 points), riding Hellmann’s (8th) nostalgic When Harry Met Sally reunion to success. ("I’ll have what she’s advertising.”) Fourth place went to Lauren Ipsum (660 points), powered by Mountain Dew and Seal’s dual role as both a literal seal and a top-10 steal under $20—the only brand to do so. Rounding out the top five was anti mahomes glazer (656 points), striking a chord with the NFL’s poignant “I Am Somebody” ad. Unfortunately, it’s somebody in fifth place.

But it wasn't all sunshine and flying facial hair. Denice Endzone Estates (306 points) got squished like Totino’s alien mascot Chazmo, finishing dead last. Banking on MSC Cruises’ awkward duo of Orlando Boom and Drew Barrymore, this team sank after MSC cruised to a dismal 55th place finish out of 58 brands despite a hefty $30 price tag. Sharing last place was Crowned Winner, whose gamble on Tubi (also $30) and its fourth-wall breaking spot and cowboy-headed spokes-boy put their team out to pasture. Like Kendrick Lamar says, “they not like us.”

View the full Leaderboard on our website.

Bud Light Leads Way as 4 Beverage Brands Finish in Top 10

Because brands can’t score touchdowns, figuring out who wins in advertising is obviously more subjective. We break it down by looking at three key sources: fans, ad industry experts, and the ever-rational Internet. Here’s how each group shaped the scores:

  1. Audience: Fans voted via the USA Today Ad Meter, rating ads on a 1-5 scale. Brands were ranked by their average scores, with points awarded in reverse order: 58 for 1st, 57 for 2nd, 56 for 3rd, and so on.

  2. Industry: The Super Clio winner earned 58 points for 1st place. An industry panel of advertising muckety-mucks rated the rest.

  3. Social: Likes across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok were tallied shortly after the game. The brand with the most likes got 58 points, with 57 for 2nd, and…you get the idea.

After all the ads were rated and likes were counted, this year’s top 10 scoring brands were:

  1. Bud Light (164 points)

  2. Uber Eats (159)

  3. Michelob Ultra (151)

  4. Ram (148)

  5. Google (147)

  6. NFL (145)

  7. Mountain Dew (139)

  8. Hellmann's (138)

  9. Totino's Pizza Rolls (131)

  10. Stella Artois (130)

This year's top-scoring brands by category were Hellmann's (Food, $25), Bud Light (Drinks, $30), Uber Eats (Tech, $20), Totino's Pizza Rolls (Rookies, $20) and Ram (Flex, $20). Notably, none were the most expensive brands in their category, but all were at or above the $20 mark.

Though OpenAI finished a dismal 42nd in Fantasy Brands, we were able to ask ChatGPT to calculate an “ideal lineup.” According to these artificial brains, this year’s perfect lineup would have consisted of Hellmann’s ($25), Mountain Dew ($15), Uber Eats ($20), Totino’s Pizza Rolls ($20) and Ram ($20), which would have scored 715 points.

And it turns out Big Game Winner wasn’t far off. Out of 149,246 possible lineups this year, Big Game Winner’s team would have finished 24th, which is in the 99.98th percentile. Not too shabby.

Nike Wins Super Clio, Social…But Absent from Ad Meter?

Perhaps the biggest wrinkle in scoring this year was Nike's "So Win" spot, which was the most liked ad on social and won the Super Clio, earning it the top scores in industry and social.

Unfortunately, it was not rated by the Ad Meter, likely a result of the brand opting out, which can happen. As a result, Nike finished tied for last in the audience result. If it had been scored by Ad Meter and received a top-10 result, it likely would have eclipsed Bud Light as the top-scoring brand.

Ultimately, we here at Fantasy Brands do our best to source the most accurate information regarding Super Bowl ads before the game, but inevitably, these sorts of things happen.

Thanks for Playing! See You Next Year.

Thanks again to everyone who played and for sharing Fantasy Brands with your friends and family. We look forward to growing the game and making it even bigger and better next year.

If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. You can email us at info@playfantasybrands.com.